EXECUTIVE DISPUTE AT CHICAGO TIMES

Todd Fandell, president and publisher of Chicago Times magazine, is expected to leave the publication soon in a dispute with the magazine`s majority owners, several sources said Friday.

Chicago Times, a bimonthly started in 1987 as a competitor to Chicago magazine, is undergoing more of the turmoil that has beset its brief life. The dispute is prompted by unease with Fandell by the family-owned Small Newspaper Group Inc. of Kankakee.

Fandell did not return a call, but Tom Small, vice president and secretary, confirmed that he has taken over as editorial director.

He said that his family is ”not satisfied with the quality of the magazine,” which is believed to have fallen short of circulation and revenue projections and, after a promising start, to be lacking editorial vitality and nerve.

Small indicated that a Wednesday meeting here of the magazine`s board of directors resulted in his formal appointment. He also confirmed the scheduling of a Feb. 13 shareholders meeting.

He declined to discuss the agenda, but it is said to involve Fandell`s future. Small would not confirm the assertion of several people close to the magazine that the board requested Fandell`s resignation Wednesday but he refused to give it.

Selection of an editor was one source of disarray within the publication, which cost several million dollars to start and has endured a confusing mix of editors, consultants and art and editorial directors.

Several sources indicated that Fandell, who is the largest minority shareholder with about 15 percent, wanted to replace Timothy C. Jacobson, the current editor, with Flora Skelly, a longtime Chicago area freelance journalist and an editor with an American Medical Assocation magazine.

When Small signaled his desire for Jacobson, sources said, Fandell claimed the move usurped his authority. He notified Jacobson that he was out, a decision that now appears moot.

”Tim remains as editor,” said Small, 40, whose primary journalism experience has come at small newpapers owned by his family in California, Iowa and Illinois.

Small said, ”He (Fandell) opposed my appointment to the position

(editorial director). I cannot comment on my evaluation of Mr. Fandell or his judgment.”

At the end of 1988, paid circulation was 15,000. Small said that a recent subscription drive has boosted that figure above 20,000.

Originally Published: February 4, 1989 at 1:00 AM CST