BY GEOFF HOBSON
and PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's a persistent whisper that refuses to fade: Are the Cincinnati Reds, frustrated they haven't found a spot they like on the Ohio riverfront for a new stadium, looking at Northern Kentucky?
Officials have been polite but firm in declining to say whether any such discussions have taken place. But they have not completely dispelled the notion altogether.
Such was the case Friday, when Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton declined to say whether he has met with Reds consultant Ron Roberts about a possible move by the team across the river.
Asked about a meeting, Mr. Patton, talking to reporters in Frankfort, Ky., after signing his higher education reform package into law, said simply, "No comment."
Mr. Roberts, former executive director of the Cincinnati Business Committee, told The Enquirer Friday, "I choose not to talk." And when asked recently whether he had met with representatives of the Reds, Ed Ford, Mr. Patton's deputy cabinet secretary, replied if such a meeting had occurred, he would not be able to confirm it.
Mr. Ford said any such meeting would concern economic development, and the administration has a policy of not revealing any information about economic development until an announcement is made.
This is not surprising to Campbell County Judge-executive Ken Paul, whose county is home to a Newport housing project at the Licking and Ohio rivers being eyed for redevelopment.
"Companies will always try to leverage," Mr. Paul said. "If I was them, I'd probably do the same. I probably wouldn't mind seeing in the paper I met with the governor of Kentucky."
Reds Managing Executive John Allen has stressed that the club is negotiating only with Hamilton County, which enacted a half-cent sales tax in 1996 for stadium construction. But the idea of moving the team to Kentucky has been floated by the Reds in the past.
Is Northern Kentucky a viable option for the team? Or merely leverage for a faction of the Reds' negotiating team that can't convince Hamilton County its new ballpark in Cincinnati should be just west of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge?
Mr. Paul, who is unaware of a viable move to bring the Reds to Northern Kentucky, said it's a familiar refrain.
"I would call it 'light talks,' " he said. "Whenever they got heavy, we'd look around the table and say the team belongs in Cincinnati. It's like moving the University of Kentucky to Indiana or Ohio. It's part of our heritage."
Mr. Paul, who sits on a variety of Northern Kentucky boards, said he knows of no local leaders who have pushed for the Reds.
"Hey, I'll leave the door open a little bit," Mr. Paul said. "If there's a company out there willing to put down $200 million, then it's the best-kept secret in the area.
"But if you figure it could be done privately, it already would have been done in Cincinnati. As far as a public package for a stadium where Ohio already has the money, that would just be a tough sell here."
All was quiet on the Reds' front Friday, a day after the Bengals signed a 30-year lease for a new stadium to open in 2000.
Mr. Allen couldn't be reached for comment and Hamilton County lead negotiator David J. Krings and Hamilton County Commission President Bob Bedinghaus were out of the office.
Lucy May contributed to this report.
Previous stories
NO DEAL WITH REDS SEEN BY JUNE 1 May 23, 1997
REDS EASE STANCE ON 'WEDGE' May 16, 1997
REDS MIGHT HAVE TO WAITMay 5, 1997
COSTS GOING UPMay 5, 1997
SCHOTT SAYS 'NO WAY' TO WEDGE April 12, 1997
SULLIVAN COLUMN April 12, 1997
CITY COULD PAY TO DELAY STADIUM April 10, 1997
BENGALS LEERY OF 'WEDGE' April 9, 1997
THE GREAT STADIUM DEBATE
BALLPARK DEBATE LINGERS ON April 6, 1997
NEIGHBORHOOD A BIG PART OF BALLPARK April 6, 1997
BALLPARK, FANS' HONEYMOON SHORT April 6, 1997
REDS HAVE HURDLES, HELP IN SITE HUNT April 6, 1997
KENTUCKY DESERVES REDS, TOOApril 6, 1997
BORGMAN CARTOON
April 6, 1997
REDS PLAN SEAT LICENSING March 14, 1997
REDS TOLD BENGALS NOT PICKING SITE March 12, 1997
MAYOR SUPPORTS BROADWAY March 5, 1997
DESPITE FLOOD, REDS DON'T WAVER FROM RIVER March 5, 1997
BASEBALL ON MAIN PROPOSED Feb. 26, 1997
WEDGE SITE GETS BOOST FROM COUNTY Feb. 22, 1997
REDS, COUNTY RESUME STADIUM TALKS Feb. 19, 1997
ONLY CRIME IS NOT CONSIDERING BROADWAY Feb. 18, 1997
RIVER SITE OR LAWSUIT Feb. 15, 1997
REDS ARE READY TO PLAY HARDBALL Feb. 15, 1997
SCHOTT THREATENS TO MOVE IF REDS AREN'T ON RIVER Feb. 14, 1997
