BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Councilmen Todd Portune, left, and Jim Tarbell deliver the petitions to the county adminstration building.
(Saed Hindash photo)
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Smoking cigars and sporting smiles, Broadway Commons backers delivered 44,562 petition signatures -- nearly 18,000 more than they needed -- to Hamilton County officials Sunday, furthering their crusade to get the issue on the November ballot.
About 50 supporters paraded from the Broadway site to the Hamilton County Administration Building, escorted by three Cincinnati police officers on motorcycles and accompanied by the thumping sounds of the Lincoln Court Bucket Boyz.
At the county offices, Jacqueline Panioto, clerk of the county board of commissioners, stamped and dated each page of the 2,000 petitions.
Broadway backers need the valid signatures of 26,800 voters to get a measure on the ballot for a stadium on the Broadway site. They expect to learn in two weeks how many signatures officials validate; meanwhile, they plan to continue collecting signatures. "We're not going to stand for a bad decision being made," said Cincinnati City Councilman Todd Portune, who joined Councilman Jim Tarbell in the parade. "Today is a victory for all of us, but it's only the first step. We have the runner on first base, but now we have to get that runner home."
Officials from the county and the Reds recently forged a tentative deal for a riverfront stadium after two years of negotiations. The deal requires the county to build a ballpark west of the Crown at a site known as Baseball on Main, or the Wedge. The project's cost is estimated at $297 million; the ballpark probably would open in 2003.
But if the ballot issue passes, it's legally binding. Supporters say that would force the Reds to put the stadium at Broadway or stay at Cinergy, where their lease doesn't expire until 2010.
If enough signatures are validated, County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said he'll spend coming months trying to sell voters on the riverfront site.
He warned that the Broadway Commons crusade threatens to change county government.
"This is a giant step backwards for government in Hamilton County," he said. "This brings the equivalent of city government to the county -- charter government."
The county will move to find an architect and construction manager regardless of the petition campaign, he added.
But Broadway backer Teri Campbell, who said he had only eight hours of sleep in three days as he hurried to count signatures for Sunday's deadline, expressed relief.
"Before, they acted like the best site won," the 36-year-old Sedamsville man said. "But now the voters will pick the best site."
