BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Forget the looming legal fights over whether the Reds ballpark belongs on Hamilton County's November ballot.
The campaign has begun.
Both fans and foes of a Broadway Commons stadium are starting to build campaigns, even before finding out whether there will be a vote.
The Broadway ballot language, if passed, would create a county charter to prohibit Hamilton County commissioners from spending tax money to build a ballpark anywhere but Broadway Street and Reading Road downtown.
But first Secretary of State Bob Taft will have to decide whether a vote is permissible.
That's after the county Board of Elections deadlocked 2-2 Monday on whether to allow the measure on the ballot.
The county has a tentative deal with the Reds to build a new riverfront ballpark, and it's unclear whether such a vote would nullify that deal as Broadway backers insist.
Like any political campaign, both sides are working to frame the issues.
The Broadway backers argue a November vote is about letting taxpayers pick a site for the stadium and nothing else.
Opponents plan to attack that on at least two fronts.
First, they will argue a vote for Broadway Commons also would alter county government in such a way that municipalities and townships within the county ultimately could be extinguished in favor of a more powerful county structure.
And for voters who still think the vote is about stadiums, not politics, they will argue the riverfront location adjacent to Cinergy Field, known as Baseball on Main or the "Wedge," is better than Broadway.
Broadway backers appear to have a head start with the nearly 45,000 signatures they collected to try to get the issue on the ballot, but they expect to be outspent.
"We've always been financially outgunned," said Cincinnati Councilman Todd Portune, a leader of the Broadway effort.
"Once this is certified to the ballot, it's probable our opponents will spend whatever it takes."
The Broadway group has worked to organize itself for weeks. "We're very well organized and have a good team in place," Mr. Portune said. "The campaign end of things is moving full speed ahead."
Cincinnati Councilman Jim Tarbell, Broadway's biggest booster, latched onto his slogan weeks ago: "They call it the "Wedge' for a reason, and Broadway is beautiful."
Opponents of the ballot initiative -- and of the Broadway site -- aren't waiting to see whether they can keep the measure off the ballot.
Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, who gained prominence by pushing the stadium issue in 1996, has begun tying the city's dreams for the riverfront to a new ballpark there.
He told business leaders last week that without new riverfront stadiums for the Bengals and the Reds, the county can't afford to build parking garages that would free up riverfront land for grand public parks.
And Bill Seitz, a lawyer fighting to keep the measure off the ballot and chairman of the Green Township Board of Trustees, has support from officials in more than a dozen municipalities and townships to oppose the creation of a county charter.
Joe Sykes, president of the Hamilton County Township Association and a Miami Township trustee, signed Mr. Seitz's "Statement of Concerned Suburban Officials."
"The stadium issue is not that big an issue with me," Mr. Sykes said.
"Charter government is a big issue."
Stadium story list
