BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The candidates for Hamilton County commissioner lost no time Friday when asked during a mini-debate to point out each other's shortcomings. Republican incumbent Tom Neyer Jr. said his Democratic opponent, Marilyn Hyland, came out of nowhere and has not articulated why she wants to be a commissioner.
"I haven't heard anything out of you except, "No wedgies,' " Mr. Neyer said, referring to Ms. Hyland's opposition to the so-called Wedge site for a new Reds stadium.
Ms. Hyland responded that Mr. Neyer is a conflicted steward of Hamilton County interests, when his commercial development company's financial investments are in Warren County.
"It's kind of like playing chess with yourself," she said. Later, Ms. Hyland referred to the county commissioners as "bought boys" beholden to big-business interests. She called for a commission that listens to its citizens.
The candidates' appearance before The Cincinnati Enquirer's editorial board Friday afternoon amounted to their first face-off of the political season. Their campaign offices are still working out a schedule of public debates.
Mr. Neyer, who was appointed to the commission by Republican Party officials in February 1997, painted Ms. Hyland as a one-issue candidate -- the location of the Reds stadium, at the riverfront or Broadway Commons.
He berated her radio advertisement that portrays him as giving county citizens a "wedgie" by voting for the riverfront, or Wedge site.
"That's not a very high level of discourse," Mr. Neyer said. "It's not a very classy way to run a campaign."
Ms. Hyland said she stands for a county government that considers opinions from a wider group of people, and she said the commissioners' 2-1 vote for the Wedge site is just one example of telling people to "get lost" when it comes to making decisions.
"When 45,000 people have to sign a petition to get your attention, that's not building a consensus," she said, referring to the referendum about the stadium site on the November ballot.
She did not come out of nowhere, she said, but helped form Citizens for Major League Sanity last year and has worked as a lobbyist for riverfront railroad interests.
Mr. Neyer pointed out that the railroads tried to stall the Bengals stadium construction -- a failed effort.
He accused Ms. Hyland of being against everything, adding that leaders must be able to accept when they don't get their way and move on. Stadiums have "been the most incredibly discussed issue in my 20-odd years of community involvement," he said. "We need to make a decision, weigh the pros and cons and move forward.
"The most profound sadness people have in this community is over the lack of leaders."
There is a window of opportunity over the next four years or so for the region to seize the chance to become a first-class community, Mr. Neyer said. Decisive leadership will be key to taking advantage of the opportunity, he said.
The candidates also aired their views on the Bengals stadium and the role of county government.
The deal to build a new Bengals stadium is "obscene," Ms. Hyland said, because it calls for spending $404 million when the two stadiums together were supposed to have totalled $544 million. That was the figure used in 1995 and 1996 when voters were asked to raise the county sales tax to pay for the stadiums.
Ms. Hyland objected to three new Bengals practice fields and the change in indebtedness from 20 years to 30 years.
"What is particularly galling is we were asked to vote for one thing and another is done," she said. "That takes the power away from us" voters.
Mr. Neyer challenged her to say what she would have done differently: "It's easy to be against something."
"I would have capped the tax and said, "If you want fancier conditions, you pay for them,' " Ms. Hyland said. "My business doesn't get a subsidy like that."
The whole deal has been about subsidies from the start, Mr. Neyer said, to make the Reds and Bengals viable businesses here. He said the $544 million figure should never have been used.
"It did come in higher than projected, but it creates enormous development opportunities," Mr. Neyer said. "It was a good deal." On the role of county government, he said commissioners should use their "bully pulpit" to raise the level of discussion and decision-making on Cincinnati City Council. The county should lead Greater Cincinnati in matters of transportation, the arts and other regional issues.
Ms. Hyland sees the county working with citizens in each city, township and village, using the county's power and money to come to collective decisions. She said the time for regionalism is not now; the county must make itself strong first and cooperation with other counties will follow.
