Cincinnati City Councilman Jim Tarbell refers to the "selfish interests" who want a stadium on the riverfront. The riverfront campaign has dubbed Broadway Commons the "Chavez site" for the family that owns property there and could make millions if the ballpark goes there.

BROADWAY COMMONS		BASEBALL ON MAIN
For years, Mr. Tarbell has maintained that parking accounts for much of the motivation for the riverfront site. Big corporations on Fourth Street, such as Western-Southern Life Insurance, depend on cheap riverfront parking for their lesser-paid employees, he argues. But a Western-Southern spokesman says the huge company wouldn't base its opinion of a stadium site on parking. In a recent talk to Loveland High School students, Mr. Tarbell argued that Reds CEO Marge Schott resists Broadway because she doesn't walk the neighborhood's streets. Mrs. Schott has an office in the American Building just a couple blocks from Broadway Commons. Mr. Tarbell owns two restaurants within walking distance from the Broadway site. He acknowledged to the students that he does stand to gain from siting a ballpark there. When asked how, he told them getting a ballpark at Broadway would give back to him a piece of his heart he lost when malls sapped so much of the life from Hyde Park Square where he spent time as a boy.		Pro-riverfront Move Greater Cincinnati Forward campaign Chairman John Schneider points out nobody on the riverfront side of the campaign stands to make $20 million from the stadium siting decision. Broadway Partners Limited, which is controlled by Chavez Properties and owns 18.2 acres of the Broadway site, recently offered to sell the land to the county for $26.4 million. The land is valued at $6.5 million for tax purposes. Other land that would likely be needed for a Broadway ballpark includes a smaller parcel owned by Chavez Properties, the Greyhound bus station and a small parcel owned by Columbia Oldsmobile.

CONTEXT: For the Broadway faithful, the stadium debate has become a philosophical battle over how Cincinnati does business - whether the public has a say or a few powerful corporate leaders call the shots. The pro-riverfront group resents the big-business characterizations, saying they, too, want what's best for the community.

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