BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Broadway Commons backers spent nearly $6,500 on their effort to put the ballpark issue on November's ballot, and they could find out as early as this week whether they have enough valid signatures to put the question to voters.
In financial statements filed with Hamilton County Auditor Dusty Rhodes, the Committee for the Hamilton County Charter Broadway Commons Petition lists a dozen individuals, groups or organizations that contributed to the effort.
Those contributions include $2,000 from Robert Chavez, whose parking company owns much of the land Hamilton County would have to purchase to build a baseball stadium at the Broadway Commons site, and $2,500 from Peter Guggenheim, one of Mr. Chavez's associates.
The petition calls for putting a "charter amendment" on the November ballot that would create a charter for Hamilton County to require commissioners to build any new Major League Baseball stadium at Broadway and Reading Road.
Cincinnati City Councilmen Jim Tarbell and Todd Portune, two leaders of the effort, said the varied contributions and the fact that only nine of the 1,200 people who circulated petitions were paid underlines the effort's grass-roots nature.
"It shows the interest and the concern and the dedication that this whole idea represents," said Mr. Tarbell, who has been pushing Broadway Commons for more than six years.
Included in the group's expenditures, filed Friday, was $2,000 paid to political consultant David Bruno, an associate of Mr. Portune's. Mr. Tarbell said he was instrumental.
The Hamilton County Board of Elections continues to check the nearly 45,000 signatures submitted by the group.
The county has a tentative deal with the Reds to build a new ballpark at a riverfront site known as Baseball on Main or the "Wedge." Broadway backers believe that deal would be nullified if their measure passes.
Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus has vowed to make a strong case for the riverfront if the Broadway issue makes it to the ballot.
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