BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mayor Roxanne Qualls declared herself in favor of Broadway Commons for baseball Tuesday at the kickoff fund-raiser for her re-election campaign.

The mayor had been inching toward the declaration for months with negative comments about other site options. But this is her first definite statement for Broadway.

Ms. Qualls vowed to try to persuade Hamilton County commissioners, who have the final say over stadium placement.

She explained her reasoning in a later interview.

''Now that we have football located on the riverfront and the city committed to changing Fort Washington Way, the essential element of future riverfront development is assured,'' she said, adding that these factors should connect downtown to the city's riverfront.

''Secondly, if you look at what would result in the most dramatic improvement downtown, as well as immediate increase in financial investment in Cincinnati, baseball at Broadway would have an almost immediate effect from the day it's announced,'' Ms. Qualls said.

Leading Broadway advocate Jim Tarbell said Ms. Qualls' statement is ''none too soon. For the public officials to take a stronger stand and have a stronger voice is extremely timely right now.''

Reds managing executive John Allen, who has insisted on a riverfront site for baseball, declined to comment on the mayor's statement.

County Commissioner John Dowlin, a Broadway partisan, responded with, ''Smart lady.''

Tom Neyer, a new commissioner who is, as yet, uncommitted on stadium location, said he hopes the mayor's timing with the fund-raiser does not portend making the issue ''more political than it already is.''

The third commissioner, Bob Bedinghaus, could not be reached.

As a baseball site awaits, commissioners moved ahead Tuesday in nailing down land for the football stadium. They invited 40 to 50 landowners to attend an ''informational'' meeting, where commissioners introduced Roger Friedman of the prosecutor's office, who will be negotiating land prices on the county's behalf.

About 10 landowners showed up, as well as 25 or so tenants. Many were kept away to attend to river flooding, Mr. Bedinghaus said.

Brothers Tim and Tom Flanigan, partners in the trucking company Flanigan Drayage, a landowner, said the meeting offered very little new, and they won't know where they stand until they hear an offering price.

Annette Misleh, who owns a Skyline Chili franchise, said she located on the river six years ago to be near potential development, such as a new stadium. She has 14 years left on her lease.

''We didn't think the football stadium was going to fall on our heads,'' she said.

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