Mr. Tarbell, the organizer and principal mascot of the Broadway Commons movement, is once again threatening to run for county commissioner against the Republican incumbent, Tom Neyer Jr., the only commissioner left who can't seem to make up his mind where the new Reds ballpark should be. And, of course, in the whacked-out atmosphere that has descended on this town, where the ballpark will be is the only thing that matters in the Hamilton County commissioner's race. Mr. Neyer has, as of yet, been unable to bring himself to break this logjam, saying he is still studying it. People on both sides of the issue wonder what there is left to study. He has been in office 15 months now.
People do doctoral dissertations in less time.
We would hate to be in line behind this guy while he ordered food at Burger King. But he backed off at the last minute, leaving the Democratic party in the position of having no candidate to run against the least-known and most vulnerable GOP county commissioner to come along in decades. Into the breach jumped Marilyn Hyland, a novice candidate known vaguely, even by Democrats. She was seen by some as Tarbell Lite, since she also supports Broadway Commons. Then, this week, Mr. Tarbell suddenly gets a burr under his saddle and starts circulating petitions to run as an independent.