Banks committee boots reporter from meeting

The public-appointed group that drives major decisions on The Banks riverfront development project closed its meeting to a reporter Tuesday afternoon.

"It's supposed to be open," Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Hartmann said of the session.

But that wasn't the case at Great American Ball Park, where the county-appointed attorney on the project told an Enquirer reporter to leave before a meeting of the high-powered Joint Banks Steering Committee. Tom Gabelman later told The Enquirer that the meeting was strictly to receive updated information on the progress of several parts of the project. No votes were taken, he said.

Public boards and committees are allowed to hold private informational meetings, Enquirer attorney Jack Greiner said. In such meetings, no votes or deliberations are allowed to be made and committee members can only listen to presentations.

"It could be a violation, but how do we know if they just sat and listened?" Greiner said. "They are using this loophole to close off the discussion to the public."

Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been invested in the residential and commercial development project. As General Electric's new offices and an apartment building are under construction, several decisions are yet to be made. That includes whether a hotel will be coming to The Banks – the source of controversial comments recently made by the county's top administrator.

Last week, The Enquirer reported that Christian Sigman had questioned the performance of The Banks' lead private developer and whether it is time to make a change. In an email to city of Cincinnati officials, Sigman said he was specifically concerned about Atlanta-based Carter & Associates' efforts to bring a hotel to The Banks, something the committee has long discussed.

Neither Sigman nor the issues he raised in the email were discussed at Tuesday's meeting, Gabelman said.

Steering committee members are appointed by the city and Hamilton County. A 2006 joint city-county motion that formed the committee – once known as The Banks Working Group – calls for the group to conduct all business in accordance with state open records and open meetings laws.

The Enquirer has previously fought the the battle of access to steering committee meetings.

Back when The Banks was first conceived, city and county officials couldn't agree on the development's direction, prompting them to create The Banks Working Group.

The group tried to say it was private, but it later succumbed to public pressure and opened its meetings, The Enquirer reported in 2008.

It took decades for The Banks project to get off the ground. Restaurants have struggled to survive, but there was a recent coup in luring GE and nearly 2,000 new jobs.

Despite that win, Sigman asked city officials in the email: "Is it time for a change?" That one line started a firestorm of political backlash. County commissioners thought Sigman's critical comments about Carter & Associates were out of line, and this week they removed the county administrator from The Banks project.

The steering committee guides all decisions on The Banks, some of which include millions of taxpayer dollars. For instance, GE received a $112 million tax incentive package to bring its business to the riverfront.

Much like the city and county jointly appoint board members of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority and Cincinnati port authority – both of which The Enquirer regularly covers, the government entities appoint the members of The Banks steering committee.

It's uncertain how many members are currently on the committee, which includes Reds owner Bob Castellini, Bengals Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn and former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken.

Commissioner Todd Portune, who has been part of The Banks since its inception, said: "You've got members who are appointed by public agencies doing the public's work for the benefit of the public. My understanding has always been that these meetings are open to the public."