The Hamilton County (Ohio) Board of Commissioners this week "voted 2-1 in favor of a policy that all but eliminates" the county's use of taxpayer-owned suites at Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium "for any purpose," according to Dan Horn of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. The move is an "especially tough blow to Sheriff Jim Neil, who had asked commissioners to renew a 'Game with a Cop' program he started last year, in which deputies took school kids from all over the county to Reds and Bengals games." County Commissioners Greg Hartmann and Chris Monzel said that while the sheriff's program is a "good one," they "don't want to open the floodgates to requests from other charitable organizations to use the suites." They added that county officials would then be "forced to decide which groups are worthy of using the suites and which are not." The county, which owns both stadiums, "got the suites as part of its lease agreement with the teams." When commissioners "stopped the practice of using the suites to entertain business leaders, reward foster parents and other purposes, the suites remained empty or were re-sold by the teams on a game-by-game basis" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 9/12).
