The math on a deal to provide site improvements for a new FC Cincinnati soccer stadium is coming up very short. Hamilton County leaders say their contribution will be a new 15 million dollar parking garage in Oakley but that is as far as they are willing to go. Commissioner Chris Monzel says the garage makes sense because it is something the county can make money off of.
F-C Cincinnati says it needs government assistance totaling $75 million for the project to work and that means the city of Cincinnati would have to come up with the other 60 million. The plan that Mayor John Cranley has proposed however is 20 million dollars short of that and it isn't even clear if he can sell Council to approve it.
PG Sittenfeld who was considered one of the swing votes says he is a NO. In an open letter to constituents posted on Facebook, Sittenfeld writes that the "timing, lack of due diligence, specific financing arrangement and location are at a minimum questionable and at worst, wrong." He is particularly upset with the way he feels that the deal is being rushed through without proper community engagement.
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