Coalition says it has signatures to force vote on ballpark

ST. LOUIS -- A group trying to force a citywide vote over whether the St. Louis Cardinals should get public funds for a new ballpark said Saturday it has more than enough petition signatures to get the matter on November's ballot.

Saying it needs 9,800 valid signatures to bring about the public vote, the Coalition Against Public Funding for Stadiums said it has gathered more than 18,000 over the past six months.

The petition seeks to have St. Louis voters decide whether the Cardinals will get the city's portion of the stadium funding. Success by the coalition could unhinge team owners' plans to secure city, county and state money to build a new downtown ballpark.

Sometime before July 5, coalition volunteer Fred Lindecke said, the petitions will be filed with the city's election board, which then would have 10 days to verify that the signatures are valid and from registered voters. The Board of Aldermen then would have 60 days to approve the petition's proposal.

The aldermanic board can't reject the petition or amend it, and if the board does nothing the proposal should be on the Nov. 5 ballot, said Lindecke, a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch political reporter.

"We're confident that the signatures will hold up. We have no fear that enough of those signatures can be disqualified to invalidate our petition," Lindecke said. "For a ragtag, homemade outfit that's totally volunteer with only one paid employee -- stacked against the six-figure outlay by the Cardinals and their allies -- yeah, we're pleased with what we've done."

'Profoundly anti-city'

Mayor Francis Slay backs the Cardinals' proposal, as does a majority of the aldermanic board. On Saturday, Slay spokesman Ed Rhode said the petition-pressing coalition is not about the "spirit of democracy" or giving St. Louisans a chance to vote on the issue.

"Their sole purpose is to kill the project," Rhode said of petition organizers. Rhode has called the coalition's drive a "profoundly anti-city effort" to ensure that the ballpark is built somewhere other than downtown St. Louis.

In announcing their petition results Saturday, coalition members -- standing behind signs reading "Stop Ball Pork" -- insisted the stadium-funding plan was about corporate welfare, squandering of public funds by elected officials and misplaced priorities.

While insisting they are not opposed to a new stadium, coalition members say they want only that city residents have a chance to vote on how their tax dollars are spent.

The Slay-backed plan includes persuading the state legislature to spend $210 million over 30 years to pay off construction bonds. The city's share would be $126 million over the same period.