Washington ? Baseball officials wanted to know where the money is coming from. City officials wanted to know if baseball is serious about locating in Washington.

When it was over, both sides gave positive reviews to Thursday’s meeting in which Mayor Anthony Williams explained his new plan for a 100-percent taxpayer-funded stadium if the Montreal Expos are moved to the nation’s capital.

“If we weren’t serious about Washington, D.C., we would not be here,” Major League Baseball executive vice president John McHale Jr. said in a rare public statement. “We consider it to have been a positive afternoon.”

Baseball has been trying to relocate the Expos since the struggling franchise was purchased by the 29 other teams before the 2002 season.