Within hours of their comments on a new Minnesota Vikings stadium, the latest thoughts from House Majority Leader Tony Sertich and House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers were circulated recently to the news media by a Vikings official.
On the surface Sertich and Zellers -- who would play key roles in any legislative stadium push -- suggested at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast that support for a stadium is growing.
Sertich was quoted as saying that the stadium might be inevitable because "stadiums always get built." Zellers was quoted as saying that members of his House Republican caucus "are in support of getting something done."
In reality, Zellers says "there might be a few" members of his caucus interested in a stadium.
"The chance of us writing out a check -- something that looks like a financial contribution to a stadium -- is not going to happen," Zellers said.
Sertich said he, too, was taken out of context. "It was artfully done to parse my words," he said. "We should first decide if we're going to build a stadium or not. If we decide to build a stadium, it's cheaper to do it now." But, he said, many legislators "won't put a single cent" of public money into a stadium. The priority now, he said, is a balanced budget, then jobs.
So what happened?
Lester Bagley, the Vikings spokesperson who forwarded the comments to reporters, acknowledged he was not at the breakfast and that he circulated the quotes before he knew they were accurate. He said he received the quotes from the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce.
