SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The San Antonio City Council batted down Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones\u2019 attempt to get the city\u2019s funding for a downtown Spurs arena onto the November ballot in a 5-6 vote Monday morning.<\/p>\n
Unlike the county\u2019s $311 million share of funding, which roughly 52% of voters approved last November<\/a>, the city\u2019s $489 million proposed financing does not require a similar vote. It is an option, though, and Jones made a last-minute push to get it onto the ballot. <\/p>\n Jones, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Edward Mungia (D4), Teri Castillo (D5), and Ric Galvan (D6) voted in favor of putting it onto the ballot.<\/p>\n Sukh Kaur (D1), Phyllis Viagran (D3), Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), Ivalis Meza Gonzalez (D8), Misty Spears (D9) and Marc Whyte (D10) voted against it.<\/p>\n Though she and her supporters on the issue \u2014 many with their own misgivings about the project \u2014 think city voters deserve a separate vote for the city funding, a majority of the council want the project to push ahead and argued last year\u2019s election on the county portion was sufficient to show voters\u2019 wider approval for the project.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m having a little bit of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu because I feel like this room was built exactly the same way \u2014 two sides, August 21st last year \u2014 and we were litigating this exact same discussion and nothing has changed, actually, about this deal,\u201d said Kaur, referring to the council\u2019s vote on the proposed arena funding deal<\/a>. <\/p>\n Monday was the deadline to get the issue onto the November ballot, and it appears to largely pave the way for the city to negotiate a final deal with Spurs Sports and Entertainment (SS&E), which is expected to happen later this year. The team is expected to pay the remaining $500 million of the estimated $1.3 billion arena cost.<\/p>\n