In a highly contentious meeting that included outbursts, raised voices and several calls for decorum, the Pueblo City Council on Monday postponed its vote on the Leonardo da Vinci Museum’s request for $885,000 in funding from the city’s $60 million Half-Cent Economic Development Fund.

The postponement was approved by a 5-2 vote. Council President Mark Aliff and representative at-large Brett Boston cast the dissenting votes.

Councilmembers Dianne Danti, Joe Latino, Ted Hernandez and Selena Ruiz-Gomez said they needed additional financial information before approving the funding. Council Vice President Roger Gomez said he could not support the funding request because museum officials initially said they would not request taxpayer dollars.

Mayor Heather Graham, a supporter of the funding requests, chastised three council members for appearing to ambush museum officials with requests for financial information.

“You’ve known about this since April,” Graham said. “It’s not fair to put these people through the wringer now, asking for their checkbook and their financials.”

Danti countered that she was simply asking standard questions in response to a substantial request.

“If I were a bank, and someone were applying for a loan, I would expect to see financial statements and tax returns,” she said. “We have a fiduciary responsibility to the city. That’s why I’m asking.”

An initial request was for about $1.9 million, but it was refined and resubmitted following community feedback, according to museum founder and president Joe Arrigo.

“By the time the request went through channels, the museum opened and the circumstances changed,” Arrigo told The Gazette in July. “This is an amended proposal based on the change in circumstances.”

The revised request should align with the fund’s criteria for “placemaking initiatives,” including signage, STEAM programming and construction of a cafe. Arrigo stressed that the museum will stay open if the request is denied, but that the money would move development along faster.

Without the city funding, building out those elements could take years, but with it, he estimates the work would be completed in about 18 months, he said.

During the months leading up to the museum’s opening, the project enjoyed support from city and state leaders, organizations and residents, Graham said.

“This is a unified spirit and something we should celebrate,” she said. “Pueblans came together to make this project happen. So what has changed?”

Nicki Hart, a former museum employee and outspoken critic of the funding request, said she believes the city manipulated the Half-Cent fund’s criteria to make it easier for the museum to apply for the funding.

“The representation changed,” said Hart, who left the project last August. “The city created a new Half-Cent pathway shortly before the museum applied.”

Hart told The Gazette she opposes the funding request but not the museum itself.

“I supported the original vision, and I still think a STEAM-focused attraction has value for Pueblo,” she said.

“What I can’t support is spending $885,000 in voter-restricted economic development funds without a clear line-item budget, a transparent explanation of what’s eligible and a straightforward answer to what taxpayers are actually buying.”

The City Council voted to revisit the matter at its Sept. 14 work session.