SAN ANTONIO – We’ll soon know what the next steps look like for the future of the proposed new Spurs arena.

City Council will vote to decide if they’ll move forward with negotiations — or put a pause on the project.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones isn’t mincing words when it comes to a new Spurs arena.

“I think our community deserves an independent economic impact study to help us understand the cause, the true cost, the true benefits of the arena,” she said at a press conference Monday.

She wants a pause; other councilmembers think it’s a losing play.

“The reason we’re moving forward on Thursday is so all of the citizens of San Antonio have all of the information that they need regarding this deal prior to going to the polls in November,” District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte said.

Now, the stage is set for a showdown at Thursday’s city council meeting. There are hundreds of millions of dollars on the line for the city for a new Spurs arena.

UTSA political science chair Jon Taylor weighed in on the vote, saying he sees the mayor’s actions as a last-ditch effort after she unexpectedly showed up at a press conference on the City Hall steps on Wednesday.

She also unexpectedly brought up Project Marvel at the District 10 budget meeting on Monday.

“Based on what we’re seeing right now, particularly after the mayor crashed the chamber of commerce presser [Wednesday] morning. It looks like it’s not going to go her way,” Taylor said.

What could the final vote look like?

Based on what we’ve seen so far, District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 6 Councilman Ric Galvan want to take a pause to give the city time to get an independent impact study.

On the other side — 7 out of 10 councilmembers want to move things along.

Districts 1,3,4,5,7,9, and 10 have said they want the best deal for San Antonio, adding they think it’s best to keep moving forward.

One council member we haven’t definitively heard from is Ivalis Meza Gonzalez in District 8.

We asked Jon Taylor whether or not he believes Mayor Jones’ approach has anything to do with the possible outcome.

“It doesn’t help, I will say that,” he said. “I think everybody in San Antonio wants the mayor to succeed. We want our city government to succeed. But, there is this need to try to create consensus, to try to create, at least, you know, channels of cooperation. That’s where I think that… this is a learning curve for the mayor right now.”

While these are just possibilities of how the vote could shake out, it’s not a done deal. Either side needs at least six votes in their favor, and even a vote to proceed with negotiations doesn’t mean this is all over.

Voters have yet to decide.

“If people think somehow, ‘oh, they’re going to build a new Spurs arena next week’, not happening anytime soon.”