Des Moines City Councilman Joe Gatto couldn't get enough votes to get the city council to approve a nearly $62 thousand dollar package of grants and loans to help remodel the southside restaurant he owns.
Gatto applied for a $15 thousand grant and a loan of over $46 thousand dollars to repair the outside of Baratta's Restaurant at 2320 South Union.
He left the room as the council debated the matter. It needed four votes to be approved, and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, along with council members Josh Mandelbaum and Connie Boesen all refused to vote.
The funds would have come from the federal Community Development Block Grant program the city administers.