Can Funkhouser Save Us From Ourselves?

Another day, another "controversy". Another conversation with a well-connected political friend who claims she has heard "nobody" speak in favor of Mark, while all the "political crowd" is knocking him. Another blogger in high dudgeon because of something the mayor said that a smooth, antiseptic mayor would never have uttered. It all gets kind of exhausting sometimes, and there's a temptation to simply be done with with and join the Greek chorus of naysayers attacking our Mayor over trivialities and faux pas.

But I can't.

Something fundamental and important lies at the heart of why I continue to support our Mayor, even while disagreeing with him and criticizing him on various points. There's more to the picture than the latest gaffe, or the next one, and I sincerely believe that it's a minor battle in an epic war between those who believe in democracy and those who think we should be ruled by an elite class of politicos. The war on a national basis is going badly, with the "villagers" protecting DC as "their town", but I hope that, out here in the hinterlands, we might be able to keep a place for real citizens.

Funkhouser ran as a non-politician wanting to get the city working for regular folks. Remember that? If you don't, take a few moments and go look at the campaign website. It's a text-heavy, not-particularly-pretty website with a whole lot of focus on Mark's primary goal - getting the city to work for all Kansas Citians. I remember working on the campaign - it was a shockingly fun and amateur operation. We knew we weren't going to "out-smooth" the other operations, and we didn't particularly care to. The folksy, what-you-see-is-what-you-get persona projected waas genuine, not some Madison Avenue creation.

And the people responded. Out of a flock of primary candidates, they chose Funkhouser and Alvin Brooks to advance to the general election, by a huge margin. The next closest candidate drew just more than half the votes that Mark did. In the general election, Mark pulled out a squeaker of a victory in what was fundamentally a clean and respectful race. Brooks ran a fine and traditional campaign, with the bulk of the political establishment solidly behind him, and Funk ran a quirky and creative campaign, with orange as its color and a dog as his most popular endorsement.

When the election was over, I truly believe that the political establishment thought it had been out-Madison Avenued. Surely this folksiness had to be an act - a persona - a focus-group-analyzed, digitally-manipulated, carefully-calibrated sleight of hand pulled off by a political genius.

Because in their world, that's how it works - that's how it must work, or their entire world-view is threatened. Politics is image. Politics is shiny showmanship. Authenticity is the gold ring of slickness; if you can fake authenticity, you've got it all.

But they didn't realize that Mark didn't fake his authenticity. When he said he wanted to get the city to focus on basic services for regular Kansas Citians, they thought that he meant that his crowd of insiders would get a share of the pie that had been reserved for the TIF pigs, and they had better get in line. I was amused to see Jerry Riffel show up at the Flea Market toward the end of Mark's watch party on primary night. I was even more amused to see the crowds of dignitaries show up at the Beaumont Club on the night of the general election. "Meet the new boss, we hope he's same as the old boss."

But Mark has utterly failed to meet their expectations. He lacks the glittery, cocktail persona of Mayor Barnes. He put a bunch of barbarians on the Parks Board, a board that had previously belonged to the cream of the elite, where they worked to find things to name after each other. He has spoken bluntly, and allowed his wife (why won't that woman be seen and not heard?) to speak bluntly as well.

So the attacks have been relentless. One blogger has published attack pieces on Funkhouser and his family every day for months. At gatherings of political types, the mutually-reinforcing scoffing and disapproval has replaced the weather for banal small talk. A core of 5 or 6 commenters on the Prime Buzz turn any news into fodder for Funkhouser attacks.

All this is rolling toward the overwhelming question - can an authentic person serve in politics any more?

Because that, to me, is what it all boils down to.

Take, for example, the latest kerfluffle. Mayor Funkhouser, at a public forum, pondered whether it would help with minority recruitment to allow people with youthful felony convictions to pass hurdles and join the force. He was crystal clear that it was not a proposal he was making, but a thought for the audience to chew over (he knew he'd "get run out of town as a terrible person" for making such a proposal, despite the statistical fact that minorities have a much higher rate of felony convictions than non-minorities.)

So, how is the world reacting to this honest attempt at provoking creativity and fresh ideas to help minority recruitment? How is the "chattering class" responding to Mark's unwillingness to settle for under-representation of minorities on our police force?

They are horrified! The commenters on the Prime Buzz are aghast that Mark acknowledged the statistical facts concerning "those people". Coming a few days late to the party, the KC Blue Blog pitches a full-fledged hissy fit, opining "It's sad that we have this man as Mayor. It is insulting to all people who want to be involved in the political process."

They have a point. Mayor Barnes would never, ever, in a million years, have bothered to voice a thought about minority recruitment for the police force, unless that thought had been signed off on by a team of PR experts as well as the group of "race insiders" who have sat by quietly while minority recruitment remained stagnant. The political chattering class would never dare to speak on a topic touching on race without making certain every possible nuance to the statement passed the PC test. Humorously enough, even Mark showed awareness of the likelihood that a furor would label him as a "terrible person" for talking about the thought.

So, it boils down to whether we want Madison Avenue or the Mayor having an honest conversation at a church in the 18th and Vine Historic Jazz District. It boils down to whether we want a cagey political beast who knows precisely what questions to avoid and what issues to ignore, or whether we want a regular person to work hard to change things.

A little less than a year ago, the voters of Kansas City chose a regular person to work hard. The people who opposed that regular person didn't go away - they are still there demanding Madison Avenue. If they can't get Madison Avenue from Mark, they'll do everything they can to undermine him and make him so toxic that nobody will dare ally themselves with him and accomplish his goals. What kind of an idiot would a minority leader have to be to face the chattering mob and help Mark tackle some of these issues?

Fortunately, there are many such idiots. They are regular people, who care about our city and accept that Mark is working on their behalf. They accept that he's not perfect and he's not always polished, but he's a good man who appointed a Hispanic man to lead the Parks Board, who is willing to talk about racial issues, and who would rather take the heat for firing Cauthen than put up with his unwillingness to change his focus from serving developers to serving regular citizens.

Not surprisingly, the ordinary people who were at the forum where Mark made the "gaffe" that has the chattering class so upset weren't as aghast as they "should have" been. In fact, they appreciated the Mayor talking with them, and gave him a warm reception. They even called the SCLC leaders "fools" and applauded Gloria Squitiro. They understood the honesty and courage Mark displayed when he responded to a question about whether he is prejudiced by saying "I don't think so" instead of the dishonest but more Madison Avenue "absolutely not". In short, they accepted his authenticity and responded favorably to it.

But the chattering class doesn't accept that authenticity. When Mark behaves like a real person, they go crazy. They insist that he needs a "savvy political insider" to be his consultant, and tell him what he can and cannot say. They insist that he needs to be just as polished and just as smooth and just as antiseptic as a national candidate. They insist that his Christmas letter must be written by a committee of serious people in suits.

Are they right? Can Mark govern effectively even if his family Christmas letter is a little coarse? Is that really an issue that could matter? Can the thousand paper cuts inflicted by a furious group of insiders really bring down a Mayor who has set out to make this city work for regular folks? Will the voters who voted for a regular person be persuaded that they really wanted a slick, smooth-talking politician instead? Is the average Kansas Citian more concerned about one seat on the Parks Board than better basic services in our city?

What frightens me is that, if the chattering classes have their way, we could have neither. Ed Ford managed to foment and channel anger at Mark's handling of Cauthen's termination into a foolish attempt at sticking regular Kansas Citians with 3 more years of a bad City Manager. Will other City Councilpeople see that the political insiders don't support Mark, and fail to support him in his efforts to help our city? Will those who attack Mark for failing to be their Madison Avenue ideal prevent him from achieving his real world goals?

Can Mark Funkhouser save us from ourselves?