I Have a Feeling We've Been Here Before
In the interests of efficiency and clarity, I want to use the occasion of a Christmas letter to provide a written guide for Funkhouser over-reaction. Since it's quite clear that the people who prefer the status quo will continue to leverage every single opportunity to undermine those working for change, it will be to everyone's benefit if we all understand our roles. So here's the script - we all know our parts.
1. The Mayor or his wife does something unpolitic. While I remain a huge fan of the Mayor and am excited about the good things going on substantively, it would be dishonest to deny that most of the controversies arise from behavior of the Mayor's office that would never had occurred if we had a smooth, mainstream, poll-reading, establishment Mayor. The voters elected someone who ran an advertisement based on a dog's endorsement because they were ready for some fresh perspectives, but the political consultant class was aghast. The voters elected someone who ran his campaign out of a doublewide, but the political insiders are accustomed to slick varnish. So, when the Mayor's wife writes a letter that no member of the Junior League would ever write and no issue of the Independent would ever publish, the over-sensitive hot-house flowers who populate the political insider class begin to hyperventilate. Those people have not, will not, and cannot accept that a political outsider won a major election in "their" town, even though the voters seem pretty happy with their decision.
2. The blogs go into a tizzy. Tony's KC is one of the top 5 or 10 local blogs in terms of readership. It's just a joke blog, but most of us read it regularly, and Tony has posted something negative about the Mayor almost every single day since the election - often, more than one negative post per day. Again, it's just a joke blog, with a flair for racist and misogynistic humor, so most people don't take it too seriously, but it only takes a few nutcases to get overwrought by that brand of humor to go out and stuff the comment sections of more serious blogs with insanity.
3. Someone calls for a recall. This is the sympbolic "beginning of the end" for any Funkhouser controversy. Truly informed Kansas Citians know that people calling for recall are are stating boldly and clearly that they do not know what they are talking about, but they want attention nonethless. On the "controversy" about the Christmas letter, for example, people were hitting the recall button within hours of the "story" breaking.
4. After the "recall whistle" gets blown, most serious people realize they've been acting foolish, and begin catching their breath. Not all of them, of course, but the smart ones begin to look around and ask themselves questions like, "Why did I allow myself to get so excited about a Christmas letter?"
5. Meanwhile, our Mayor continues working on his priorities. Fortunately, Funkhouser continues to work for the good of all our city, being smart with the money and making the city work for regular folks, just like the majority of us elected him to do.
(A word for some of my commenters: Please read the above carefully before jumping to your conclusions. If you do so, you will probably notice that there isn't a defense of the Christmas letter itself in there. Personally, I would neither have written it nor sent it, but that's a matter of personal taste. Personally, I worked for Mark's election more for his desire to run an effective city without bankrupting it for TIF lawyers, not because I was under some mistaken impression that he was a smooth politician.)
Labels: funkhouser
posted by Dan at 1/05/2008 08:33:00 AM
39 Comments:
I thought the feeling of the sausage size hands was new. Did I read the letter wrong?
Dan it is you who needs to look at the predicable cycle:
1) The Mayor and his Wife make an ass of themselves (pun intended)
2) Dan downplays the INDIVIDUAL event as inconsequential and calls on people to move on.
3) The Mayor and his Wife make an ass of themselves (pun intended)
4) Dan downplays the INDIVIDUAL event as inconsequential and calls on people to move on.
5) The Mayor and his Wife make an ass of themselves (pun intended)
6) Dan downplays the INDIVIDUAL event as inconsequential and calls on people to move on.
7) The Mayor and his Wife make an ass of themselves (pun intended)
8) Dan downplays the INDIVIDUAL event as inconsequential and calls on people to move on.
Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera ...
Dan,
I was honestly hoping that in the quiet lull of the holiday season, fresh off the heels of the EEOC complaint, Mammygate, and the Cauthen disaster, that the Mayor, his wife and advisers would engage in some serious introspection.
I cannot think of a single positive accomplishment by this administration since being elected.
Not one. What they are doing, and the way they are doing it clearly isn't working. The Mayor's lack of political skill and inability to work and play well with others is staggering.
But let's cut to the chase. His wife's involvement in official city business has been an absolute train wreck.
As for the Christmas letter...my god. It is just another example that the Funkhouser's are WAY out of their depth.
They don't understand that in politics (and the office of Mayor IS a political office) perception is and always has been just as important as reality.
They don't understand that being Mayor of a city the size of Kansas City is a FULL TIME JOB, 24/7. Everything you do or say in city hall or on the street or to family and friends can easily wind up in the public domain.
You have to give very careful thought before opening your mouth or putting pen to paper. You have to ask yourself "How will this be percieved, and will that perception be a help or a hinderance in achieving my goals?"
This is clearly a totally alien concept to the Funkhousers.
I like you, Dan. I consider you to be a friend. And you don't hold any political office and therefore enjoy a bit more freedom from scrutiny than a public official. But I sure as hell would not want to get a Christmas letter from you graphically detailing your prostate exam! How is that appropriate in any context?!?
The Funkhouser's have made it pretty clear through their own words they share a brain They are incapable of acting independently from one another.
I would submit that based on empirical evidence, their shared brain is inadequate for the tasks at hand.
I can only stand on the sidelines and continue watching in jaw-dropping, eye-popping, head-shaking disbelief.
If they don't start making some changes, soon, I can easily see this local fiasco winding up in Leno and Letterman monologues. I don't even want to think what Jon Stewart could do with this administration over the next 3 years.
XO -
Wow - if you really feel that way, you ought to move to Independence or something. Oh, wait, you DO live in Independence . . .
Again, pay attention. Each of the things you mention is nothing. In a normal world, they wouldn't even get mentioned, but because we have a joke blogger who makes stuff up when he's not hyping something minor, and because we have an aide to the former mayor hyping whatever negative spin he can dream up, gullible people think that these are issues worthy of attention.
Pay attention to what is going on. We're getting rid of a bad and possibly corrupt City Manager. We've passed a decent policy on tax incentives. We're handling issues like the decision on where to place the Federal offices intelligently and with an eye toward fiscal responsibility. Things are really going pretty darned well, all things considered.
Dan,
I'm sorry my friend, but I have to disagree. I wish Tony were making this stuff up.
Remember Billy Carter? President Carter's brother?
That's what Gloria is. She is Billy Carter. A political loose cannon.
But at least Jimmy had sense enough to keep Billy the hell out of the White House. Imagine if Jimmy had made Billy his Chief of Staff, campaign treasurer and Chief Advisor?
That is what you are dealing with here.
Give me a break! This Mayor has accomplished a whole lot more than some of our past Mayors did in their first nine months.
As follows (and these are not minor accomplishments!)
Adoption of an economic development policy. Adoption of a debt policy--finance directors have tried for 10 years to get one adopted. Started implimentation of a new housing policy. Passed ordinance requiring registration of landlords. Led effort to renew one cent sales tax for capital improvements. Was able to negotiate a better financial deal for the CITY and still get the Three Trails project moving forward. Has been working tirelessly with regional mayors, county officials and legislators on both sides of the state line to further the funding for a regional transit system. And there is a whole lot more on the burner right now too.
There is a budget coming up that requires the closure of over a 40M dollar gap. Can't wait to hear all the gnashing of teeth and BMWing when that starts happening.
Uncle. That's what the "regular folks" are saying: Uncle. Keep trying, Dan, and I admire your loyalty, but it's over. The Funkhousers have lost the "regular folk" - they really have, and it's sad. Not unlike Bill Clinton's zipper, Gloria's bizarre behavior has sabotaged what could otherwise have been one of the most revolutionary and positive forces in politics. I am saddened by this outcome, but it cannot be denied.
Anonymous commenters crying about how the sky is falling are not the regular people, Anonymous. Come out to one of the forums, and see how the people respond to Mark. Truth is, about 1% of the voters will ever even hear about the Christmas letter, and Mark's popularity is just fine. Despite what a few anonymous commenters have to say.
anon 2:14 -
Don't leave out the Mayor's other accomplishments:
1) EEOC complaint against his office
2) use of his role in public office to procure a free car
3) failure to pay his fair share of the tax burden by renewing tags
4) request of security at town hall meetings held in minority neighborhoods which insulted residents of those neighborhoods
5) insult to KC's Hispanic communities by appointment of an anti-immigration radical
6) public stripping of any crumb of self-respect and decency in a holiday letter
Oh, come on now, anonymous! You should be ashamed of your sloppy work.
1. EEOC complaints get filed every day against all kinds of businesses. Let's see how this one turns out before we get too excited, okay?
2. The car deal never happened, though the proposal was acknowledged to be within the letter of the law.
3. He renewed his tags (getting kind of desperate here, aren't you?).
4. Security is now handled by the police department, as it should have been from the gitgo.
5. Appointed a Hispanic chair of the Parks Commission, and wisely refused to be bullied by a few loudmouths who tried to take advantage of the situation.
6. Grow up and get a sense of humor.
would never had occurred if we had a smooth, mainstream, poll-reading, establishment Mayor
So you are saying it went down like this Gloria: "Mark, the polls say the people don't like the minutemen and don't want rasicts on the parks board."
Mark: "Polls be damned, I want a Minute man on the Parks board. Rascists folks are regular people and deserve a place in my administration."
Joe: "The polls say regular folks don't like black women to be called mammy."
Gloria: "Polls be damned. If I see a fat black women, I'll call her mammy or anything else I god damn please."
over-sensitive hot-house flowers who populate the political insider class
Are you saying that Tony, XO and every other commenter is part of the "political insider class?" I feel honoured.
even though the voters seem pretty happy with their decision
I guess those voters were too scared to stand up for Mark at the last council meeting.
It's just a joke blog
It's almost as funny as your blog.
After the "recall whistle" gets blown, most serious people realize they've been acting foolish, and begin catching their breath
Looks like we are now in the "then they laugh at you" phase.
because we have a joke blogger who makes stuff up
Care to point out some examples? I am not saying TKC is a "serious" journalist, but it seems to be pretty accurate and on the few times he was not, he actually made retractions.
We're getting rid of a bad and possibly corrupt City Manager.
It doesn't look that way. Funk was such and ass, folks want the Cauthen just out of spite.
Things are really going pretty darned well, all things considered.
Yep we didn't need the La Raza convention (and probably not the NAACP). That was just a few million and revenue that no one will miss.
This Mayor has accomplished a whole lot more than some of our past Mayors did in their first nine months
So you are saying that Funk is not the worst mayor ever? That makes me feel better.
Come out to one of the forums, and see how the people respond to Mark.
At what ratio of black people will Gloria ask for police security? If the crowd is 70/30 white will the cops show up? Any clue what the black person threshold is?
wisely refused to be bullied by a few loudmouths who tried to take advantage of the situation
Are you talking about the Minutemen who used the situation to gain media attention and now will hold their convention here? Or Selmer who used her new position to get gigs on talk radio?
Grow up and get a sense of humor.
Calling a black lady mammy is just clean fun.
Dan - I respect your intelligence on much of your blog, but you're really being blind about the Funkhouser administration. I say this as someone who not only voted for him, but convinced many others to do so as well. I had high hopes, but have been deeply disappointed.
There's nothing wrong with having a different political technique than your predecessor, but this has been a real train wreck. Politics is the art of working with others and convincing them of the value of your ideas. It also means engaging all the people - even those who you may disagree with. Funk is the Mayor of a major, diverse American city, and he behaves as if he were the petty tyrant of a small town in West Virginia - it's very disappointing,not to mention downright embarrassing at times.
As to his "accomplishments". Puh-lease. The eco-devo policy is a joke - a hollow set of words that are easily ignored. Cauthen is far from corrupt. The man is not perfect (none of us are), but he is the best city manager we've had in this city in decades. The 3 Trails project is still a lousy deal for the city, and i guarantee will be a redevelopment site again in 15 years - a few big box stores and a soccer stadium is not redevelopment. Funk has completely derailed any progress on mass transit with his childish and ignorant approach to the issue. And many of the other items on your list other mayors did as well - the 1 cent sales tax, a housing policy (we've had them before), and working with other mayors.
I know there are those who want him to fail - i am certainly not in that group. It hurts our city tremendously to have him fail. But, the reality is he needs to grow up and make major changes if he is to salvage his last 3 years. #1 is to get his wife out of the office. #2 is to recognize he is not King, and in fact was elected by the slimmest of margins. Successful politicians build coalitions - this is a democracy after all.
Meanwhile, our Mayor continues working on his priorities
Almost forgot that one. So how is he doing on improving his relationship with the council? That was one of his stated top priorities.
about 1% of the voters will ever even hear about the Christmas letter
And about .05% will here about how corrupt Cauthen was. Too bad Funkass ruined our best chance of cleaning things up.
Dan you are in his kitchen cabinet. Why didn't you tell him that keeping a minutemen on the parks board was not a good idea? Why didn't you tell him that an excuse like "I put an eee sound on words" was a lame. Why didn't you tell him that accepting a "free" car looks a lot like a bribe. Why didn't you tell him that he should have acted on Cauthen in a more diplomatic way.
If you are such a supporter, then why don't you call him up and give him some decent advise?
In a company, it doesn't matter how good you are. If you keep acting like a complete ass (Funk, not you) and keep acting totally unprofessional, sooner or later you get canned.
If you are a real supporter, then quit writing little blog articles about how finger butt banging letters are not so bad, and go stop by Funks house and give him some real professional advice. Like, don't call black women mammy.
Don't be an enabler and keep trying to sugar coat his mistakes.
Is Gloria still Funkhousers campaign treasurer?
All things considered Mark's first year has been notable. His economic initiative was diluted. But it IS better than nothing. TIF is still a work in progress. I know where he wants to go with it, he just won't make it. He has one vote on council. He can not get a voting bloc together to save his soul. This council has revolted. His ten points are ink on paper. It is an uphill battle for a savvy individual to work with those who are seeking to marginalize you. It is nigh on impossible when said elected official marginalizes self.
He may have lost credibility with elected County, State and FED officials. The politicians I spoke with directly are reluctant to come to his aid. WE need them.
I am an everyday person who successfully raised my family in Kansas City. I am surrounded by family, friends, enemies and neighbors who are also the backbone of this City. We are in agreement that "that guy" is way over his head and needs to go. I do not think a recall is in the offing. (We are also a politically lazy city) but this one termer is lame.
But I will make an attempt to reach out to Mark. I have hope that something can be salvaged.
Mr Dan
I read the terrible letter that Mrs. Funk wrote to the rest of the school board. It was not nice. People should not be talking that way around children, even little Mexican children who can't understand her.
Did she send it to that mean Mr Cauthren?
He has sausage sized fingers.
Did he think she was talking about him and Mr Funk?
That would be a very dirty think to say. Besides I don't think Mr Cauthern is one of those procto type people.
Although a man on the bus did say he put somthing in a part of Mr Funks body. I just can't mention where it wasn't nice.
If Mr Funk is going to be on the school board he really shouldn't be saying such stuff, no wait, it was the man on the bus. I think?
I'm so confused.
Anna
Anna -
Thank you for so accurately portraying the confusion of most of Mark's critics. Brilliant work.
Doc - I agree that Mark has been impolitic at times - you'd see that if you read more carefully. If you believe Tony's blog, then, really, there's not much point in engaging in intelligent discussion with you. Yeah, sure, Mark is tearing this town apart with racial politics, yeah, the La Raza convention is coming here, and yeah, Cauthen is no longer in office.
Funny how accurately my original post is playing out . . .
Yeah, sure, Mark is tearing this town apart with racial politics, yeah, the La Raza convention is coming here, and yeah, Cauthen is no longer in office.
I guess I don't understand this part?
I read the terrible letter that Mrs. Funk wrote to the rest of the school board
What letter was that?
How long until Dan resorts to name calling?
"
I guess I don't understand this part?"
I think Dan was pointing out some of the thousands of lies and mistakes that Tony has made. He could have gone on for pages.
And there was no school board letter - I think Anna Moose was demonstrating just how cloudy the thinking is in the attacks on Funky.
I don't think Dan's going to resort to name-calling, because, so far, he's winning the argument pretty clearly. Though it must be tempting to call some of the more idiotic commentators idiots. I know I would.
Can you imagine if Kay Barnes' husband (does she even have one? I don't recall his name ever coming up in the press during her administration...hmmm) sent out a "Christmas letter" to all of her friends, family and supporters which contained graphic details of his witnessing and laughing about the indignities she endured while on the examining table for her latest PAP smear or breast exam?
Would you write off anyone who was appalled by such an incident and questioned the judgement of Mayor Barnes, her husband or their communication staff as simply the rants of political enemies or joke blogs?
Someone explain to me how Gloria's latest imbecilic gaff is any different than the scenario I just described.
I'm sure Mayor Funkhouser loves her with all of his heart and relies on her input and feedback on any number of important issues.
That's fine. That's great. That's wonderful.
But she has no place in City Hall. Not even as a "volunteer". There is an inherent conflict of interest and accountability issue.
She has no business serving as Mayor Funkhouser's Campaign Treasurer for all of the above reason's plus the appearance of impropriety. The last Campaign Treasurer resigned over what he felt were inappropriate uses of campaign funds by the Mayor and his wife.
I've never held a political office and I've never served in a political campaign. But I do have over 32 functioning brain cells (35 at last count...knock on wood!) and even I can see that this just looks bad. And in politics, if it LOOKS bad, it IS bad.
She has no place sitting outside his office and controlling access to the Mayor as his de facto Chief of Staff. Her position as the official Campaign Treasurer, Campaign Manager, and the fact that she is his wife makes it TOTALLY and COMPLETELY inappropriate for her to be controlling access to the Mayor of Kansas City! Anyone who can't see this is as lacking in political acumen as are the Funkhousers.
Go google "Ceaser's Wife" and you may get an indication why the appearance of impropriety has been seen as a basic political taboo for thousands of years.
She has either taken over Joe Miller's role as Director of Communications or she has used her position as the Mayor's wife to usurp or supercede his authority.
If any other member of the Mayor's staff was causing as much aterial blood loss as Gloria Squitiro, a compotent Director of Communications would sit them down and say "Shut the fuck up. Don't talk to anyone. Don't write anything...not even a post-it note to yourself. Don't send any e-mails, don't write any letters, don't make any shopping lists, don't say "Hi" to your neighbors. Don't let anyone see you anywhere. You need anything, call me. I'll have someone get it for you. I don't want to see your name in print or in the blogosphere for the next 3 years. You are a ghost. Understand? Capice?"
Any one want to place a bet on that conversation ever taking place?
Anyone?
Bueller?
Anyone?
Xavier, Who did you vote for in KC's mayoral race? I'm guessing you don't care enough about KC to vote in KC. Am I right? Bueller?
I think we all agree here that the letter was in bad taste. Dan said as much, and I haven't heard anyone disagree with him on that point. The issue is, who gives a rat's ass about a Christmas letter? I mean, besides Tony and some asshole who lives in Liberty or Independence?
When I google Ceasar's wife, google tells me I'm an idiot who can't spell, and then suggests that I move to Independence. Was that the point you were trying to make?
"Xavier, Who did you vote for in KC's mayoral race? I'm guessing you don't care enough about KC to vote in KC."
*** sputter ***
It doesn't matter how much I care about Kansas City. I don't live in Kansas City. I can't vote in Kansas City.
I'm just pointing out how incredibly stupid things look from the outside looking in.
If y'all are fine with who you voted for and how things are going with your mayor, your city council and your school board and all, well, more power to ya.
That's why me and a whole bunch of other people don't live there.
"The issue is, who gives a rat's ass about a Christmas letter?"
Apparently no one but me. Send me your address. I'll be sure to send you a Christmas letter next year letting you know how my girlfriend reacted to what my doctor found up my ass.
The point I was trying to make was that the Mayor, his wife and his staff are in WAY over their heads and need to send home the "volunteers", hire some professinal staff, and turn things around.
Otherwise, they can continue to be the butt (pun intended) of local jokes. And if they don't change soon, they can look forward to attention at the national level.
I think that XO has every right to come on this blog and state his beliefs without being labelled -- by the cadré of Democratic thugs that also attend this blog -- as an idiot and other things.
His comments are well articuated and thought out and deserving of respect, just as many other critics (and defenders) of Funk.
In other words, intelligent people can look at the same set of facts and arrive at different conclusions.
I'm not suggesting that the thugs on this blog do anything differently, what I'm suggesting is you think about how most of the normal people that read (but don't comment on) this blog perceive your statements.
Food for thought.
Dan, a few months ago you wrote that you had never eaten at Niece's. You where honest and said It's racism that prevents me from going over to 5932 Prospect for lunch.
Nothing wrong with saying that. Very honest and would be hard for many folks to admit.
Is it possible that you are not able to understand how Gloria calling a black woman "mammy" (which she has as much as admitted too) or Gloria asking a Minutemen to serve on the Parks Board, feels to minorities?
You yourself said that you had not gone to Niece's because of racism. Now the mayor's wife has used a racist term and pushed to have a member of a racist group to be on a city board (don't even argue that the minutemen are not racists).
Is it just possible that you have no way to understand how much those things hurt and what type of ill will the bring cause?
I would bet that your home contains a racial covenant (long since invalidated) that prevented blacks and hispanics from living on your block. So when the Mayor's wife/chief of staff, calls a black woman "mammy" you are probably not capable of understanding what type of feelings that brings up.
Two blocks from me is a black family. Their home does have the old racial covenant. They know that not that long ago they were not welcomed in Brookside. They know that just one generation back they were expected to stay in the "black part of town." Go ask them what they think of a white woman calling a black woman "mammy". Ask them what kinds of memories it brings back. Then maybe you can understand why people can get so worked up over mammy, selmer, only bringing police to meetings with minorities, calling east of troost the "black part".
Dan –
I am grown up and I have a sense of humor. Part of having a sense of humor is knowing what humor is appropriate at any given time. If Kathy Griffin told the same story in a stand-up act is would be funny. The prostate exam jokes in the Family Guy episode where Peter was violated by his doctor were hilarious! In the right context butt humor or bragging about your husband's sexual appetite is funny and maybe even clever.
You might want to blow it off but the holiday letter is significant in that Gloria’s gross lack of judgment over suitability of edgy humor in a holiday letter calls us to question how many more lawsuits or EEOC complaints KC will have to defend due to her unshakable inappropriateness.
Am I the only person who is disturbed by Gloria's gleeful anticipation of her husband's uncomfortable exam? I think this explains a lot. She gets off on seeing him in uncomfortable, unpleasant experiences and is willing to do the leg work to get him there. A spouse should never take pleasure in the other’s discomfort. You don’t need a PhD in psychology to see that there some major co-dependency going on in that relationship. She likes to see him in positions where his must be submissive because it makes her feel powerful. The whole thing creeps me out.
Dr. Sausage Fingers, you are implying that Dan's honest acknowledgement of racism prevents him from understanding racism. In fact, it demonstrates that he does understand it. I've eaten lunch with Dan at Niecie's since he wrote that piece.
Now, if you can pull your head out of your ass, please explain how the Christmas letter has anything to do with racism. It doesn't. You're off the topic because your attention span is so limited that you can't even read a post and respond to it.
If you want to talk about Mammygate, I strongly suggest that you wait until something other than rumors give you the story.
Truth is, Dr., you don't know what the hell you're talking about. One of my good Hispanic friends cheered the Mayor's standing up to the La Raza thugs.
I'm sure you're one of those who pats himself on the back because you live within 2 blocks of a black family, and think you understand something because you can understand that someone might be offended by racist slurs. Good for you. You're the savior of people of color because you sat through a sensitivity training.
But don't you dare to judge Dan's racial attitudes. I know the man, and the honesty he showed in that post is a lot better than the creepy, clueless judgmentalism you just vomited.
I guess I'm a racist, too. I have a racial covenant in my deed, so, according to Dr. Sausage, I am probably not capable of understanding how racial slurs make people feel. I guess my 43 years of living as a black woman don't count for much.
I've worked with Dan, and I never saw him say or write anything as stupid as that. You owe him an apology. You went out of your way to call him a racist in a topic that has absolutely nothing to do with race.
People like you infuriate people like me. Don't ever play the race card for me. Ever.
Dan, I don't know what to think about the Mammy thing - I've heard there's more to the story, and I'm willing to wait for the rest of the story. But I'm not sure what that has to do with the Christmas letter.
Keep up the good work on the blog, Dan. People like Dr. Sausage are not fit to lick your boots.
Is Dr Sausage Fingers that fat perv that lives in Mommie's basement eating Mommie's cooking and who knows what else? Tell him that most citizens don't want The Race to take control of our city or any part of our country. Most citizens want to live with law-abiding neighbors, not illegals. Yes his blog is a joke blog, one dirty joke upon another.
Dan you can't be serious. You are clearly just playing politics and saying whatever you feel is necessary to help the reputation of a mayor who is quickly losing, some say lost, popularity.
XO almost never rags on the guy and he is even calling it like it is. In fact, I think most bloggers are calling it like it is...except well.... you.
You have failed to even fully criticize the mayor one time. You will probably disagree with that statement, but the fact is that everytime you supposedly criticized his office, you in reality only danced around criticizing him and then followed up with 10 positive comments about the mayor.
I used to read your blog on a daily basis for the intelligent and interesting posts, but now I read it to see how ridiculous you can be and to what extent you will go to defend a mayor that will never defend you.
He hasn't kept one campaign promise thus far and has failed to listen to even those of US WHO VOTED FOR HIM.
The guy is a joke. We made a mistake. I will never again vote for him and will gladly sign any recall petition that comes my way.
I am in love with XO.
TKC hides under the cover of billing himself as a "joke blog". Bull shit. He has a mission to get rid of Funkhouser. He has hated Funkhouser since the Semler controversy started and he will use anything, including attacking Funkhouser through his wife, to get rid of him.
With regard to the behavior of the Mayor's wife, what more can be said than has already been said by XO. She needed to remove herself from the picture long ago. The damage she has done to the Mayor's office may be beyond repair.
Wow - I take a night off and the comments go crazy. I'll ignore the real crazies, and thank my lunch and work friends.
XO - I agree the letter was impolitic, and would not have been written by a smoother politician. Heck, it wouldn't have been sent out by 95% of people I know. I wish it hadn't been sent out.
BUT - in the scheme of things, I don't really care much about it. I'm much more interested in the millions of dollars that Mark has already saved our city through his attention to the 3 Trails project. I'm much more interested in how he's going to handle the $40 million plus budget deficit left by our former mayor.
I agree that the sideshow stuff that Tony and Aleks like is a useless distraction, and I'd appreciate it a lot of there weren't any more political bonehead moves made by the Mayor's office. But, still, really, if our worst problem in the city is a description of a prostate exam, then we have the best mayor ever.
Aleks - if you judge my intelligence by measuring my positions against your positions, you've got some maturing to do. Glad to have your daily visits, though.
it would be dishonest to deny that most of the controversies arise from behavior of the Mayor's office that would never had occurred if we had a smooth, mainstream, poll-reading, establishment Mayor.
Is it really necessary to read a poll to know that gleeful descriptions of your husband's prostate exam in the family christmas letter is too much information? Do you have to be a savvy political pro to understand that the mayor's family christmas letter might end up in the hands of the press? Gloria is a walking screaming illustration of boundary violations. What the hell was she even doing in the room!? Why do I even have this information!?
I've said before that Funk was promoted and elected as an anti-politician so we can't be too surprised that he's had some "unpolitic" moments. What has been surprising to me is how persistent and unrepentant these moments are. Writing as a "regular folk," let me say that I get it: Funk is Funk and Gloria is Gloria and neither one of them is going to change what they're doing in response to the people he (NOT they) allegedly represents, if I had different expectations I can just fuck off. Got it. Thanks.
I think you nailed it, Sophia.
Do you support any of the current councilpeople? If so, what do they think about the mayor?
Dan: Ok so we've got the point that you are going to spew talking points all the way until you are the only person left supporting Mark or until he turns his back to you like he has many other supporters. We get it.
I am not questioning your intelligence as I think that you are very intelligent. However, the truth is that your posts on Funkhouser are becoming ridiculous. Your previous post stating "I wish it hadn't been sent out" is the first comment that I can recall of you taking any stance opposing Mark, and to be honest, it was a little weak. Give us reasons why you wished it hadn't, Tell us where Mark is going wrong and why he is where he is with the community.
You can defend the guy all night, but the fact is that he is where he is and it's not a good corner to be in. Now quit giving us Mark Funkhouser talking points (i.e. he's saving us millions on 3 trails) and give us real political insight and opinion.
Anonymous - yes, I support most of our council people. Some of them are supportive of Mark right now, some of them aren't.
Aleks - they're not talking points, they're logical arguments. Those are a bit rare right now, but I'm confident they'll come back in vogue.
Now, apparently, you want me to prove my bona fides by slamming Mark. Why would I do that for you? You're too ill-informed to know of my several disagreements with Mark that I've already written about - why should I bother writing to your order, when you're not even paying me?
Truth is, there are plenty of people writing negative material about Funk. Why should I join the mob? Why shouldn't I stay above the mob, and point out their foolishness? Do you really want all your blogs to have the same material?
I'm sorry if the fact that Mark saved us millions on 3 Trails upsets you. Start thinking for yourself, instead of drinking the Tony Koolaid.
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