Who's The Boss In Kansas City?

Mayor Barred From Bringing Assertive Wife To Office; Works From Home Instead

(AP)  The people of Kansas City thought they were getting a straight-shooter with financial smarts as their new mayor. What they got, critics say, is a henpecked husband who needs his wife to tell him what to do.

In an era when politicians get in trouble for infidelity, Mayor Mark Funkhouser finds himself under fire for his devotion to his wife, a sharp-elbowed New Yorker whose role as his closest adviser has locals wondering who's really running this city of 450,000.

"I knew Mark for almost 18 years as auditor and didn't even know he was married. It's not like he needed his wife when he was auditor," said City Councilman Ed Ford, a leading critic of Funkhouser and his wife, Gloria Squitiro. "I think we were all surprised that he felt she was so indispensable once he became mayor."

Squitiro ran her husband's campaign for mayor, and after he got elected last year, she took a desk near his office in City Hall.

That arrangement came to end soon after a former mayoral aide filed a lawsuit last summer in which she accused Squitiro of making lewd comments around the office and calling the aide, a black woman, "Mammy."

The council responded with an anti-nepotism ordinance that bars Squitiro from volunteering in the mayor's office. Funkhouser vetoed it, and the council overrode the veto. Funkhouser shot back by suing the city, saying the ordinance infringed on his authority.

On Thursday, the council rejected Funkhouser's request to settle the lawsuit with the former employee after he declined to drop his suit against the city.

After the council passed the ordinance, Funkhouser began conducting a large share of city business from his home, stunning members of the council.

"I think government business should be done at City Hall and not out of the mayor's home," Ford said. "Part of it's transparency. Part of it is 'Why is the mayor working out of his home?' It's obviously so Gloria can be by his side."

The Kansas City Star, which backed his candidacy, retracted its endorsement last month. Funkhouser has also become a routine target of the paper's editorial cartoons, including one this week that lampooned the power couple as "Nitro" and "Glycerin."

In a letter to the editor this week, one reader said: "I didn't see her name on the ballot. I don't recall a two-for-one deal." Another wrote recently: "He should be removed from office immediately so he can spend all of his time with his wife without his job getting in the way. Separation anxiety problem solved."

Funkhouser said he and his wife are a political team. "The idea that I'm this infantile guy who's tied to his wife's apron strings and has to have her right there holding his hand - anybody who knows me knows that's silly," he said.

In an interview at the couple's home on Thursday, Squitiro declared she has "never met a more manly man" than her husband, suggested her critics are annoyed by her brash personality, and said the couple's team approach is her way of helping him succeed.

"I am working 70 hours a week for no monetary gain for myself to serve my husband because he has made promises to the people of this city that he's going to keep come hell or high water," she said. "And I'm here to serve him and make sure he keeps his promises."

Known to supporters as "The Funk," the 6-foot-8 Funkhouser is a former city auditor who got elected mayor on his fiscal prowess and his promises to pay more attention to poor neighborhoods and stop pampering developers. Squitiro is a former birthing coach who orchestrated her husband's run for City Hall after the couple fired his campaign managers.

"The idea that once we won the prize, I was going to dump her and say, 'See you, honey, in four years. Go on back home and bake cookies, fold some laundry. I'll be there when I get there,' is absurd," he said.

But Squitiro quickly gained a reputation as a controlling influence on the mayor and a divisive and meddlesome figure at City Hall. Funkhouser's chief of staff, Ed Wolf, resigned earlier this fall, complaining, "It was kind of like having your mother-in-law go along on your honeymoon."

As for the allegations in the lawsuit, the couple's lawyers said that Squitiro routinely gave affectionate nicknames to staffers and that the word "Mammy" came from Squitiro's adding an "e" sound to the word "Ma'am." In a sworn statement, Squitiro acknowledged making sexual references but insisted they were jokes.

The episodes have been part of a bumpy 18 months for Funkhouser.

He was criticized for accepting free use of a hybrid car from a local Honda dealership. He unknowingly appointed a member of the Minutemen, an anti-illegal immigration group, to the city parks board, prompting civil rights organizations to pull their conventions from Kansas City.

And last winter, his wife wrote a holiday letter to friends recounting in detail the mayor's prostate exam. The letter was leaked to the Star and made the rounds on the Internet.

[lloydbest1]

"Funkhouser said he and his wife are a political team. "The idea that I''m this infantile guy who''s tied to his wife''s apron strings and has to have her right there holding his hand - anybody who knows me knows that''s silly," he said."

Yeah, it may be silly but it does not look good.

[mrmeatspin]

a real liberal man...

[mrmeatspin]

for a moment i thought bill clinton got a job

[kansas1946]

Isn''t this just the funniest story! Since I live in Kansas I heard about this earlier and got a big chuckle out of it. I imagine he will be booted out next election, but this pair just sound like a hoot. I really can''t imagine how "they" got elected in the first place, but as we have seen, voters can be pretty goofy.. :o)

[zabarc]

And not one mention that he is a Dem. Interesting but not surprising in negative articles about Democrats.

[amjoe-2009]

It is too bad Congress didn''t have the cohones to pass such a law to get Hillary Clinton out of government business when Bill Clinton was president. X was elected - not Mrs. X.

[pkelly79]

Slow news day? Man lets woman boss him around - shocker.

[catlady1412]

This guy has been controversial from the start. Luckily I am in Independence and he is not my mayor! But what happens in KC tends to ripple out to Independence. He definitely lacks tact and diplomacy skills. Whether he is doing a good job really is unknown so far. But his wife sounds obnoxious!

[airboatboy1]

I think this weirdo spent a little to much time with his mommy when he was growing up.

[brianbwb-2009]

"And not one mention that he is a Dem. Interesting but not surprising in negative articles about Democrats."
Posted by zabarc

Most likely because it is irrelevant.

[hitoyou11]

Most likely because it is irrelevant. Very irrelevant. Some peolpe just don''t have the brain power to think about anything unless they can make it a Republican or Democratic thing. SAD. Small things for small brain

[barbaram99]

I use to live in Kan, City MO years ago. I can''t believe that article . It seems us have more of problems with words.i been called all sorts things.
iT gotten to the point people get bent over the little of things. I am white and been called names. They hurt but i got over them..

[silverstar06]

I''m sure if it was one of his sports buddies he was pulling along in the same fashion, his other bros woulda patted him on the shoulder for it.

[tmittelstaed]

The parallel to Sarah Palin and her hubby Todd who also does exactly what this guy''s wife does is astonishing. The one difference is that apparently Todd Palin isn''t as overtly obnoxious, and hasn''t completely teed off everyone in the AK capitol. But the same shanigans go on in AK as here - hiding governmental business from the public disclosure laws, etc.

[longtree-2009]

simple really. assuming people in MO have the spine, all they have to do is recall the elected mayor. just throw him out of office. or, next election don''t vote for him for any office. it could be that the mayor is dumb as a rock and needs his wife to do any work.

[hitoyou11]

The MOB, they have been as fare back as the 40''s.

[gregb522]

When the people of Kansas City voted this guy in office they needed someone who would serve the voters not his wife. To me this is an absurd thing to allow such disrespect to the voters to keep going. Even though I am not a citizen of Kansas City it still makes me concerned for Kansas City''s welfare as long as he is in office. If the people of Kansas city are seriously wanting change than they should ask their councilmen or councilwomen to call for his removal from office and replace him with a serious person who wants to run the city the way it should be. As long as he is left in as mayor it is only going to get worse and become the laughing stock of the nation.

[rudy6543]

I don''t even know who this woman is, but she sounds like some glory hound. Get real. These people need to do a recall election and fast.

[kphx]

Following the Mayor''s lead, the citys council members could bring in their spouses as their assistants. Anybody who needs to talk to a council member should go through the member''s volunteer assistant. And the council members will also not talk directly with anybody. They will only talk through their volunteer assistants.

What a joke ... May be the people of KS City do deserve this joke. What a bunch of *** ...

[easeup-2009]

I always tell my wife what to do....when she lets me.

[vinny-n-kc]

There definitely needs to be a uprising in this matter, Funky ran against a more than qualified opponent, a community activist by the name of Alvin Brooks. I guarantee you that Alvin Brooks would of cleaned up this city and never would of let some Butch of a wife get in his way. Not to mention that Funky only won Mayor by 850 votes - Get out and vote K.C

[inkonapin]

I live in KC so have been hearing about this for quite some time. Its not that big of a deal. Their collaboration is transparent, obvious. She is not getting paid. She rubs people the wrong way. The only real issue at this point is how much time people have devoted to this instead of real KC problems.

[mswolfestock]

She needs to get her own freaking job. And if she wants to act like a Mafia Mammy they should move to NYC.

She needs to shut up and get a life. And he needs to start acting like a responsible administrator and do his job himself, like the voters and taxpayers of KC deserve.

[notblue]

I guess this guy is in the same boat as most married men, nice to know we aren''t alone.

[czmdm]

Alvin Brooks? He is trash. He should be in jail.

[psk123-2009]

Seems to be a similar situation between the Gov. of Alaska and her hubby "First Dude". He''s always in the statehouse, and according to reports pretty much attends all the meetings and even conducts a few of his own. Personally I''m under the opinion that the person HIRED for the job should be doing the job. I don''t recall there being BOTH names on the ballot. Do you?

[liberate40]

When Bill Clinton ran for president in 1992, his campaign advertised him and Hillary as a two-for-one deal.

[matrixrx2003]

I live in Kansas City and Mayor Funkhouser is an IDIOT. This Law suit thing has been a joke his wife doesn''t belong at city hall.

A few months ago Mayor FunkHousers wife was out at the Kansas City International Airport and parked in a no parking zone and went into the terminal. A police officer wrote her a ticket and she screamed and yelled at the cop and made a big scene about it & felt she did not deserve the ticket because she was the Mayors Wife.

Gloria Squitiro has some ISSUES and is no running on all thrusters.

[barbaram99]

i think the lady that said wumen belong in the home tied to child raising is so wrong. She grooms ger girls for the same thing. I am 54 and childless and never married. Years ago that same line was laid on me. I hope we get a woman president. So a lass has a brain and she must stay at home as that what her gender is for a man''s slave as I see it. Maybe the mayor''s wife was pissed but she is not any better than the next person. I was taught to be assertived or they walk all over me.

[toolmangler-2009]

guess this guy is in the same boat as most married men, nice to know we aren''t alone.
Posted by notblue at 10:48 AM : Dec 05, 2008



I agree 100%