Kansas City Leaders Throw Good Money After Bad For Convention Hotel

The same consulting company that appears to have significantly overshot financial projections for the Kansas City Power & Light District has been rehired for a new city project.
This time, the city engaged Chicago-based C.H. Johnson Consulting Inc. for $130,000 to short-list requests for proposals to build Downtowns next big project: a convention center hotel.
Downtowns most recent big project, the $850 million Kansas City Power & Light District, was the subject of financial performance projections by C.H. Johnson that city officials now say missed their mark.
They were wrong, werent they? said Mayor Mark Funkhouser, a critic of the hotel project. They were spectacularly wrong.

Star-Crossed Lover?

Bottom Line Communications

12-02-2010

FASHIONS HIMSELF AS KC’S KING MAKER

ABOUHALKAH ALMOST COMPLIMENTS FUNKHOUSER

Stop the presses!!!!

Funkhouser’s Wife Reflects On The Past And Works Toward The Future

Lisa Benson (NBC Action News) — As a wife, a mother of two, and a woman who spent 17 years teaching other women how to naturally give birth –there is a lot to 52-year-old Gloria Squitiro.
The real Gloria Squitiro is not the one depicted as a racist and who made headlines in Kansas City for “Mammygate” at City Hall.

Citizens Association Chair Resigns To Protest Political Process That Excluded Mayor From Debate

Chris Hernandez (NBC Action News) — The Citizens Association held to a debate Tuesday night to decide which candidate to endorse in next spring’s election for Kansas City mayor.
Mike Burke won the endorsement.
But a prominent member of the CA has resigned in protest and is blowing the whistle on the screening process.

Star’s Hendricks Apologizes to Funkhouser

Web Staff (Bottom Line Communications) – Give credit where credit is due.

After being called out by this site (See “Funkhouser Owed Apology“) for personal remarks about KCMO Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s appearance, Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks has apologized.

In a mean-spirited Oct. 20 column attacking the Mayor Hendricks had referred to “that horse face of his that only a mother could love.”
Sources had told Bottom Line that Hendricks had apologized to the Mayor. After Bottom Line asked Hendricks for confirmation of the apology, Star Readers’ Representative Derek Donovan wrote about it.

Funkhouser Keeps His 80% Council Voting Record – Turns Council Around On TIF Chair

Lynn Horsley (The Kansas City Star) – What a difference a week makes.

The City Council voted 8-3 last week not to support Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s recommendation to reappoint Claudia Onate Greim as chairman of the Tax Increment Financing Commission.

On Thursday, Funkhouser asked council members to reconsider, and this time they voted 8-2 to reappoint her. Council members said they were willing to put their differences with the mayor aside and move the appointment forward.

KC Star & Hendricks Owe Funkhouser an Apology

Web Staff (Bottom Line Communications) – It is almost commonplace today for newspapers to decry the lack of civility in politic discussions.
This is often done in response to conservative comments from individuals like Rush Limbaugh and others when it is felt they have crossed a line of civility in political discussions.
In the case of the Kansas City Star, it now looks as if it is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Veteran Star columnist Mike Hendricks may have taken incivility to a new low with his ugly and personal comments regarding Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser.
In his column (10/20) Hendricks’ referred to Funkhouser as having a “horse-face” and “having a face only a mother could love.”

Star Says Funkhouser in it to Win It

Lynn Horsley (The Kansas City Star) – Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser formally kicked off his re-election campaign today, flanked by signs bearing his slogan: “Your money, your voice, your mayor.”
Funkhouser said he ran four years ago on a platform of change and challenging the power elites, and that’s as true today as it was then. (Even though he’s now the incumbent, so true change would mean a new and different mayor).
He acknowledged there have been plenty of fights with his council colleagues but “fighting is worth it.” He claimed credit for improving the city’s fiscal and debt situation, reining in sweetheart TIF deals, and refocusing attention on basic services, like removing the “metal plates” from the streets. He said he will continue to push for a city that works for ordinary, average citizens.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser: 2011 Campaign Kick-Off

Mayor Mark Funkhouser

Funkhouser For Kansas City

523 Walnut Street

Kansas City, Missouri 64106

816.283.8774
http://reelectmayorfunkhouser.com

Funkhouser Vetoes Redistricting Because Of Political Antics

Lynn Horsley (Midwest Democracy Project) — Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser on Monday vetoed a measure calling for a November ballot question that would change the redistricting requirements in the city charter.
The veto is yet another wrinkle in the ongoing argument between those, like Funkhouser, who think the council should redraw its district boundaries now and those who think the city should wait until 2010 census figures are available.

New Districts Coming for KC

Web Staff (Liberty Tribune) — The Kansas City Council voted unanimously to draw new voting districts prior to next spring’s municipal elections. As a result, the current redistricting process will move forward, and the City Council will approve new districts citywide prior to Tuesday, Nov. 2.

“This is great news for all of Kansas City, but especially for our residents north of the river who are significantly under-represented both on the City Council and in funding decisions,” said Mayor Mark Funkhouser in a press release. “The goal of redistricting is to provide a one-person, one-vote environment, and I am pleased that we now will be moving toward that goal.

“While the City Council did override my veto yesterday on the charter change vote, the goal of my veto was purely to make sure we redistrict now, as required by both federal law and the current city charter. We will be doing exactly that, and I’m pleased to know that my veto pushed us to the correct outcome,” he said.

Funkhouser States Law Says To Redistrict Now

Andrea Wood (Jackson County Advocate) — Kansas City is in the process of re-drawing the boundaries for its six council districts to make each district approximately the same size–around 80,383 people each.

But as public input is being gathered on proposed changes, a majority of the city council is working to change when redistricting would take place, while the mayor is halting their attempt.

Currently proposed maps show that the city’s 6th District would need to slightly increase its geographic size in order to reach the balanced population target.

“From the looks of recent DRAFT maps and discussions from the Redistricting committee, the 6th district is needing to add approximately 5,316 people,” said Jade Liska, a manager in the City Planning Department. “A basic enlargement of 6th District could be an area near and around 85th street and Troost/Woodland (SW corner of 5th District).”

Kansas City’s current charter states that redistricting should be completed before the city’s next general election, which is in March. Given that timeline, the council would vote on the proposed changes in the next month or so, said Liska.

However, on Thursday by an 8-5 vote, the council voted to seek a court order that would put a measure on the November ballot changing the wayCity Hall draws voting districts as the city’s population changes.

Sixth District Councilman John Sharp, who proposed the change, argued that it makes more sense for the city to wait until the official 2010 census numbers are released before it does its redistricting. He proposed that the city redistrict once every 10 years–after the federal census.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser argued that delaying redistricting disenfranchises tens of thousands of voters in the Northland, which has grown substantially in the past 10 years. He said that the city’s constitution requires that voting districts have populations within 10% of each other, but two districts currently differ by almost 30%.

On August 30th, Mayor Funkhouser officially vetoed the council’s ordinance seeking to put the redistricting issue on the November ballot.

Meanwhile, public input on the proposed boundary changes are ongoing.

A public meeting is scheduled for today, Sept. 2, from 4-6pm at theKansas City North Community Center, 3930 NE Antioch Road. Another meeting is planned for Sept. 8th, 6-8 p.m. at the Gregg/Klice Community Center,1600 John “Buck” O’Neil Way.

Mayor Calls For Audit Of TIF

Mayor’s Office (KCMO.org) — This morning, Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser spoke in front of the Kansas City TIF Commission and called for a financial audit of all active Tax Increment Financing plans. The TIF Commission approved the Mayor’s request on a voice vote.

“Kansas City has been very generous with economic incentives,” said Mayor Funkhouser. “It is important that we be as vigilant today as we were generous over the last few decades. With over 50 active TIF plans we should be very sure our taxpayer’s investment is being spent properly.”

Mayor Funkhouser also called for EDC-KC to seat the members of the TIF Administrative Commission. Five members representing other taxing jurisdictions affected by TIF plans were given a greater role by a City Council resolution in January 2010. The five members have been selected by the other taxing jurisdictions, but have not yet been seated by the EDC.

“These taxing jurisdictions deserve a voice. I have fought for that since I took office,” said Mayor Funkhouser. “In order for them to have an overall administrative voice on issues like this audit, they need to be seated immediately.”

The Mayor asked for an immediate RFP and a selection of an auditor by the TIF Commission’s Administrative Commission members.

Mayor Takes Stand Against Proposed Convention Hotel

Peter Rugg (The Pitch) — Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser ripped the idea of developing a convention hotel during a press conference today at the corner of 14th Street and Baltimore — finally taking a stand on the issue after months of speculation.

“My first thought, the only thought that sticks with me, is ‘Are you kidding me?’” Funkhouser said of the downtown convention hotel plan with a potential price tag of $315 million.

Supporters say investing in a new hotel near Bartle Hall could bring the city millions of dollars in convention business that the city can’t compete for since downtown doesn’t have enough hotel rooms.

Funkhouser wasn’t buying it, citing the failure of similar proposals around the country, including the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel, which performed so far below expectations that the city had to throw in $2.4 million of its own money to appease bondholders last year (see this June 3 Martin column).

“Hotels have failed across the country,” Funkhouser said. “There is no scenario I can imagine that says now is the right time to do this.”

Funkhouser added that the city is not in a position financially to buy the building. Even if the city did have the money, buying the hotel would only further complicate selling the property to another developer. That’s especially problematic at time when the city is courting outside developers to buy and renew old properties.

Funkhouser also took city leaders to task for focusing on elaborate ways to make Kansas City more attractive. Funk said the only way to do that was to clean up the streets and make sure basic services are provided.

“We keep swinging for fences, looking for these glittery projects, and it doesn’t work for us,” he said.

Rogers Says, “Being The Outsider Is Funkhouser’s Reelection Strength”

Bruce Rodgers (KC|Active) — The count is up to five … five very establishment-type players convinced that they can guarantee that Mark Funkhouser is a one-term mayor of Kansas City, MO. Wouldn’t’ be surprised if a couple more popped up, maybe another woman candidate to pull attention away from Deb Hermann, the only woman in the race and recognizably a strong challenger to Funkhouser.

But however one evaluates the announced challengers, none have an outsider’s label or temperament. What voters have so far is a script from central casting — a woman candidate steeped in the city’s budgetary knowledge, a lawyer with money, an inner-city legislator with big name recognition tied to the less pampered citizenry of this town, a silk-stocking, Plaza denizen from the southwest corridor and a former councilman who embraces development — and the tax subsidies that go with it — with zeal.

And then there’s Funkhouser who ran and won nearly four years ago as an outsider and remains one as mayor. It’s really not a bad position to be in and one that seems to continually fit the mayor’s personality and governing approach.

Whatever Funkhouser’s faults, he has moved on issues no other mayor has taken on. What previous mayor got serious about improving Kansas City schools? Kay Barnes gave it lip service and like mayors before her, passed on the problems by saying City Hall doesn’t have jurisdiction over the Kansas City, MO School District. Funkhouser’s much-maligned Schools First initiative is a giant leap from what other mayors have attempted. And it appears to be a sincere effort on the part of the mayor, one he believes in, not some political ploy to shore up his reelection chances.

Many parents with school-age children are paying attention to the proposal even if the KCMO School District isn’t. More cops on patrol and more money for infrastructure improvements near schools are good ideas. Why school district officials haven’t stepped forward to endorse the plan — or at least seek serious input — is dumbfounding. Maybe the reason is Funkhouser himself, and the fear of other public officials to embrace a mayor that everyone thinks won’t be reelected.

But there seems no such obstacle to official input concerning having taxpayers support another downtown hotel. No problem in finding the necessary economic data to support a $315 million project that will need a big helping of taxpayer money. Yet, somehow the research for how a $100 million bond proposal for Schools First doesn’t seem to be as readily available as building a new hotel. While the positives for a new hotel tumble out of the consultants hired for such research, the benefits of implementing School First relies mainly on the intuition of parents knowing more police and better sidewalks are good for kids, schools and the surrounding neighborhoods.

It’s not a stretch to assume that taxpayers know who benefits from what when it comes to tax subsidies for a hotel or more cops on watch and better sidewalks when it comes to safety for kids walking home from school.

It’s nearly a sure bet the city council will endorse the building of a new hotel. Likewise all of the Funkhouser’s challengers will, to some degree, back a new hotel. The possible exception is Leonard Jonas Hughes. His constituents, and perceived inner city voting bloc, would have to be won over — an effort that distracts from running an election campaign.

What Funkhouser does could depend upon his backers — mainly the Nutter franchise of political underwriting. But Funkhouser could repeat his winning campaign by remaining the outsider, particularly in questioning the building of a taxpayer-supported hotel in comparison to enhancing the safety of school children. Funkhouser moved away from the pack in 2007 by railing against tax increment financing and other taxpayer subsidies.

Of course the big elephant in the room when it comes to putting the city deeper in debt is the earnings tax issue. Politicians shouldn’t assume that voters would continue with a tax that most people at least mildly dislike. Ending the E-tax means the private section would have to pick up the total bill for building any new hotel.

Isn’t that how the marketplace works, anyway?

Funkhouser Wants To Add 100 More Cops Around Schools

Web Staff (KCTV5.com) — Adding more police officers around Kansas City’s schools was something that had Mayor Mark Funkhouser talking on Friday.

As classes let out on Friday at Central High School on Linwood, police were out around the campus.

“Central is something else,” said Valerie Kinderman, who was there to pick up her daughter. “They fight a lot.”

More police could be coming, not only to the streets around Central, but to the areas around other public schools.

“We want to add 100 cops and focus them around schools,” Funkhouser said during a taping of Your Kansas City, which will air at 1 p.m. Sunday on My-KSMO TV. “People tell us the issue of safety really impacts the schools.”

Even with fewer schools to patrol with the proposed closing of some Kansas City, Mo., schools, the mayor wants the public safety tax to go ahead. The mayor’s office said the tax could generate $5 million, which would be enough to hire about 100 more officers. The officers might be used to patrol before and after school in the city’s 14 public and charter school districts, both north and south of the Missouri River.

“Let’s hope it works,” said Larry Garrison, a Central High grandparent. “Let’s hope it works.”

For one mom, though, the idea of more police is a start, but not a solution.

The issue is still a long way from being put before voters in August. It needs the legislators, the governor and the City Council to approve the move.

Mayor Appoints 1st Platte County Man To Parks Board

Karen Dillon (Kansas City Star) – Daniel Morton became the first Kansas City parks board commissioner from Platte County on Thursday.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser announced his appointment at a press conference at the Line Creek Community Center. Morton replaces Meg Conger, who stepped down to work for Councilman Russ Johnson.

“Dan will be a passionate voice for Kansas City parks,” Funkhouser said. “I am convinced that he will represent the city well and that he will look for innovative ways to improve an already outstanding parks and recreation department.”

Morton said he was gratified to be appointed.

Morton has a financial background. He also is a soccer coach for his son’s high school team and has ridden the Katy Trail from end to end with his children.

Mayor Calls For Moratorium On Home Foreclosures in Missouri

Kevin Collison (The Kansas City Star) – Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser wants Missouri to temporarily halt foreclosures until banks sort out allegations that people around the country are losing their homes due to questionable documentation.

At a Monday news conference hosted by Communities Creating Opportunity, an advocacy group, the mayor asked Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to impose a foreclosure moratorium.

“The market is broken at the moment, and we need to take time to repair it,” Funkhouser said.

Allegations that foreclosures were issued without mortgage documents being properly reviewed, or at worst fraudulently prepared, have created uproar nationwide, with some in Congress urging an investigation.

Six other state attorneys general have suspended foreclosures to investigate the allegations.

They’re reacting to a recent decision by three major lenders, GMAC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, to suspend foreclosures while they review how documents are being handled.

Koster could not be reached for comment.

At this point, the White House is resisting calls for a nationwide moratorium.

Although the mayor and CCO representatives could not cite examples of local residents losing their homes because of the improper paperwork, they said foreclosures have harmed the city. Out of the 10,000 houses currently vacant in Kansas City, Funkhouser said 3,000 are owned by banks.

“Homes owned by banks and other lenders are not an economic benefit to Kansas City,” he said. “Homes owned by homeowners are.”

There were foreclosure filings on 1,923 homes in the Kansas City metropolitan area in August, up 26.5 percent from the same month a year ago, according to the latest report by the research firm RealtyTrac.

One in every 451 housing units in the area received a foreclosure filing, ranking Kansas City 80th among the 203 metropolitan areas listed by RealtyTrac.

Within the Kansas City area, Wyandotte County had the highest frequency of foreclosures: one filing for every 288 housing units in August, up 41.3 percent from last year. Jackson County reported one filing per 332 units, up 52 percent, Johnson County, one filing per 573 units, down 20.9 percent, Clay County, one filing per 672 units, up 24.5 percent, and Platte County one per 902 units, up 64 percent.

Missouri as a whole reported 4,084 foreclosure filings in August; one for every 652 housing units, and Kansas reported 1,224, one for every 1,002 units. Missouri ranked 23rd in the nation in foreclosure activity and Kansas ranked 36th, according to RealtyTrac.

Kansas and Missouri handle the foreclosure process differently. Kansas is a judicial foreclosure state, in which a court proceeding is required before a foreclosure is filed. Missouri allows the entity that holds the title to initiate the proceeding.

Funkhouser was joined by Kansas City Council members Sharon Sanders Brooks and Melba Curls, who represent the City Council’s 3rd District.

“A lot of foreclosed homes are in the central city, and we’re concerned about this issue,” Curls said.

The mayor said a moratorium would give lenders an opportunity to review their procedures and provide owners more time to resolve their problems and keep their homes.

In its letter to Koster, officials at Communities Creating Opportunity urged the attorney general to halt foreclosures before another family lost their home to a “fraudulent foreclosure process.”

“Testimony from employees … recently revealed that the nation’s largest servicers have been signing off on as many as 18,000 foreclosure papers a month over the last few years without checking whether the information justified an eviction,” the group said.

Funkhouser Chooses Regular Folks Over Special Interest Groups

Web Staff (Fox4KC) — Kansas City, Missouri, has lost its focus, and needs to get back to the basics like new and improved infrastructure, police and schools, according to Mayor Mark Funkhouser in his annual State of the City address on Thursday afternoon.

Funkhouser, repeating the refrain “I choose you,” spoke to around 200 people in City Council chambers, where he addressed the need to focus on neighborhood projects over “glitzy” projects like a new downtown hotel.

“Decades of neglect have left the city with a $13 billion ‘to do’ list,” said Funkhouser, citing the need for infrastructure improvements like sewers, streets and sidewalks as well as more police officers and business development. The mayor also took aim at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, noting that the majority of the members of the organization live outside of Kansas City, Missouri.
“I am tired of being the neglected stepchild of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce,” Mayor Funkhouser said. “We need a Chamber whose sole focus is the retention and growth of business in Kansas City, and jobs for the people living in Kansas City neighborhoods.”

Click here to read Mayor Funkhouser’s State of the City Address.
“I want our Economic Development Corporation and our new Kansas City Chamber of Commerce to focus on helping the businesses we have now succeed and grow right here in Kansas City,” said Funkhouser.
Funkhouser also renewed his pledge to continue to work to stop public spending on a proposed luxury convention hotel downtown.

“Someday it may be a good thing to help finance a new convention hotel and attract larger conventions to Kansas City,” said Funkhouser. “Today is not that day.”

Funkhouser, who is running for reelection following a first term that was often overshadowed by controversy involving his wife’s role at City Hall among other issues, told the audience that he thinks that Kansas City is well positioned as the nation begins to move out of the recession.

“Each of my efforts is designed to move Kansas City forward from the bottom up,” said Funkhouser.