Last night among the local Latinos

Because I have other crap to do today I was thinking about skipping the follow up regarding the political forum I mentioned previously . . . But last night was a historical event for the local Latino community in that it was the First Forum Hispanics in KC put together by themselves that featured candidates from across the City.

Yesterday's forum at Guadalupe Center focused on the Latino community was an overwhelming success.

The place was packed with more well more than 100 folks, people were standing and they even had to open up the upper level of the place.

For some background on this that you won't read anywhere else: My mom -- Rita Valenciano basically got the ball rolling on this one. Of course she was helped by a bunch of other people and getting Cris Medina to agree to let Guadalupe Center house the thing was obviously a big break but I was really proud of her on the day after the primary election . . . She was eliminated early in the race and as we were watching TV, I drank bottle of Tecate and cursed at the news casters (like I always do) and she seemed a little down as she polished off one of those goofy Smirnoff wine cooler things and quietly slumped over to go upstairs.

The next day, the very next day she was up early in the morning calling people in order to get the event off the ground. She told me that idea occurred to her in the shower and she had already called friends to get their support . . . I admire her persistence and energy so much especially when I'm still mad about people I never got to tell off in college and other petty stuff that preoccupies my mind . . . The lesson here is simple: Don't let anything ever stop you from moving forward, keep the fire, get it on bang a gong and public meetings are just so much more important than page hits.

So without any further ado . . . Here's my stupid review of last night's event of which I was happy to be in no way involved with and only stood in the back and gave nasty looks to anyone who got near me . . . But I digress . . . For this review I'm assigning points on anything that pleases me and the winners will be awarded tortillas since it was a Latino event and as a kid I was awarded for good behavior with tortillas by my Grandma . . . Which I'm still trying to unclog from my arteries to this day.

In the Mayoral race . . . The discussion was close and this award wasn't easy but I have to say that Funkhouser gave the stronger performance in last night's forum.

Smart talk from Funkhouser would win even more support if the guy could crack a smile



Others might disagree. There is no denying that Brooks knew how to work this crowd. He had them clapping, and made them laugh but the substance of Funkhouser's answers were far more direct and clear than the tired old pleasantries put forth by the Mayor pro tem. The best quote of the night was Funkhouser's answer regarding hiring practices in City Hall toward Latinos . . . The former City Auditor gave a detailed account of how he would improve the long, unfixed underrepresentation and I noticed that in that moment a lot of the folks in the crowd started to nod their head. If I have one criticism it's that Funkhouser needs to remember to smile . . . It's trivial and unimportant UNLESS you're in a race against Mr. Personality. I know it's a lot to ask a guy who has worked in some form of accounting to crack a smile but we've seen that his campaign has concentrated a lot of their effort on lightening the guy's image and now I know why . . . In public he seems dour. Of course this isn't the case but so much of EVERYTHING in this society is based on image so it can't be ignored. In the end, a cute canine and poodle based PR can only work so much for a campaign . . . His handlers have to work on this because it does matter to people . . . Had he smiled, Funkhouser would have walked away with the thing hands down. While I still think he won . . . It was by only a slim margin. He gets only one tortilla for a technically brilliant performance that lacked only a little bit of passion:



Beth Gottstein was doggone good!



She was the only politico in this forum with a heckler. But she still put on a heck of a performance and the fact that she has worked in the Hispanic community (for a few months) gave her a little bit of an advantage. Still, it's nice to see this cocktail party candidate get better in addressing a crowd.

I finally figured out that Jan Marcason reminds me of Linda Evans



I hate to say that she won because her competition (Mel Solomon) just kept going on and on about how he was an architect. Statistically, Latinos of Mexican descent don't have a very high rate of academic achievement and by some accounts local Chicanos face a more than 50% drop out rate from high school . . . So nobody was impressed with a guy doing nothing but flaunting his degree. Now, I'm endorsing Solomon because I don't really like women in positions of authority but I have to say that he really needs to work on some semblance of a platform.

Marcason made her points well and seemed to have a bit of understanding about the history of the Hispanic community in KC. Having hung out in JoCO so much, I think Solomon just really wasn't familiar with the area and needs to study up.

Jan Marcason gets a basket of tortilla chips for her solid win . . .



And hopefully they'll make her dreadful potato salad that she serves at all her women's meetings go down a bit smoother.



Cathy Jolly is the cutest politico in Kansas City



You remember that broad in college that you liked? She was a teacher's pet but it somehow didn't make her seem uncool. She may have even talked to you. While you might still remember that young woman . . . Because her restraining order just recently expired . . . In that respect, Cathy Jolly is the embodiment of every goody two shoes you've ever had a crush on.

She's well informed, assertive without being bitchy and just has this nice vibe that's disarming without seeming ditsy at all. I have no idea how she has worked this long in politics without getting the jaded attitude that seems to ooze from every politico in this town but Jolly is just sunshine in a smart business suit. Sadly, she's married with an equally picture perfect family and she represents every fear I have about women being better, smarter and more qualified than I am yet somehow I still don't hate her for it. For showing me that there actually might be some hope on the local political scene . . . I give her the extra special tortilla with the image of Jesus on it.



With that I'm hoping that last night's forum might inspire some more coverage and consideration of the Latino Community in local politics. The people running for office know that there is a very active presence in this town's affairs among this Latinos and it's past time that everyone else get that message as well.