Mahoney is saying that the Recall failed by 100-200 signatures.
By city rules, the recall petition needed the signatures of 16,950 registered Kansas City voters to force a recall of the mayor. Sources say recall organizers needed between 100 to 200 more valid signatures.As of 9:18 in the A.M. this story has been out for hours and there's not a peep from The Star because staying relevant isn't important to what they're doing. Still, what I'm hearing is . . . If it's this close . . . Then expect a legal challenge.
Remember another recent petition movement that came up a bit short . . . It was close enough to take a second look in order to "clean" more valid signatures and picked up a few hundred in the process.
I like Mahoney, I think
However, I also remember that he made national news when he got the VP pick wrong.
But I'm perfectly willing to believe the Funky Recall folks came up a 50 signatures short and if the last 7 Funky supporters are willing to believe that story as well then that means the margin is INCREDIBLY CLOSE and Kansas City is going to spend the next 2 weeks in the middle of legal wrangling. As Former Star reporter DeAnn Smith said last night on W-I-R . . . We're looking at "Hanging Chads in Kansas City" which sounds kind of sexy and also means that the former print newsie is letting her hair down . . . Nice.
UPDATE:
WORD IS THE FUNKHOUSER RECALL IS 129 SIGNATURES SHORT WITH 3800 REJECTED!!!
Developing . . .
Links:
The Mayor's (dumbass) response:
Every day since I have been elected has been a challenge. Every issue I have tackled has had opponents. As I said in my State of the City Address, change is hard. My critics, the organizers of this effort, clearly do not like the status quo being challenged. But that is the reason I was elected to begin with. I plan to continue carrying out the agenda I laid out in the State of the City.That almost sounds like an apology but wrongly assumes that this thing is over . . . Also, I keep hearing he's out of town . . . And that kinda sounds more like Kendrick "Lazy Bones" Blackwood who is undoubtedly pissed that he had to work on the weekend.
To those of you who signed the recall petitions I pledge to work harder to gain your trust. I hope you understand that I am doing my best to fulfill my election promises and do what I believe is right for the city of Kansas City.
Anyhoo . . .
Here are just a few songs dedicated to today's drama:
To wit, I think we all know this thing isn't over by a long shot. Less than 1% is insanely close to being kicked out of office. The Star reports that the margin is so tiny that, of course, Funkhouser Recall folks will get a recount. We'll see . . .
In any event and as always, thank you for reading this week. Have a safe and fun weekend.
Yeah. 2 more years of Funkhouser blogging Tony.
ReplyDeleteTony write the names of your Brothers and sisters to make up the difference.
ReplyDeleteTony it is all your fault since you did not turn in your signatures. We have you telling Darla Jaye that you forgot.
ReplyDeleteHaha!
ReplyDeleteWhere were Tony's teabagger fella's
ReplyDeleteGod, I hope Mahoney's wrong...
ReplyDeleteBag me baby
ReplyDeleteDid you see the people who were certifying the votes? Entry level city hall employees, I wouldn't trust the count without another recount and different people certifying.
ReplyDeleteBut I want the Funk!
ReplyDeleteI guess the wife and I should have signed that petition... Durn.
ReplyDeleteNo one "saw" the people validating the signatures, and there are no "entry level"employees in that office.
ReplyDeleteLeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeave the Funk Aloooooooone!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's still up for grabs people.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing this report verifies is that it's really close.
I support Funkhouser, but Darla Jaye said something interesting to Tony a few weeks ago...
ReplyDeleteTony said the number of signatures required for a recall was increased when there was an attempt to recall Sandra McFadden-Weaver, and Darla responded by saying that SMcW deserved to be recalled.
I don't necessarily agree with that... I always felt that her recall was fueled by white people disliking a woman who represented a predominatly black area of the city.
But the point is that if Darla Jaye felt SMcW should have been recalled yet the attempt still fell short, then should the number of required signatures be reduced to it's previous level?
I think that recalls are generally for cry babies, and are a waste of money, but I also think that this is a fair question.
I'm depressed. I hope the recall succeeds.
ReplyDeleteAnd so elbryan, are you telling us you are happy with the state of the city?
ReplyDeletereally?
Didn't McFadden Weaver also lose her law license? Blaming it on race is silly.
ReplyDeleteFunky makes KC politics fun! I say we keep him in office, just to keep things interesting....
ReplyDeletealthough he needs to be gone, we need him and his crackhead wife to stay. who else will provide us with this many laughs and jokes? no one but the "inbred's from brookside".
ReplyDeletebtw, that would be a great name for a show. "the inbred's". mmmm
I'm surprised there were not enough signatures. I signed six times.
ReplyDeletelolzerz
ReplyDeleteSmoking ordinance anyone?
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean Beth won't be Mayor until 2011?
ReplyDeleteThose 4000 signatures that the Election Board threw aside should be reviewed.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the recall committee should retain counsel and ask for court protection of the petition forms RIGHT NOW.
Judges can be reached on Saturday.
Elections boards are not always the best about keeping records unblemished without a court order. There should be no question whether the petitions have been added or subtracted from just because of improper handeling procedures.
Appointed and elected City officials should not just accept the Election Board actions without somekind of secondary review, much like an automatic recount is done in very close elections.
When the difference is only 129 signatures, the 4000 signatures become more than material.
If you think that if it went the other way that Funkhouser would not have done the same thing, well I have a bridge I would like to sell you.
This only serves to revive the need to prosecute on a nepotism charge. He has had his chance to resign, now remove him from office and send him to jail.
ReplyDeleteThose petitions are likely to be evidence in a legal proceeding soon no matter who is declared the winner, so a Judge really should order protection for ALL the forms.
ReplyDeleteWe need a second review!
ReplyDeleteWith 4,000 rejected, how many of them were rejected because the reviewer simply couldn't read the handwriting?
With a second review, I'll bet we'll find way more than 129 valid enties.
This is a travesty, and Wilder better get his ass in gear.
Wilder threatened legal action and that should follow through.
ReplyDeleteThose 4000 purged citizens should have their status verified by accountable officials.
Do we have a statement from the Mayor or is he really out of town like Tony said?
ReplyDeleteThe Mother Ship came and picked him up about 7:30 last night.
ReplyDeleteJeff Roe has too many connections amoung the Republican members of the Board of Elections to trust that this thing was not fixed.
ReplyDeleteWashington, I don't judge candidates by the current state of things, but what they're doing to change them. So what do you think about Barack Obama? He's got to be like our worst president ever, huh?
ReplyDeleteAnd I recognize that Funkhouser has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, but I'd rather have a mayor who is stumbling in the right direction than one who can effectivly rape the tax payers by selling entire city blocks to billion dollar corporations simply to further their political careers and have streets named after them.
And Sandra McFadden-Weaver had issues, but if you don't like a black woman who black people voted for, then quit diverting tax dollars to the Northland, move into her district, and show the residents of the east side a better way. Don't sit around and whine about how their district is making your city suck.
Sandra McFadden-Weaver=Convict
ReplyDeleteEnough Said
I think El Bryan makes the best point in this post. Including Tony.
ReplyDeleteelBryan
ReplyDeleteI am very disappointed in you, I thought in the past you had some modicum of reasoning. Our laws were written for a reason, and when an official has made this many mistakes, it's the right and the will of the people to make changes. I’m sorry, but I’m very proud to be from Kansas City. I am still proud despite the issues that Funkhouser continues to bring on to the City. Funkhouser spoke about making change and working for the "little" people. City services and the people surrounding the heart of a City are very important; and I know you cannot run a City and only focus on its Downtown. But it goes both ways. You must learn to juggle many balls and continue to grow upon the progress Kansas City has made in the last 5 years. How on earth is progress a bad thing? I will be the first to admit, there were some mistakes, but you cannot attack all development because a few things did not work out. And another issue, no one knew we would be in a recession when a majority of these projects were introduced. The worst case scenario has happened, and now we need to deal with it. Clamming up in a little ball and blaming everyone does not fix the situation.
Why not rise up, and deal with it head on. A majority of people on this blog just complain about the past. Stand up and fight for your future. Name one thing Funkhouser has done that is a positive for this City. The role of the mayor is to be the cheerleader and champion of the City. His job is to make things happen and connect the dots. Not one thing has been accomplished since he came into office. And for you to forgive him and say he is stumbling in the right direction??? What exactly is this direction you speak of? I'm sorry, but without developers and certain incentives nothing would be built. Maybe this is how you would rather live, in a doublewide the funk and his wife. I'm against giving away the farm, but TIF is not a bad word. If you knew what you were talking about, you would understand that TIF does not cost the City any money. It's the recapturing of NEW Taxes. The original taxes continue to get paid. So now you have millions of new development that is subsidized by itself. There are a few instances when the City will be asked to help guarantee a project, but you really need to look at the BIG picture. I would trade a few million dollars for a few hundred million in development and progress any day. You must look at the greater good and the overall impact on the City. Would you rather have NOTHING built and no progress??? If so, get out of my City and go to W. Virginia with the Funk. I have worked directly with the mayor and EVERY single time, he cannot follow through with his promises. He hides behind and makes excuses for his failures by saying that he is not a politician. I’m not sure he really understands what job we pay him to do. It’s like paying a man to be the driver of a racecar in the Indy 500 and when the flag drops, all the other cars drive around him. And he looks at you with a serious face and says “I don’t know how to drive car”. And the entire time he had touted himself as the best racecar driver ever.
Explain it to me how on god’s green earth, Funkhouser has been a positive role model for anything in Kansas City. If the man can’t stand up to his wife, how can he stand up to the political pressure and demands that are placed on the individual who is in charge of running a City of 400,000+ citizens? Please, let’s start talking some common sense and truly make a City that is broken; Work.
Elbryan was set up by Jeff Roe. Elbryan is just here to stir thingsup in such a way to keep real reform of city government in the bottle, just like Funkhouser was. Funkhouser was always about cutting costs not improving services. He wanted to turn KC into an East Germany, where the people are kept stupid and poor so that they could be led by an elite of educated and secure.
ReplyDeleteFrom that perspective, the problem with Funk is that he is not mentally stable -- look at all the problems with Gloria, starting with the self-enriching car deal and ending with the two of them going to the bathroom together.
Funk is not right. He is not mentally sound. People like Jeff Roe operate on his behalf, because they appear to be mental cases as well. The tell us that personal greed is the only way to serve the public good.
Funk it is time for you to resign. Go Away!
The only thing Funk plans to do is to say, holding his wife's hand,
ReplyDelete"Fuck you, Kansas City"
That's really been his only game plan.
The only thing Funk plans to do is to say, holding his wife's hand,
ReplyDelete"Fuck you, Kansas City"
That's really been his only game plan.
Funk does not give a damn about anyone but Gloria and him.
ReplyDeleteWho will be the next mayor?
ReplyDeleteDid somebody say Sly?
ReplyDeleteDUH-H-H-H to anonymous who signed it 6 times -- they threw out 5 of those, you only vote ONCE, so you only petition ONCE!
ReplyDeleteYou probably weren't even a registered voter. . .
I am used to Gone Mild making stupid comments with regard to all things Funkhouser, but last night he was STILL defending Semler's bigotry as a good thing and he tried to spin that 80 percent of Kansas City refused to sign the petition. Allt the wort fumes has eroded his brain stem.
ReplyDeleteHe professes to be a Catholic, but no rightious Catholic can defend Semler's bigotry.
I thought Beth was going to be the next mayor.
ReplyDeleteI heard that hundreds of signatures were gathered by pro-Funkhouser forces posing as anti-Funkhouser forces in order to suppress the real total of signers.
ReplyDeleteBasically people signed their name once, and when the real recall supporters showed up, they didn't sign because they thought they were taken care of. But the Mayors Roe-goons tricked them.
BelieveKC, TIFs cost the city money when the projects they develop put tax paying businesses out.
ReplyDeleteFrancis Semler should have been a non-issue. Funkhouser's mistake was putting her ahead of the city's best interests. Once people started whining, he should have just replaced her, whether it was warranted or not, mainly because it was the beginning of the end in terms of him being able to work with anyone to fix things.
But the point is that Funkhouser recognizes that police and education are among the two most important challenges facing the city, and is less concerned with issues like entertainment districts, shopping centers, and making a national name for himself.
And 11:22, it says more about you than me if you believe that the only way I could disagree with you is because Jeff Roe put me up to it.
Crackhead niggers shouldnt have voting rights
ReplyDeleteelBryan
ReplyDeleteAgain, please think before you speak. You should not cave in just because as you stated, "once people started whining, he should have just replaced her" that is the wrong reason to make change. You cant run a city based upon opinion polls, but at the same time you must stand up for your mistakes and when you do go down the wrong road, apologize and extend the olive branch. KC is not kingdom, one mans views do dictate what the rest of us should do. Funkhouser made the mistake of not understanding and not vetting individuals before placing them in positions. With a little forethought there are a thousand other directions Funkhouser should have taken. And that is the number one reason for this recall effort. He does not have the mental ability the be mayor. He should be relieved of his office because he cannot define what is best for his wife and what is best for the City. As for his statement of his wife having an IQ 2 point higher than him. Thats nothing to brag about when your starting off from the single digits.
We, the citizens of Kansas City need to write the City Council and the Attorney General Chris Koster and demand that they look into the allegations of nepotism.
"The Grass Roots" term is not a good term for the people that stood up against the Mayor. The business community needs to do the same and stop worrying about retaliation. This is bigger than just some "locals" angry with funk. He is systematically destroying this City. Financially, emotionally and functionally. I know I am only one person, but I'll be dammed if this continues and we continue to let Funk think he runs this City.
Now is the time to step up, and tell him to step down. How many lawsuits is he going to drag us into??? He is so desperate to prove how smart he is and that he is our only salvation. I'm done with having a man who is always wrong, gets angry, and then takes his ball home.
You already work from home, why don't you just do us all a blessing and just permanently stay there. I know many people that would love to have your job. They would give the hearts and souls to the City and make to make it a great place to live.
WAAAAAH...tough shit, Tony. Maybe your hero Hussein can get his LaRaza nazi appointed to the supreme court, and you can get a brand new boner off that.
ReplyDeleteI am hearing more about Roe being involved with sending "volunteers" to circulate petitions on behalf of the recall effort, which they made sure were bad signatures, names or formats.
ReplyDeleteIt is the same thing that Republican dirty trick artists did to make ACORN look bad in voter registration. (When ACORN caught on they started calling back every new registrant to verify information, and they reported bad actors.) It would not surprise me in the least if Roe brought some of these tactics with him and used them on the mayor's behalf.
The FBI Public Corruption Unit should at least review this situation.
The Anonymous comment immediately above reeks of Roe -- big, fat, sweaty, dirty-butt, Roe Reek.
Jeez TKC. Don't work on sunday? Sometimes shit happens.
ReplyDeleteHmm, you're right... Mark Funkhouser should have checked to make sure that a retired woman who is a committed gardener wasn't equally committed to protecting our borders from illegal immigrants before appointing her to a volunteer position in charge of planting shrubs.
ReplyDeleteWho cares if he's the only advocate for the police this city has? Who cares if he was the only one with enough foresight to say that Wayne Cauthen had a poor vision for this city? He's goofy looking and he has probably had sex with his wife on the 29th floor of City Hall.
That SCREAMS recall.
Nepotism SCREAMS for removal from office and incarceration.
ReplyDeleteAs far as being an advocate for police in this city, Funk ain't it. He did not even show up for the Police Board vote on the Department Budget because he was making money giving a speech in Nebraska. The fucker just does not care about anything that does not enrich him, and then he is NOT "good with the money."
As for Semler she is a racist and so is Gloria. Just like the old Archie Bunker character, they are both too stupid to realize how racist they are but their comments and actions are based on the assumption that people of color are a threat and evil. Racism!
Funk is gone as soon as they simply get somebody who can read bad writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you KC School District.
"Every day since I have been elected has been a challenge."
ReplyDeleteA challenge for the people of Kansas City.
“Close” only counts in hand grandees and horseshoes.
ReplyDeleteelBryan, quit when you're behind.
ReplyDelete