He�s personally bruised and battered. Then there�s the punishment inflicted on his city�s reputation.
Already reeling from a recent editorial cartoon in The Kansas City Star invoking images of the Ku Klux Klan, he learned that the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps plans to hold its first-ever national convention in Kansas City.
Even for a self-avowed thick-skinned mayor like Mark Funkhouser, the pounding of the last few weeks is starting to add up. The national and local outrage over his refusal to oust Frances Semler from her post on the Kansas City park board is definitely bothering him.
Still, no editorial cartoon or even the planned visit by the Minuteman group has stunned him enough to move his position on the matter one iota. Funkhouser is entrenched. He�s dug in on principle.
On Saturday, the day the public learned the Minuteman group was considering coming to town, I visited Funkhouser at his home.
Sitting at a kitchen table draped with white linen, Funkhouser and his wife, Gloria Squitiro, did their best to explain that he is not a racist, citing personal anecdotes, his track record as an auditor and his views on immigration.
�When I saw the cartoon about the Klan, to me that�s bizarre,� Funkhouser said. �It�s an incredible misrepresentation.�
So where is Funkhouser on the issue right now?
First and foremost, Funkhouser is determined not to bow to external pressure.
�I have made the decision,� Funkhouser said. �The principle is the principle. You shouldn�t abandon your principles just because somebody has opposed them.
�To me, if you are a liberal, if you believe in civil rights, then you believe in freedom of association. You believe in freedom of speech.�
Funkhouser indicated that a Minuteman convention here might not be such a bad thing.
�It�s wrong to try to shut somebody up because they think something different than I do,� Funkhouser said. �Rather than retreating into our silos, we ought to engage people who disagree with us. I think we ought to talk to each other.�
Most of all, Funkhouser is vexed that his views on immigration have never reached the public.
�I�ve articulated my views on immigration, and they have been ignored,� Funkhouser said.
What are those views?
Funkhouser thinks it ought to be easier to immigrate legally. He thinks the process of legal immigration and what he called �the machinery� ought to work better.
But Funkhouser made it clear, he�d come down hard on companies found guilty of hiring undocumented workers.
�Employers who hired undocumented folks � ought to be severely sanctioned and punished,� Funkhouser said.
He�d also like to see our borders made more secure.
On the other hand, he doesn�t think it should be city government�s job to take action against undocumented immigrants. In fact, he�d oppose any proposed law that would require immigrants to show legal documentation before doing things such as renting an apartment.
�We shouldn�t be checking peoples� status,� Funkhouser said.
So how do we get out of this mess?
I propose Semler should tender her resignation a second time, and the mayor must accept it, not so much for Funkhouser but for the city�s reputation.
Funkhouser wouldn�t look like he was caving to pressure, something he desperately wants to avoid.
Unless Semler wants to continue to be a political pinata, she has to know when to throw in the towel.
The freedom of speech and freedom of association issue is Funkhouser�s best defense. But the perception that Kansas City isn�t progressive anymore trumps his defense.
Part of the game is knowing when to stand on principle and when to play politics. This is just one of those rare times when politics and a city�s economics must supersede personal principles.
