Mayor Funky's incompetence is toxic

I wouldn't dare claim that I was as brilliant as David Mamet but his roughneck style of writing has inspired me.

Back when I was in high school my Dad brought home a movie from the video store that changed the way that I would look at the written word. He rented Glengarry Glen Ross and before the time that I watched the film I never thought that writing could be a "macho" activity. GGR is one of those great movies that provides invaluable life lessons through drama. Thinking about Mayor Funky's Budget mess I was inspired by one of the frequent instances of verbal cruelty in the modern business epic . . . The aftermath of this budget mess reminds me of a scene in which Al Pacino's character chastises an incompetent manager played by Kevin Spacey. The exchange (featured above) I think captures just a bit of Kansas City's frustration with our Mayor.

THE MOST TRAGIC THING IN ALL OF THIS IS THAT MAYOR FUNKY'S INCOMPETENCE CAUSED DAMAGE TO KANSAS CITY'S POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS!!!

What happened here was simple . . . The Mayor opened his big mouth without knowing the score, without thinking about repercussions, without any real planning. I guess that was the problem with electing someone who wasn't a politician - It turns out Funkhouser had no idea about the real duties of elected officials. Making speeches is the least important, albeit most visible, part of it all. Unfortunately, Funkhouser has been too arrogant, stubborn and narcissistic to learn while he's on the job.

And Kansas City is paying the price for his mistakes.

It gets worse . . .

TKC ACTUALLY AGREED WITH THE MAYOR ON MOST OF HIS BUDGET STATEMENTS!!!

Should Kansas City pay for the Chiefs if we never signed a contract?

OF COURSE NOT!!!

And more than anything I WANTED TO AVOID ANY CUTBACKS TO THE KCPD!!!!

But I knew that Funkhouser wasn't serious with his words on the subject. Talk was already circulating that the Mayor wasn't working with anybody to accomplish his agenda and he was hiding, isolated from City Hall at his Brookside residence and at the Library.

The petulant Mayor still hasn't realized that politics is about give and take and the soul crushing business of trading favors. His childish tactics that refused compromise at every turn have made him irrelevant at City Hall. Funkhouser is someone who must be avoided or ignored or else his fumbling could cause damage to those in his immediate vicinity. And that's what happened to the KCPD. So many were counting on Funkhouser to achieve some kind of victory because budget matters were allegedly his area of expertise - Those hopes have now been exposed to reality and all of Kansas City has seen that the Mayor's alleged financial acumen was nothing more than a myth.

Without out a doubt:

MAYOR MARK FUNKHOUSER FAILED THE KCPD AND HAS JEOPARDIZED THE SAFETY OF OUR STREETS!!!

Leadership by press conference doesn't work in this town. Big talk about Kansas City's priorities doesn't carry any weight when the Mayor can't be bothered to speak to his own Finance and Audit Committee Chair, an ally in many instances, about his upcoming plans.

Frankly, I don't know what caused the Mayor's latest budget implosion. While everyone else was worried about City Finances . . . Maybe he was working too much on his second job. Whatever the case may be . . . At the conclusion of budget talks, Funkhouser only put on a predictable, meaningless show when Kansas City needed real leadership.