Pick One!

Relationship with Kay Barnes: "I think we have a mutual respect. I agree generally with what she's done."

Proudest moments: Leading city negotiations to save 900 jobs at the American Airlines Overhaul Base; championing a Web-based system that allows the public to follow the progress of capital-improvement projects; spearheading the effort to include a bike crossing on the expanded Paseo Bridge.

Should be embarrassed about: Fairfield held a fund-raising reception at the home of Kansas City advertising executive Michael Alexander two days before police discovered child-related pornography in Alexander's home. He also faced questions of pandering to campaign donors earlier this year when he voted in favor of a traffic plea system favored by local lawyers. That same day, he e-mailed his campaign staff to ask what he could expect from the lawyer who had led the effort for the change.

Somewhat revealing personal details: He's a member of the Dancing Dads, a group of fathers who perform before their daughters' dance recitals, and admits to having taken his daughter to Walt Disney World eight times.

Hobbies: Cheering for the Chiefs, playing chess, shopping at Zona Rosa

Before he was famous: He managed a McDonald's restaurant on North Antioch Road for three years.

Looks like: An aging Mr. Kotter

Mark Funkhouser
One-line bio: Funkhouser is a retired Kansas City auditor with man-of-the-people cred who promises to improve citizen satisfaction with city government.

Son of a: His father was a chemical-factory worker, and his mother was a nurse.

Key endorsement: Father Norman Rotert, a longtime Kansas City priest

Rich and powerful donors: Retired Kansas City Southern Railroad president Landon Rowland ($1,275) and his wife, Sarah($1,275); Commerce Bank CEO Jonathan Kemper ($500)

Relationship with Kay Barnes: Ice, ice, baby

Sworn enemies: TIF-addicted development lawyers, metal street plates, Albert Riederer

Proud moment: "Driving down 55th Street with my kids, seeing all the streetlights lined up and working just like they were supposed to." Funkhouser's audits in the '90s led to improvements in the system.

Should be embarrassed about: Appearing too often in Hearne Christopher Jr.'s Star columns, especially those pondering Funkhouser's "hipness" quotient.

Funkhouser got headlines for posting to his Web site this video:

Potentially unpopular position: Funkhouser got the city to stop paying out of its general fund for indigent care at Truman Medical Center and four health clinics. He says the state and federal government should cover those costs. He would use the savings to pay for municipal services.

Misconception: His suggestion that the fire department save money by increasing firefighters' work hours (as allowed by federal law, because firefighters sleep during their shifts) stirred concerns that he's anti-union. But he helped organize the faculty when he taught at Salem College in North Carolina. He's not anti-union, he says. "I'm anti-stupid."

Fashion statement: The color orange. According to his Web site: "I've chosen orange as my official campaign color because it is fast becoming a symbol for change in politics — a shift away from back-room deal making and toward an open style of governance that respects and listens to citizens."

Shocker: At his November press conference announcing his candidacy, Funkhouser choked up when talking about his father, who never graduated from high school. "I'm a blubberer," Funkhouser admitted. "I still believe in my dad."

Somewhat revealing personal detail: Funkhouser feels a kinship with tall, bearded men — his City Hall office was decorated with an Abe Lincoln portrait and a Bill Russell replica jersey.

In college he was: A Tomcat, playing basketball for Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania

Rolls in: Funkhouser squeezes his 6-foot-8-inch frame into a 1997 Toyota Corolla, a 1994 Ford Ranger and a 1999 Honda Odyssey.

Backup plan: If this mayor thing doesn't work out, he'll have more time to write his book (a worldwide study of international government auditing) and teach classes at Park University, the University of Kansas and UMKC.

Hobbies: Playing chess, reading, porch sitting and beer drinking

MySpace song: "The Times, They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan

Looks like: Spock

Stan Glazer
One-line bio: The founder of the Stanford and Sons comedy clubs came in a strong second against Kay Barnes in the 2003 mayoral race.

Campaign gurus: Neighborhood Action Group stalwart Mark Esping; Tom Niffen, former president of the Northland Democratic Club and an unsuccessful 2006 candidate for state representative from the 34th District

Rich and powerful donors: Mark One Electric's well-known Privitera family ($4,200). Carl Privitera Jr., is Glazer's campaign treasurer.

Big fan: Shriner Skip Sleyster, who includes a weekly endorsement of Glazer in his Sunday Kansas City Star ad, "One Moment of Your Time, Please"

Previous careers: Glazer has been a male model as well as an entrepreneur who founded an auto auction at 48th Street and Troost and the 150,000-square-foot Sav-On department store. Later, he started a chain of self-named restaurants and comedy clubs. He likes to say that Sav-On introduced the shopping cart.