A reader named John wrote us on May 9 to ask for some help getting news he ought to have read in his daily paper. "Some of us would like to see the complete list of contributors to the Funkhouser inauguration festivities, but The Star only published the list in its $400-a-year blog. Could you please publish the list in your paper?" he wrote.
Sure, John, we're happy to help. Especially considering the irony: The same day John wrote to us, The Kansas City Star criticized the new mayor’s inauguration as elitist.
The problem began when the Star pimped in the print version of the paper that a full list of donors to Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s gala would be available online. The problem is that it’s available only to those who pay for the paper’s “Prime Buzz” blog.
If you haven’t been reading about it, this is a four-month-old service that’ll run you $395 a year. For that kind of dough, you get to read content that often ends up in the paper the next day. The service has earned criticism from local bloggers, who argue that a blog, by definition, should be free. (On a side note, Prime Buzz is offered up along with a PhotoShopped picture that shows the Kansas City skyline and the Missouri and Kansas state capitols jutting, just a few miles apart, out of a thicket of trees. This shot seems as devoid of reality as the idea that someone should pay for a blog.)
Since we here at the Pitch have lived comfortably without paying for Prime Buzz, we instead asked Funkhouser's office to send over a list of all the donors. So here it is, free of charge:
$10,000 sponsorsAmeristar Casino, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Troy Stremming
Blackwell Sanders, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Ron Finley
Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Ron Coker
DST, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Tom McDonnell
Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Pete Levi
Heavy Constructors, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Edward DeSoignie
J.E. Dunn Construction, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Woody Overton
Walton Construction, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Dennis Thompson
$5,000.00 Sponsors
Kansas City Southern, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Warren Erdman
Lathrop & Gage, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Jean Paul Bradshaw
Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: John Peterson
Time Warner, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Damon Porter
UMB, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Peter deSilva
Wal-Mart, Bentonville, Arkansas; Contact: Carrie Thum
$2,500 Sponsors
American Century Investments, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Bill Bates
Black & Veatch, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Teresa Loar
BNIM Architects, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Steve McDowell
Cerner, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Amanda Adkins
Crawford Architects, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Stacey Jones
Home Builders Association, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Dave Holtwick
Kansas City Power & Light, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Elizabeth Danforth
Kansas City Association of Realtors, Leawood, Kansas, Contact: Derek Ramsay
Stewart Law, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Shawn Stewart
$1,000.00 Sponsors
ArmstrongTeasdale, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Ford Nelson
Boulevard Beer, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Bob Sullivan
Greater KC Building & Trades Council, Independence, Missouri; Contact: Gary Kemp
Dickinson Financial, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Ann Dickinson
Environmental Coatings, Ammon Painting, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: David Ammon
Garrison Companies, Prairie Village, Kansas; Contact: Gary Hassenflu
Heartland Apartment Association, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Samuel V. Alpert
HDR, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Monica Barrington
Isle of Capri Casino, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Mike Tamburelli
King Hershey, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Mike Burke
Mark One Electric Inc., Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Joe Privitera
MGE, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Rob Hack
McGownGordon Construction, Kansas City, Missouri; Brett Gordon & Pat McGown
Michael Meriman, Americo Life Inc., Kansas City, Missouri;
RICOH Business Systems, Overland Park, Kansas
The Builders Association of Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Dan Morgan
The Paradies Shops, Kansas City International Airport, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Elliott Threat
TransSystems, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Mark Shafer
$500 Sponsors
Commerce Bankshares, Kansas City, Missouri; Contact: Jonathon Kemper
Phil Orscheln, Sildon Law Firm, Kansas City, Missouri
-- Eric Barton
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Wow! Funkhouser did this?? Took this much money from these influence peddlers??? Wow again! I guess it didn't take long for him to swallow the hook of greed and insincerity that comes with political office. Well, at least he has shown that his "team" knows how to raise money... thanks g-d to Mr. James Nutter... Senior and Junior.
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