By DAVID MARTIN
Ed Wolf's nearly 200-page deposition has provided a lot of infotainment for people who follow the Appalachian-Neapolitan soap opera in the Kansas City mayor's office. First lady Gloria Squitiro's alleged penchant for the inappropriate and Wolf's "mother-in-law on honeymoon" money quote have received the most attention. Less eye-catching but also interesting is the discussion about Squitiro's status as a Funkhouser's campaign manager.
Squitiro described herself as her husband's campaign manager in an interview with a Kansas City Star reporter over the summer. Squitiro used her work on the campaign to justify her prominent role in the mayor's office, reportedly telling Star writer Stacy Downs that campaign managers commonly take jobs in new administrations.
I didn't cover the 2007 mayor's race on a day-to-day basis, but it was news to me that Squitiro was the campaign manager. Apparently, it was news to others as well.
Wolf was deposed by an attorney for Ruth Bates, a former Funkhouser aide who alleges discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment in a lawsuit. The attorney, Lynne Bratcher, asked Wolf who the campaign manager was at the beginning of the campaign. Wolf said it was Jeff Simon, a lawyer at Husch Blackwell Sanders.
Bratcher followed up. "Had you ever heard that someone else acted as campaign manager besides Mr. Simon?" she asked.
Wolf: "Subsequent to that. Recently, I think the mayor has stated that Gloria Squitiro was the campaign chairman."
Asked about Squitiro's duties, Wolf began by describing largely clerical duties -- working with poster makers and vendors, summarizing invoices -- that Squitiro performed. Wolf said Squitiro also attended public meetings and participated in strategy sessions, but he did not indicate that she played a leading role in these activities.
Reached Friday afternoon, Simon tells me that he doesn't recall anyone having the title of campaign manager. "It was a pretty flat, informal group," he says.
Simon officially chaired Funkhouser's campaign committee, but he doesn't put a lot of stock in the designation, saying, "whatever that meant." Simon intimates that if anyone deserved the title of campaign manager, it was Britt Nichols, whom Simon refers to as the "nuts-and-bolts guy." Simon says Nichols plotted the calendar, handled voter lists and marshaled volunteers. Nichols is also listed as the contact on press releases the campaign sent out.
And Gloria? Simon says she checked e-mail, handled phones and worked with Joe Miller, Funkhouser's recently departed communications director, on campaign mailers.
"Like I said, nobody really had a title," Simon adds.
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Of course Gloria was the Funk campaign manager. What do you think the second star near FUNKHOUSER was for?
Free 8 1/2 inch by 17 inch Recall DaFunk derivitive of orginal campaign sign available.
Citizens For A Better Veterans Home
263 Eucalyptus Court
Chula Vista
CAlifornia
91910-3030
donlake@ymail.com
to all of you whom left messages, phone numbers and postal addresses: plz contact us again if you want the November 15th Recall DaFunk signage.
News Flash [not really] Editor and Publisher will be renaming their 2009 EPPY print news letter award[s] ---if they have any......
The MoKan FALLING STAR metorite:
The 2008 EPpy� Awards competition is expressly designed to honor Internet sites affiliated with the media industry; especially newspapers, television and radio networks and affiliates, syndicated shows, and magazines.
Formerly a competition for the interactive newspaper industry only, the 2008 EPpy� Awards acknowledges that all media sites compete for users and revenues in the maturing Internet business. And it acknowledges the broadened scope of the Interactive Media Conference and Trade Show, presented by Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek. The awards will be presented at the Interactive Media Conference and Trade Show, May 14-15, 2008, at the Rio in Las Vegas.
The e-commerce application is designed for eligible companies to enter their Internet services to compete for honors in the 2008 EPpy� Awards competition. It features a shopping cart to enable you to enter multiple contest categories and check out just once. And it is equipped with Verisign�s automatic credit card authorization and debiting system.
See the 2007 EPpy Winners.
....so the Media Print dinosuars have awards for enews. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
The 'Throwing in the Towel' trophies ?????
Nepotism, Big City Mayor working from his home, one screwy deal after another, including a total waste [don't even begin to search the Falling Star] of A QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS on an artsy fartsy ART FENCE around my ole alma mater off of Blue Ridge Extention.
If you MoKan folks do not think you are the butt of post election jokes, wait bout a fort night and see if Leno or Letterman have some thing to say.
Sod busted prarrie dug outs and the transcontinental rail roads were built with sweat and common sense. Not with abused and misused School Board and PIAC funds.
Is it any coincidence that Raytown's scaped to gether funding for a Developement Commmission is almost the cost of REPLACING THE PERFECTLY GOOD chain link round Ruskin>
donlake@ymail.com
619.420.0209, any time
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