Subject: Ruth Bates

• Daily Briefs in Brief: Funkhouser fires big complainer; Barry Obama puts his dukes up

  May 20, 2008

• Daily Briefs: Creating a hostile work environment for the news since January 2008

  June 5, 2008

• Daily Briefs in Brief: Brad Hugs Twins to His Bare Chest

  July 31, 2008

• Ex-chief of staff felt Squitiro should stay home

  By DAVID MARTIN Ed Wolf, Mark Funkhouser's former chief of staff, compared Gloria Squitiro's presence in the mayor's office to that of a mother-in-law brought on honeymoon. The comments are in a deposition obtained by The Pitch. Update: Here's a copy of the deposition. Wolf, who left the mayor's office in September, answered "yes" when asked if he felt that Squitiro shouldn't be at the office. Wolf stated that he did not make his feelings known, but another former Funkhouser adviser, communic

  November 13, 2008

• Squitiro: Campaign manager ex post facto

  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

  November 14, 2008

• Daily Briefs: Funkhouser; Econocalypse; Brownback

  Dumb-bunny civic embarrassment Mayor Mark Funkhouser's proposal to settle Ruth Bates' lawsuit against him was rejected by the City Council, 2-10. Funkhouser wants to settle because he can TOTALLY WIN THIS THING in court. He was asking for $135,000 to pay off the legal tab incurred by wife Gloria Squitiro's fat, stupid mouth, plus another $40,000 for his attorney. BUT! Councilman Ed Ford said that the council wouldn't approve a settlement unless Funkhouser dropped his crybaby lawsuit against the

  December 5, 2008

• Mayor Funkhouser issues statement on settlement of lawsuit

  The mayor's office just released this statement regarding Mayor Mark Funkhouser's decision to settle his part of the lawsuit filed against him by former office worker Ruth Bates. Funkhouser uses the release to reiterate that he and his wife were the real victims -- he says it all stems from an "abuse of a friendship." The statement follows:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 5, 2008Yesterday, the City Council rejected my proposal to settle the Ruth Bates lawsuit, which had continued to be sensationa

  December 5, 2008

• Squitiro insults Asians, too

  First lady/freak show Gloria Squitiro is an equal-opportunity offender. She says dumb things to Asians, too.An unreported nugget from Joe Miller's recent deposition is his assertion that Squitiro once said, "You no like," to Joan Pu, a Chinese-born policy analyst who works in the office of Mayor Mark Funkhouser.Miller worked on the Funkhouser campaign and served as the mayor's communications director until last month. Miller, a former Pitch staff writer, was deposed by an attorney for Ruth Bates

  December 15, 2008

• Daily Briefs in Brief: No time for blogging

  Since there's nobody I love more than readers of Daily Briefs except for my puppy and my girlfriend IN THAT ORDER, I wanted to express my thanks and gratitude with a traditionally indifferent e-card at absolutely no cost to myself. Obviously, this card would have been my first choice, but unfortunately the American Greetings card company's brain has GONE COMPLETELY INSANE, and they actually charge a subscription fee if you want to send personalized Flash e-cards to your contacts list. So, MERRY

  December 19, 2008

• All You Need Is Love

  January 1, 2009

• Peace, good will and other nonsense that no one around here can muster

  December 25, 2008

• Ed Wolf dogs Mrs. Mayor, and Mary Pilcher Cook hounds the Star

  November 20, 2008

• Pitch Libs

  June 19, 2008

• Dear diary, Gloria Squitiro isn't as articulate as she thought she was

  We made it! Self-proclaimed "Chicken-Shit with an Attitude" Gloria Squitiro included The Pitch in her 35 page manuscript that's sure to grab the attention of book publishers looking for an unstable megalomaniac (she's tentatively title the "book" It All Started When I was Born and C'mon Funk, Move Your Ass -- Gloria Squitiro and the New Politics because it's all about Glo-Squit). Thanks to the intrepid reporters of KSHB Channel 41,  the whole diary/manuscript/whatever you call it came out M

  July 14, 2009

• Council approves Bates settlement offer

   [Updated] The Kansas City, Missouri, council today agreed upon a $550,000 offer to Ruth Bates, a former aide to Mayor Mark Funkhouser. The measure passed 7-3, with Funkhouser abstaining.Bates filed an employment-discrimination in 2008. Her suit alleged racial discrimination and accused Funkhouser's wife and de facto chief of staff, Gloria Squitiro, of making a constant stream of crude sexual remarks.Funkhouser said all along that he would have been vindicated if the case had gone to trial.

  July 23, 2009

• Mammygate over? Only in our dreams

  Best TV coverage of yesterday's settlement in Ruth Bates' discrimination lawsuit against Mayor Mark Funkhouser and the City of Kansas City goes to KSHB Channel 41, where reporter Chris Hernandez got an exclusive sit-down with Bates. Watching what ran on TV last night I couldn't tell if that was a nervous smile on Bates' face or whether she could barely contain her glee over the $550,000 settlement. But the full 9-minute version of Hernandez' interview on the station's Web site is more revealing.

  July 24, 2009

• Top 10 things City Hall could have bought for Ruth Bates' settlement amount

   Now that we've had a few hours to think about the city's $550,000 settlement offer in Ruth Bates' discrimination suit against Mayor Mark Funkhouser and the city, we couldn't help but wonder what else we taxpayers might have done with that kind of money. Off the top of our heads, we coulda...  10. Paid for one study to help us decide whether we need a new convention hotel.9. Hired 5.5 chiefs of staff for the mayor.8. Increased housing for people with AIDS by 58 percent.7. Paid for 10

  July 24, 2009

• Joint statement from Mayor Funkhouser and (some) councilmembers on the Ruth Bates lawsuit settlement

  Joint Statement on Ruth Bates Settlement

  July 31, 2009

• Second volunteer ordinance fails; more Gloria Squitiro on the way?

  ​$550,000 to Ruth Bates later, oversized Vulcan Mayor Mark Funkhouser vetoes the City Council's second attempt at a volunteer ordinance, the Council fails to override Funk's veto and his "Chicken-Shit with an Attitude" volunteer/wife is free to roam City Hall. Deb Hermann, Bill Skaggs, Russ Johnson and Beth Gottstein voted against overriding Funk's veto. Group hug!

  August 14, 2009