Kansas City News Blog

Frequent refinancing has put Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser in a position where he appears to owe more money on his house than it is worth.

In an interview this morning, Funkhouser says that he’s been smart with his personal finances. The debt on the home he and his wife purchased in 1994 is not cause for alarm, he says. “As long I’m making the mortgage payments, you know. I don’t intend to sell it, so I don’t care,” he says.

As was first revealed this week on the blog Tony's Kansas City, Jackson County records indicate that Funkhouser and his wife, Gloria Squitiro, have refinanced their home near Brookside Boulevard on at least a dozen different occasions. The most recent refinancing took place in 2005, when the couple borrowed $445,000 against the home. The county appraiser says the house is worth $293,760.

Asked how he got to a point of appearing to have no equity in his home, the mayor said: “I think I’ve managed my money to achieve the priorities that I’ve had in life. It’s never been my intention to make a lot of money. It’s been my intention to achieve a lot with the money I make.”

Funkhouser says the money that’s been borrowed against the house has been used largely for education. Funkhouser obtained a PhD from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2000. He and Squitiro will have two children attending out-of-state colleges this fall. The couple’s son, Andrew Squitiro, will be a freshman at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. “[T]hat was his first choice, that’s where he wanted to go to school,” Funkhouser says. “And, by God, somehow his old man is going to find the money for him to go to school there.”

Beyond tuition, Funkhouser would not elaborate on how his family spends its money.

“I have a responsibility to tell people where I get my money. I don’t have a responsibility to tell then how I spend it,” he says.

The mortgage documents seem to be at odds with Funkhouser’s work as a crusading city auditor. As a public servant and as a candidate for mayor, Funkouser routinely criticized city agencies and departments for making unwise and uninformed decisions. But he dismisses a suggestion that he’s someone who has preached financial austerity.

“What I believe is that I’m someone who preaches being smart with the money,” the mayor says. “I’m telling you, I think in my private life, I’ve been smart with the money. I’ve achieved quite a bit with what I’ve got.

“But there isn’t any legitimate comparison, really, between how you spend money in your private life and how you spend money in your public life. In my private life, I’m responsible only to my family. In my public life, when I’m spending the public’s money, I’m responsible to the world. I would take significantly greater risks with my own money than I would take with your money.”

Funkhouser also rejects the notion that he’s a risk-averse bean counter. He points to the time in his early 20s when he quit a job in social work in to earn a master’s degree. Last year, he walked away from a six-figure salary to enter a crowded field of candidates running for mayor.

Funkhouser says he’s comfortable with the choices he’s made.

“I second-guess every decision I make 40 times,” he says. “I am constantly critiquing myself, my behavior in my own head and analyzing what I’m doing, whether it makes sense. On the whole, I’m comfortable. I mean, hindsight’s always 20/20.

“On the things that really matter in life, I’ve got a solid marriage. I’ve got two wonderful children who are almost grown. I’ve achieved a lot. I have a reputation in the world of public administration and auditing that’s one of the best in the world. I have lots of education. My children are going to have a good education. I’ve managed to become mayor of one of the largest cities in America in a circumstance that no one but me would have predicted that I would have become mayor.” – David Martin