Facing recall, Funk kept lid on campaign chest

By David Martin in Martin, Politics

Wed., Jul. 15 2009 @ 12:45PM

Facing a potential recall, Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser raised no money in April, May and June, according to campaign-finance records made public today.

It's been reported that philanthropist Julia Irene Kauffman made a $10,000 donation to Funkhouser for Kansas City on July 1. But aside from the receipt of that generous contribution, Funkhouser was unwilling or unable to muster financial support at a time when a ragtag group of antagonists nearly forced a recall vote.

The most recent reporting period for political campaigns coincides neatly with the recall effort. The Committee to Recall Mark Funkhouser filed the paperwork necessary to begin the process on April 6. The group submitted its petitions on May 25. Election authorities eventually determined that recall organizers had gathered 16,821 valid signatures -- 129 short of the requirement. The stop-the-Funk group called it quits on June 15, citing the cost necessary to demand a recount.

Funkhouser said he was unconcerned about the recall effort, and his fund-raising (outside of Mission Hills, where Kauffman resides) supports that assertion. As of June 30, Funkhouser for Kansas City had a mere $505.80 in the bank. Funkhouser personally loaned the campaign $1,000 in April to keep its checks from bouncing.

That the mayor wasn't amassing campaign wealth halfway through his first term is not necessarily indicative of a lack of support or effort. I checked the campaign-finance reports of Kay Barnes, Funkhouser's predecessor, and she too was broke at the midpoint of her first term.

But Barnes wasn't facing a recall that Funkhouser was very lucky to avoid.