Kansas City Mayor Loves His Wife (Too Much?)

Posted by Emily Farris



The mayor of our former and future hometown of Kansas City, MO filed a lawsuit against the city after the City Council banished his wife from City Hall.

Mayor Mark Funkhouser (yes, his campaign ads included "We Want the Funk") says he works better with his wife by his side. And since she's been banned from City Hall, several days a week Funkhouser works from his three-bedroom house.

Is this a tale of true love or creepy codependency?

After Gloria Squitiro successfully ran her husband's mayoral campaign she took a desk nearest his office at City Hall. But after a former mayoral assistant filed a lawsuit that accused Ms. Squitiro, Mayor Funkhouser and the city of creating a "hostile work environment" the City Council passed an ordinance stipulating that elected officials could no longer have relatives working as volunteers in their offices on a regular basis, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"It is bizarre, in a word, for the mayor to sue his own city," says Ed Ford, a member of the city council. "He seems to be saying there's one overriding issue that I care about more than anything else, and that is my ability to spend time with my wife at City Hall."

"It's a classic love story," says Garry Cushinberry, a bank vice president who sat at the mayor's table at an awards dinner Nov. 14. "He's risking his political career for the woman he loves. You have to respect that."

While Funkhouser and his wife have made more than a few rookie mistakes, politically (and this seems to be one of them) we can't help but focus on "a Christmas letter the couple mailed last year to about 100 friends in which Ms. Squitiro described her husband's prostate exam, which she sat in on, at his doctor's office. The letter, excerpted on the Internet, got national publicity."

[WSJ: Kansas City Gives Mayor's Helpmate the Heave-Ho From City Hall

Related:

Barack Obama Loves His Wife

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Justin Timberlake Moves to NYC, We Leave


Comments

Saddened said:

Sorry to say that politicians don't respect family values.

I hope the Mayor wins his lawsuit and forces all the bastards responsible for the lawsuit to lick city hall steps with bare asses and the public allowed to throw darts, and not darts with suction cups- thank you!!

November 21, 2008 2:30 PM

Lauren said:

Did you read the excerpted letter?!? I can't even tell if it's real...

November 22, 2008 8:23 AM

Stacey said:

Oh, the letter is very very real.  The mayor should take his racist, wife and her talk about staff member's penis size home and stay there.  If she wanted to be elected, then she should have put her name on the ballot.  There is so much more to this than what makes national news.  Gloria can volunteer as much as she wants at city hall, just not in the mayor's office.  She doesn't get to hire and fire people and she has been sued for calling a staff member 'mammy'.

December 4, 2008 9:52 PM

About Emily Farris

Emily Farris writes about culture and food for numerous publications and websites you've probably never heard of, including her own blog eefers. Her first cookbook, "Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven" was published in 2008. Emily recently escaped New York and now lives in a ridiculously large apartment in Kansas City, MO with her cat, but just one... so far.

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