By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Mark Funkhouser's public approval rating has fallen to one of the lowest ever for a Kansas City mayor.
It was around 35 percent about a month ago. And his unfavorable rating?
It had skyrocketed to almost 50 percent, an unheard-of poll number in Kansas City, where people habitually love their mayors.
And these results measured public opinion before Kansas Citians became aware of the latest unprofessional moves by Funkhouser.
They include suing the City Council and working from home more often to be near wife Gloria Squitiro.
Plus, the poll was taken before the Funkhouser-led light-rail initiative failed at the polls on Nov. 4 and before the release of a disappointing citizen survey on how City Hall is providing basic services.
If anything, the mayor's favorable rating is likely worse now than a month ago.
The results make the strong point that -- while Funkhouser had weathered previous controversies -- they have now weighed down his popularity with rank-and-file Kansas Citians.
This is also a sharp turnaround from late August, when The Star reported that Funkhouser's poll numbers were "roughly equivalent to almost every mayor of the last three decades."
And that meant a favorable rating above the 50 percent mark, where Kay Barnes, Emanuel Cleaver and Richard Berkley usually were during their terms over the last two decades.
But now, Funkhouser appears to be in uncharted waters for a KC mayor.
The best way for the mayor to reverse his unfavorable numbers is to start working on City Hall's long list of challenges, especially in a tight economy.
That means cooperating with the City Council on ways to improve city services, to shape a responsible budget and to get a responsible sewer-repair plan to the public.
This is the kind of difficult work the old Funkhouser would have tackled with relish.
Right now, though, his attention is diverted by his unproductive battle with council members over Squitiro's future at City Hall.
That's unfortunate, because Kansas Citians need an effective and popular mayor now, more than ever.
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KC Fella/Inafunk, it's time to embrace Yael the convert on this!
!
Why did it take a month for Yael to find this?
Why does he post 6 times a day with most if not all of what he posts being irrelevant?
1) he's trying to find a topic that his readers care about?
2) maybe he's fighting for his job and trying to show the Z Man how productive he is
3) maybe he's a sadomasocistic fruitball and enjoys being belittle by some of what once were loyal readers
4) maybe he's off the Earth like his friends the Gruesome Twosome and just wants to see his byline on the blog
Don't know and don't really care any more...
CAUTION: Online Self-Selecting Surveys Are Not Valid
Online polls are not even close to being valid. People that volunteer their opinion, especially online, do notrepersent anything close to a representative-random sample.
The results are worthless.
If you want to make a statement, sign an online petition.
No one will take an online poll seriously.
Vote of Confidence
Here is a citizen driven citizen satisfaction survey for all those who may not have been polled. The early numbers are reinforcing data coming from the official survey and the poll referred to in this article.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=zVFsyw6KR75d_2fk56xuXjKA_3d_3d
Click or cut and paste the link into your browser if the click doesn't click.
Why did it take a month for Yael to find this?
One more example of Yael feeling the need to post at least 6 times every day, even if he posts things that are not news, old news, or things nobody but him cares about.
A month ago I might have found this post engaging, but now it is just a footnote on history and not worth the electicity it took to post it.
And by the way, to the poster who hails Funkhouser on his appearance on KCPT today, it might be intersting if he knew anything about the problem -- but he doesn't. He has not devoted enough time to this largest issue facing the City to even learn what the terms mean.
Yael and page 5
Tonight Funkhouser will take part in a live panel discussion airing on KCPT after the national broadcast of “Liquid Assets” a program produced at Penn State University and related to a “bread-and-butter issue” that the Mayor campaigned on! -- The program addresses the deterioration of and upgrading of water systems across the nation, a problem that could cost KC an estimated 4 billion dollars?
SOURCE of the Mayors involvement in this discussion? – About 120 words at the bottom of page 5 of the Kansas City Star -- Yael abracadabra on the same day gets half of an editorial page to trash the Mayors performance and convince their dwindling subscriber base to recall or replace this Mayor with a cadre of their editorial Misfits! Their constant meddling and penchant to force rather than suggest or report change has disabled if not destroyed any hope of Political accord without their Blessing!
Abracadabra will probably share with Funkhouser the discussion of raw sewage on KCPT tonight, a subject of which he can claim some expertise.
There are others that should be included
Everyone knows why the Mayor favorability rating are falling. But Jolly and Ford should be included. Funny that the paper has chosen to ignore that Morton's Steak House is pulling out of KC. One of the major reasons given, the SMOKING BAN, here is one more example of the effect of the person crusade of Jolly and Ford. I know the Star is for the lost of personal freedom, but the cost is being ignored and not reported. Business in Bars and Restaurants were down over 20% prior to the Economic downturn, casinos businesses are down and they run around telling people you can not smoke in the corridor walking out because of these fools worrying about all the wrong things.
Kansas City Star's credit rating plummets(so do # of employees)
KANSAS CITY STAR'S CREDIT RATING PLUMMETS
SO DO NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
Keep up the good work Yael! Keep trying to destroy everything and everyone around you Yael! Your scorched earth policy is coming around!
From KansasLiberty.com: 11 November 2008
In the last five months alone, more than 300 staffers cut loose as readers, advertisers bail.
Kansas City Star to sack 50 more employees as stock hits new low
In a memo to employees Monday, The Kansas City Star's publisher, Mark Zieman, announced that 50 more employees would soon be facing unemployment. Zieman blamed the layoffs on a "harsh economic downturn" during "one of the most challenging years in Star history."
It may also be the last year in Star history if Zieman is unsuccessful in turning around the failing newspaper.
Zieman's memo was just the latest piece of bad news in what has been a very bad week for the Star and for the company that publishes the paper, the McClatchy Company.
A week ago, Fitch Ratings reported that McClatchy is likely to run into cash-flow problems trying to keep its pension fund afloat.
And on November 3, Editor & Publisher, an industry newsletter, reported that McClatchy stock was already suffering from a "low credit rating, which Fitch has assigned deep in 'junk bond' territory with a 'negative outlook' suggesting further downgrades."
Also on Monday, the company's stock price hit a 52-week low, closing at $1.85. Three years ago, the McClatchy's stock was priced above $60 a share.
The job cuts are just the latest round of belt-tightening moves by the paper's owners as the Star seeks a way out of its downward spiral. In June, the paper laid off 120 employees, and in September, another 65 staffers were let go.
and you are just figuring this out now?
Is this another win for the Funk, you buffoon?
And this is before the light rail vote debacle where it is now apparent that Mayor Garnd Funk Railroad hid the results of the Citizen satisfaction survey and hedl back mention of the City's deteriorating finances.
Judgment Day for him is near it appears. And as I predicted, at some juncture even you would turn on him.
As to his 50% disapproval rating... that came even before the Star started to cut him loose and dismantle him. And before you started to beat the drums for his demise.
It isn't pleasant watching you do this to him but he earned it.
It won't be pleasant watching you get yours either. But you have earned it too. Lucky for you, you live in Raytown where knowing you might not be as much of a burden as knowing you will become in Kansas City proper.
Look what you became Abouhalkah. Where did the old Yael T Abouhalkah go?????