By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Ed Wolf's remarks about how Mayor Mark Funkhouser runs his office provided good and bad news for the mayor and wife Gloria Squitiro.
The positive news, based on excerpts in today's Star:
Wolf says he did not hear Squitiro call mayoral aide Ruth Bates "Mammy," a derogatory term for a black woman.
It's also the word that has spawned a lot of controversy about why Funkhouser even allowed Squitiro to "volunteer" in his office. (Let's face it; she was really working there, just not being paid.)
Wolf's comments could be seen as exonerating Squitiro, although I hasten to add there's plenty of testimony still to come from other mayoral aides.
Now for the bad news from the deposition:
Wolf said he thought Squitiro should not be in the mayor's office because it smacked of nepotism.
He said Squitiro's presence had a negative effect on people paid by taxpayers to work in Funkhouser's office.
One employee got migraines because of Squitiro, Wolf said, and another eventually quit because she said she didn't like being called Bernie Mac by Squitiro (although Wolf says he only found out about that afterward).
Wolf's accounts help the mayor and his wife a bit even while painting the picture that most Kansas Citians see now: Squitiro's role in the mayor's office improperly disrupted the work being done there.
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Big Ed Wolf
I have been dwelling upon the testimony of Big Ed Wolf. And what I think we learned was how much money was wasted on hiring such an "essential worker" who really never knew much about what was going one, never really had a substantive talk with the Mayor about anything or the people under him and never bothered much to find out what was going on in the Mayor's office. Oh, lest I leave it out, never once asked any "hard" questions of anyone... leaving all that went on unattended to by himself since he never knew anything was amiss.
In fairness, I don't believe he was telling the truth. It can't be that Big Ed Wolf is that clueless and witless.
We will just have to wait on the rest of the cast members i this show to see if anyone steps up and tells the cold, unvarnished truth. Wasn't that something promised to us by the Funk????? At least whe he was running for Mayor and was the erstwhile leader of the Orange Revolution. Well, we know what happened to the Orange Revolution, don't we?
Long live the Orange Revolution, the Orange Revolution is dead.
mainstream
He didn't miss anything... as much as he is in his cut the Funk loose mode, Yael can't help himself and is trying to play both sides of the fence by omitting anything really awful from Big Ed Wolf's deposition.
Sitting on two toilets isn't going to help you escape the fallout of the downfall of the Funk Yael.
Cut him loose and help do him in. It may not help you avoid what you have coming to you but if you still act the way you acted here, certainly you will fall too!
First paragraph restated, typos
to be clear:
Wolf indicated that people were taking direction from Gloria. He also indicated she interviewed people for jobs in the mayor's office. She attended staff meetings, and employees were told by Funkhouser that she was his surrogate.
You Avoided Or Missed The HUGE News, Yael
Wolf indicated that people were taking direction from Gloria. he also indicated she interviewed people for jobs in the mayor's office. She attended staff meeting, and employees were told by Funkhouser that she was is surrogate.
That's the big news. Really big news.
With corroborating depositions to come I am sure, there is now a solid case to be made of nepotism - Gloria was acting in a managerial role, paid or unpaid.
This makes a clear case for nepotism, and when it's proven Funkhouser is gone, no messy recall required.