By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

KC Council member Ed Ford continues to snipe away at Mayor Mark Funkhouser. This week on national TV Ford intimated Funkhouser would be forced out of office before his term ends.

It's fair commentary, given some of Funkhouser's odd decisions to try to keep his wife working in his office.

However, Ford's latest idea -- strip the mayor's office of money to pay the legal bills associated with a lawsuit involving the mayor and his wife -- isn't logical.

Ford thinks the money should be taken from the mayor because his staff has shrunk this year and the office has some savings. Plus, he argues, the lawsuit should be paid by the people causing the problem -- the people in the mayor's office.

Sorry, but by that twisted logic, Ford and his council colleagues should be forking over their office funds to defend themselves every time the council gets sued for an action it takes or one that it might take.

Or take it a step further. The volunteers who sit on the police and park boards, plus other city-sponsored groups, can be sued at any time for their actions or potential actions.

Yet the city doesn't strip funds from the boards or commissions to pay to defend the lawsuit.

The City Council should stay out of the business of yanking funds away from another branch of elected government.

It would make the council look immature and petty. Kansas Citians don't deserve more of that kind of behavior at City Hall. We need less.