By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
The passage of the KC budget Thursday came after four days of intense politicking inside and outside City Hall.
Here's some of how the deal went down, day by day:
MONDAY
Officials with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce host City Manager Wayne Cauthen and a few other top city staffers.
Cauthen's message: He doesn't want to cut the budget too much in one year, especially through personnel reductions.
Later that day, the chamber's executive board meets with Mayor Mark Funkhouser. He's appalled to learn the board wants to take Cauthen's side in the budget debate; Funkhouser has been campaigning for deep budget cuts immediately.
The chamber board votes to endorse the go-slow approach.
TUESDAY
In an extraordinary session at City Hall, Cauthen and a phalanx of his top managers meet with City Council members Deb Hermann and Jan Marcason.
The two council members are the leaders of the effort to make dramatic budget changes, including freezing up to 275 city positions and eliminating more than 150 positions.
The city staffers tell both council members (and Funkhouser, who's there as well) that the city simply can't make such dramatic reductions in one year. It will take at least three years, according to the city staff.
But Marcason holds firm, at one point reportedly telling Cauthen she and Hermann have the votes to pass the tough-love budget.
Late Tuesday, Cauthen sends a message to the council members: He wants to meet with each one, individually, for 30 minutes on Wednesday.
He also puts out a lengthy, last-gasp memo, again saying that the Hermann/Marcason plan is too drastic and must be changed. But he also shows his hand, saying he agrees with parts of it.
WEDNESDAY
In an intelligent move, Hermann and/or Marcason decide to sit in on every meeting Cauthen has with a council member.
That enables them to argue their case -- and to watch for Cauthen's spin on the budget figures.
The sessions don't have their intended effect, at least from Cauthen's point of view.
Council members who might oppose the budget are left to argue for putting small amounts of money back into the budget.
Swing voters on the council such as Cindy Circo, Cathy Jolly and Ed Ford don't switch to the city manager's position.
By 4 p.m., a harried but determined Marcason shows up at a sewer funding task force she leads. "It's a miracle" that the budget is holding together, she jokes. More seriously, she says it's taken a lot of hard work.
THURSDAY
While rumors of last-minute deals swirl at City Hall, Hermann and Marcason have a signed deal with Cauthen: He now supports their tighter budget plan.
In a face-saving move for Cauthen, the final points of the deal are put out around noon on his stationary, but also signed by the council members.
Meanwhile, Funkhouser fires off an angry memo to chamber leaders, decrying their irresponsible position on the city budget.
During council debate, only John Sharp talks against the budget.
At one point, he talks almost wistfully of the time earlier in the week that he and his side may have had at least 6 votes to save more programs and personnel.
But it's too late now. Hermann, Marcason, Funkhouser and the council beat back any attempt to dilute the budget-cutting efforts.
The final vote: 12-1 in favor of trimming 180-plus city positions and freezing another 245, almost exactly as Hermann and Marcason had first sought weeks ago.
Yael T. Abouhalkah is a member of The Kansas City Star's Editorial Board.
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posters scratch surface of council relationship
The missing thread is how their relationship and competitiveness impacted the budget. Funk must take the reins and lead or this council will continue to claw over each other on their quest for his seat at the table.
Let’s count Mayoral hopefuls. Ford came out swinging early but will never pull the trigger to actually run unless it is a sure win and Mayor’s races never are. Ford has been challenged head on by Jolly who took the opposing view on the smoking ban after promising her support based on a private businesses rights and not on smoking good or bad. Ford is right on that one and it shows his superiority over Jolly in looking after the small business community and keeping campaign promises made as a candidate. Jolly did not and this will be discussed for a long time to come. Jolly looks more and more like Chuck Eddy, easily led.
Terry Riley is hoping to land somewhere other than jail which looks more likely than being Mayor at this point.
Hermann tries to lead but no one wants to follow and that frustrates the second termer. Skaggs likewise.
Marcason and Circo have potential because their manner and ego doesn’t seem out of control. Hard workers who just want to do a good job knowing that the Mayor’s office is unlikely for either.
Sanders Brooks and Curls are irrelevant for the most part. Their effort is the only thing holding them back from doing more.
Sharp has potential but he has to get off the sinking ship with Riley and Cauthen and find his own way.
Johnson wants to be an in district guy and tells everyone that he doesn’t want to be concerned with city wide squabbles. That ought to keep him from rubbing anyone the wrong way and assure his reelection but nothing more.
misplaced loyalty the response
As members of the city council, their loyalty should be with their leader, the Mayor.
First off, the council people do not consider Funkhouser to be their leader or anyone's leader. He has earned this scorn.
They do not owe it to their employee, Wayne Cauthen, to save face on his budget...
Second, I don't know what the council people think of him or even if they are thinking of anything. Their relationship with Cauthen has elevated him to the status of an equal and integral part of the process. Maybe they think he knows how everything works and since the Funk was supposed to fill that role and didn't, they feel Cauthen is the only one left to turn to. To tell you the truth and much to my surprise, the Funk didn't show the much anticipated mastery of the budget process that we all expected from him. Just a further example of the skill set we thought he brought to the table and wound up leaving at or outside the front door of the Mayor's Office.
This is an unusual situation where the manager publicly challenges the Mayor
Yes, Yael, this is an unusual situation indeed. You forget to mention that while all this was working its way out and into a budget, the Funk is still trying to get Cauthen fired. Oops!
The council's continued punishment of Funk by supporting Cauthen right or wrong and allowing their employee to challenge them publicly is not productive.
Last, I don't think has given them much choice. Like it or not, he has turned everyone off. Except maybe for you and the Squid and Bill Drummond, the Glass Guy from the Crossroads who claims to be everyone's friend. I don't think they are punishing him... I think he turned them off and has shown no special insight into the budget process so it's juust that they are not listening to him and ignoring him. ANd I haven't seen much reporting on the Squid's role in the budget process... it can't be that she's sitting it out. So I suppose she is creating some type of distaste or disgust and havoc and you are, as usual, covering for them and not telling us the whole truth.
Condensed version, a responsible Council and staff did the job
Continued casting of Cauthen as the villain, Funkhouser as the hero, and councilmembers as easily manipulated personally motivated sheep does nobody in the story justice.
The consensus budget compromise is the story to emphasize over any subjective score card of winners and losers. Success for one was success for all as the Mayor graciously acknowledged after the vote.
Misplaced loyalty
As members of the city council, their loyalty should be with their leader, the Mayor. They do not owe it to their employee, Wayne Cauthen, to save face on his budget, they owe it to their colleague and leader, Mark Funkhouser. Face saving gestures are for political reasons and Cauthen is not supposed to be a politician. That budget is ultimately a council budget and if any letterhead should have been used it should have been the Mayor and Council's. Cauthen,s competitive stance against the Mayor on the budget is evidence that he is not the right fit for a Funkhouser administration. This is an unusual situation where the manager publicly challenges the Mayor and it is the fault of the council for creating this monster. How long will we all pay for Funkhouser's mistake in handling the Cauthen contract? The council's continued punishment of Funk by supporting Cauthen right or wrong and allowing their employee to challenge them publicly is not productive.