By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Board
Some KC Council members are angry that Mayor Mark Funkhouser is evaluating their service on council committees. He might change some appointments soon. So talk of revolt is in the air at City Hall.
With due respect to the hard-working members of the council: Get over yourselves.
Few Kansas Citians know or care who's the leader of a council committee. Heck, few people even know the names of most council members.
So who's on a committee and who's leading a committee are really just important to the inside-baseball people at City Hall.
And here's what the City Charter says about those council committees under "powers of the mayor:"
"6) Committee membership. Appoint the members of Council committees, including officers of the committees, to serve at the pleasure of the Mayor."
It doesn't say the council can ignore the mayor. It doesn't say members can decide who's going to serve on whichever panel they want. It doesn't say the mayor has to listen to the pleadings of council members not to "punish" them.
Funkhouser has the perfect right to make reasonable changes. And based on the actions of some council members who haven't supported his views of things (see: Dec. 13 decision to extend contract for City Manager Wayne Cauthen), the mayor would be well within his rights to stack the committees the way he wants.
Of course, Funkhouser has to be careful. He needs council votes to get his programs passed. As the leader of city government, he can't and shouldn't make willy-nilly changes that destroy his credibility or the working relationship with a council majority.
Unfortunately, council members reportedly have held secretive pow-wows to discuss how to respond to whatever the mayor does.
Besides looking desperate and even childish, such meetings ignore the aspects of open government.
(Part 2 later Tuesday morning: What Funkhouser could do with the City Council committees.)
It is time for a little spanking. The fact that they are meeting says that they are falling for the tactics of the most likely to be punished (and deserve it) to cover their backside. The greater good is served if people who exist to stir the pot are removed from authority. Some of these members primary focus is to embarrass the Mayor and insult him publicly (Terry Riley). Some want his job and are looking to defeat his every initiative so they should go. Surely there is some middle ground between the go along idots of the Barnes administration and the power hungry council of today.