We decided to try to do things a little differently today for Straight Talk with Funk VI, VII & VIII.
CLICK HERE for a stand-alone video player.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Straight Talk with Funk III, IV & V
Mark's vision for Kansas City.
Mark's background.
Mark's experience as auditor.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Straight Talk with Funk I & II
For the next week or so, I'm going to turn this blog into a vlog.
On Saturday, I sat down in front of a video camera and talked for a while about my background and experience, my hopes and plans for Kansas City. With the help of some technically savvy friends, I broke the interview down into a series of short films I'll be posting here this week.
I hope you find them interesting.
The first two are about why I want to be Mayor, and why I think I'd do a good job.
P.S. If you think like any of these videos, please feel free to e-mail them to your friends!
On Saturday, I sat down in front of a video camera and talked for a while about my background and experience, my hopes and plans for Kansas City. With the help of some technically savvy friends, I broke the interview down into a series of short films I'll be posting here this week.
I hope you find them interesting.
The first two are about why I want to be Mayor, and why I think I'd do a good job.
P.S. If you think like any of these videos, please feel free to e-mail them to your friends!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Well, I guess it's official: I'm now an Internet star. The enormously popular blog Tony's Kansas City has featured me in a YouTube video:
It was great to finally meet Tony (I guess it says something about me if I'm "important' enough to lure him out of his mom's basement). But it's more exciting to be a part of the amazing things that are happening with the Internet.
I've said over and over that my number-one priority is to increase citizen satisfaction with City government. Well, one area where we're not satisfied is in the way City leaders communicate with regular folks (or, more accurately, the way they don't).
Consider this:
One way we can change this is by communicating with folks in the ways we're already communicating with each other. And this means not only that City leaders need to get in there and start blogging too, but that we need to help bloggers to get more and better information so that they can be more effective in spreading their message.
(BTW, Tony, LOVE George Clinton track!)
It was great to finally meet Tony (I guess it says something about me if I'm "important' enough to lure him out of his mom's basement). But it's more exciting to be a part of the amazing things that are happening with the Internet.
I've said over and over that my number-one priority is to increase citizen satisfaction with City government. Well, one area where we're not satisfied is in the way City leaders communicate with regular folks (or, more accurately, the way they don't).
Consider this:
- 72.7 percent of Kansas Citians are not satisfied with how City leaders are keeping them informed about what's going on.
- 83.2 percent of Kansas Citians are not satisfied with how City leaders have engaged the public in decision making.
- 79 percent of Kansas Citians are not satisfied with the leadership of the Mayor and City Council.
One way we can change this is by communicating with folks in the ways we're already communicating with each other. And this means not only that City leaders need to get in there and start blogging too, but that we need to help bloggers to get more and better information so that they can be more effective in spreading their message.
(BTW, Tony, LOVE George Clinton track!)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
My campaign continues to make news. In case you've missed it:
Barbs Start Coming
KC Buzz Blog, January 23
Push-and-Shove Among Kay Barnes, The Chamber, and Mark Funkhouser Continues
KC Buzz Blog, January 23
Funk on Street Junk
KC Buzz Blog, January 23
Ex-Auditor Criticizes Sprint Center Deal
Kansas City Star, January 23
Where's the Funky, Mr. Funkhouser?
Kansas City Star, January 21
Funkhouser Announces Plan for Pesky Metal Plates
Campaign Release, January 23
Barbs Start Coming
KC Buzz Blog, January 23
Push-and-Shove Among Kay Barnes, The Chamber, and Mark Funkhouser Continues
KC Buzz Blog, January 23
Funk on Street Junk
KC Buzz Blog, January 23
Ex-Auditor Criticizes Sprint Center Deal
Kansas City Star, January 23
Where's the Funky, Mr. Funkhouser?
Kansas City Star, January 21
Funkhouser Announces Plan for Pesky Metal Plates
Campaign Release, January 23
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Last week, Reclaim Democracy released a report on Kansas City's Tax-Increment Financing program, also known as TIF. The report was put together UMKC economics professor Michael P. Kelsay, Ph.D., who did an outstanding job.
While it raised a lot of the same issues I raised in my work as City Auditor, it also revealed for the first time, in stark statistical fact, the social and economic injustice associated with Kansas City's use of TIF.
Though TIF was originally created to help revitalize areas of the city that are struggling economically, Kelsay's report stated that:
This was something that I never directly confronted as City Auditor because I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until the very end of my career. Now it's blatantly obvious that TIF has been used almost exclusively to line the pockets of insiders under the guise of "economic development."
Two weeks ago, when I went to City Hall to testify against yet another one of these TIF plans -- this one for one of the wealthiest and most vibrant areas of the city -- I told Channel 9 Reporter Michael Mahoney that TIF is not doing what the Mayor and current City Council claim. They say that this kind of "economic development" is essential to the effort to bring more revenue into the city, revenue that can be used to offer good basic services to regular folks like you and me. But, as I said to Mahoney, "Sales tax is flat."
See for yourself:
So here we are, supposedly pumping up our economy with retail TIFs, when, in fact, there is no growth in sales tax revenues. Indeed, they're actually declining when adjusted for inflation. What's more, we are losing population as a proportion of the metropolitan area.
Looking at this, I believe that any reasonably intelligent person would conclude that the TIF process has NOT worked to provide "economic development."
While it raised a lot of the same issues I raised in my work as City Auditor, it also revealed for the first time, in stark statistical fact, the social and economic injustice associated with Kansas City's use of TIF.
Though TIF was originally created to help revitalize areas of the city that are struggling economically, Kelsay's report stated that:
88% of TIF plans are in four Council Districts (1, 2, 4, and 6) which contain the two-thirds of the city’s population who are the most affluent, best educated and least likely to be members of a minority group.
The two Council Districts (3 and 5) with one-third of the population who have the lowest income and the highest rates of poverty and unemployment receive only 12% of TIFs.
This was something that I never directly confronted as City Auditor because I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until the very end of my career. Now it's blatantly obvious that TIF has been used almost exclusively to line the pockets of insiders under the guise of "economic development."
Two weeks ago, when I went to City Hall to testify against yet another one of these TIF plans -- this one for one of the wealthiest and most vibrant areas of the city -- I told Channel 9 Reporter Michael Mahoney that TIF is not doing what the Mayor and current City Council claim. They say that this kind of "economic development" is essential to the effort to bring more revenue into the city, revenue that can be used to offer good basic services to regular folks like you and me. But, as I said to Mahoney, "Sales tax is flat."
See for yourself:
So here we are, supposedly pumping up our economy with retail TIFs, when, in fact, there is no growth in sales tax revenues. Indeed, they're actually declining when adjusted for inflation. What's more, we are losing population as a proportion of the metropolitan area.
Looking at this, I believe that any reasonably intelligent person would conclude that the TIF process has NOT worked to provide "economic development."
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