UPDATE: A .pdf file of the flier is attached (click on "read more" below).
Mayor Mark Funkhouser on Monday defended his pay raise and said he took a pay cut despite also receiving a city pension.
Combining his increased mayoral pay and pension brings Funkhouser to $152,368 annually.
He was making $140,928 when he retired as city auditor in November 2006.
Last week, Funkhouser justified his $4,000-plus pay raise by saying he took a pay cut to become mayor and needed the upcoming raise.
In an interview Monday, he said he still believes he took a pay cut.
“A pension is money I previously earned,” he said during an interview in his office Monday afternoon. “I needed to take it now…The pension isn’t pay.”
Funkhouser said he is no longer teaching, which once brought him as much as $5,000 per class per semester, but said he doesn’t consider that a pay cut.
He said he is looking to resume teaching at area colleges.“I may eventually try and teach while I am mayor,” he said.
The mayor currently makes $109,485 annually while council members make $54,737 annually.
But their salaries go up next week to $113,864 for the mayor and $56,924 for council members.
A color flier entitled “Hogs at the Trough” arrived in some area mail boxes Monday criticizing Funkhouser and four council members for cutting essential services, such as neighborhood services, infrastructure and public safety, while approving pay raises for themselves.
In the flier, Funkhouser is depicted as a farmer feeding pigs. The flier says, “Hogs at the Trough. Funkhouser’s favorite phrase during his campaign. Now we know what he meant!”
The flier notes other perks such as free tickets to a Sprint Center suite.The anonymous flier quotes a pay raise article it said was “buried” in Friday’s Star.
The previous council approved the 4 percent raises in the spring of 2007 and 2 percent raises for municipal judges. The current council formally enacted the raises last week. Councilwoman Beth Gottstein left the room during the vote and said she doesn’t plan to accept the raise and will return the money to the general fund.
Funkhouser will be eligible to receive a separate second pension for his service as mayor.
Where the customary committee disclosure fine print goes the flier says, "Reprinted WITHOUT permission from the Kansas City Star."
Let the speculation begin on who has the money to burn for such a flier sent with first class postage and why he/she/they would do it.
Additional note: The mayor also receives $7,200 annually in the form of a $600 a month car allowance.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| council_salaries.pdf | 4.01 MB |
Dear Mayor ...
Dear Mayor,
Sorry to hear you're in dire financial straits. But if you didn't notice the city's a little strapped for cash right now. We can't even put more police on the streets or pick up bulk trash. You should know. You voted to cut those programs.
I find it hard to believe you didn't know the mayor's salary before you ran last year. I find it hard to believe you didn't know the job of mayor was more than a full-time job. Perhaps you should have considered that before you ran.
More to the point, Mr. Mayor, elective office is a PRIVILEGE reserved for those who actually want to SERVE THEIR COMMUNITY. Very few people go into government to become rich. Those that do often find themselves in court under indictment.
So my advice to you, Mr. Mayor, is suck it up. Better yet, quit. Quit now. Take your miserable, foul-tempered wife. Go find a job that will pay you the salary you think you so richly deserve. Leave the job to someone who actually wants it. At this point, I'd accept Alvin Brooks because he actually has some enthusiasm for the job and this city.
No one in this city wants a sad-sack mayor bitterly more preoccupied about the size of his compensation package, or lack thereof, than on the city's business.
Yours truly,
Midtown Guy