Talk:Mark Funkhouser

Alvin Brooks' campaign
I deleted the final graph starting "His opponent in the contest Alvin Brooks had focused..." This graph had nothing to add to the Funkhouser article. May I suggest some intrepid WikiProject Missouri member start an entry for Brooks instead? Harropc 21:44, 12 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I disagree with that edit. Both sides of an election are pertinent (especially since Brook was depicted as the status quo while Funkhouser was going to change things). The edit even deleted the opponent!  By the same logic on a national level any mention of the opponents of a President should also not be included in their biographies.  Americasroof 00:56, 13 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Very much agreed with Americasroof: For the reader to have some grasp of the reason why Funkhouser won, it is necessary to at least A)include his opponent, but more importantly B)include their differences in platform. Covering both realms is the first step in making sure there is adequate information to properly inform the reader as to why Funkhouser is now the mayor.  Auror 14:46, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

Which county in WV?
I'm sorting the "People from West Virginia" category into counties and came across this article. From his myspace, I see that he is from Paden City, which is split between Tyler and Wetzel Counties. Does anyone know which one he is from? Thanks for the help.  y'  amer'can (wtf?) 22:56, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Wetzel County. While its correct to say he grew up in West Virginia, he was not born there. He was born @ Beaver County General Hospital in Pennsylvania, as were his younger brothers. Only his sister was born in West Virginia. Byron Funkhouser (talk) 18:37, 30 May 2012 (UTC)

Gender makeup of City Council
"The City Council, being a female majority, then took that opportunity to pass a law to ban the First Lady from City Hall."

I believe that the phrase "being a female majority" should be removed because it implies that this was a form of causation, when nothing to this effect has been sourced. CopaceticThought (talk) 04:35, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

Edit request from Whatdoyouwanta, 24 June 2010
editsemiprotected

Awards

Named one of Governing Magazine's “Public Officials of the Year,” November 2003.

Distinguished Local Government Leadership Award, Association of Government Accountants, 1995.

National Author Award, Association of Government Accountants, July 2003.

UMKC Henry W. Bloch School of Business & Public Administration Alumni Achievement Award, 2005.

Inspector General Service Award, presented by Kenneth M. Donohue, Inspector General, U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development for unprecedented cooperation between the City Auditor’s Office and the HUD Office of Inspector General in conducting joint audits of the city’s housing services.

Winner, 2004 Knighton Award for Best Audit, Presented to the Kansas City, Missouri, City Auditor’s Office by the National Association of Local Government Auditors, June 2005.

Winner, 2003 Knighton Award for Best Audit, Presented to the Kansas City, Missouri, City Auditor’s Office by the National Association of Local Government Auditors, May 2004.

L. P. Cookingham Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Administration, Kansas City Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration, May 2003.

Winner, 2000 Knighton Award for Best Audit, Presented to the Kansas City, Missouri, City Auditor’s Office by the National Association of Local Government Auditors, June 2001.

Einhorn-Gary Service Award, Association of Government Accountants, September 2000.

Finalist, 1998 Knighton Award for Best Audit, Presented to the Kansas City, Missouri, Office of the City Auditor, May 1999.

Finalist, 1998 Special Project Award, Presented to the Kansas City, Missouri, City Auditor’s Office, May 1999.

Winner, 1997 Knighton Award for Best Audit, Presented to the Kansas City, Missouri, City Auditor’s Office by the National Association of Local Government Auditors, May 1998.

Member of the Mid-America Intergovernmental Audit Forum “University Project” Team, Winners of the First AICPA/AAA Collaboration Award, November 1996.

Whatdoyouwanta (talk) 22:28, 24 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm certainly not going to spend time looking for sources for all these...please provide some, and then they can be added. C T J F 8 3  pride 06:19, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
 * A source besides his own site C T J F 8 3  pride 06:21, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

Initiatives
I have begun adding to Funkhouser's initiatives, of which there are five according to kcmo.org/mayor (city website, I'm sure he has control over content). I am looking for sources other than blogs or city websites. Enderadams (talk) 17:33, 26 August 2010 (UTC)
 * The blog you added looked to be a good source to me. I've rewritten the paragraph some as well. TN X Man  17:38, 26 August 2010 (UTC)
 * You don't think it seems worse now? The bulleted points seemed professional and a better alternative to "first," second," "third," and so on.  Also, the Pitch article is simply restating what the flyer was saying, shouldn't we use primary sources when they are available to us?   Enderadams (talk) 18:08, 26 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, Wikipedia generally tries to use secondary sources instead of primary sources. I'm not strongly attached to the way the paragraph is written now (you can re-write it if you'd like), but I do think it needs to avoid the brochure-like wording of the original. It kinda read like a campaign promise when I first scanned through it. TN X Man  18:14, 26 August 2010 (UTC)
 * The article you linked to made good points, I agree with you. Thanks for your help.  I'll continue to try to find better sources, the problem is Kansas City's media is very limited and all seem to have the same gossip-like bias and contempt toward Mark Funkhouser.  And then there's the Mayor's media, which, like you said, comes off as campaigning.  I also have to deal with archiving, The Kansas City Star does not offer free access to their archives.  Cheers, Enderadams (talk) 18:18, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Picture
Does anyone have a copyright-compliant image of Funkhouser we could use? I would suggest taking one at one of his town hall meetings. I do not own a digital camera at the moment. Enderadams (talk) 04:01, 13 September 2010 (UTC)

First Gov to fail in re-elect primary
Personally I do not think this is a notable fact for the lead and it should be removed because: 1) it gives undue weight to his failed attempt at re-election which is already mentioned in the lead 2)It is off topic ie it is factoid about the Governorship not about the subject of this Bio.-- — Keithbob • Talk  • 18:33, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I don't know that this fact affects much from an NPOV perspective; the big concern I have from a NPOV perspective is the repeated inclusion of the statement that this is a voter "rebuke" of Funkhouser. Simply stating that he lost the election would seem to be enough. Kansan (talk) 18:42, 23 February 2011 (UTC)
 * And where is that text?-- — Keithbob • Talk  • 18:34, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
 * It was inserted by IP editors several times earlier in the week, most recently here: It was removed shortly after I made the post at the BLP noticeboard. Thanks for your work on getting this page cleaned up, it's been a bit of a POV mess. Kansan (talk) 06:43, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * OK, good to know and I also appreciate your efforts in creating a neutral, and encyclopedic article. Cheers!-- — Keithbob • Talk  • 15:17, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Massive Revision
Until April 12, 2010, this article was an objective encyclopedic description, with a handful of biased and/or poorly written statements. It accurately described the many controversies surrounding Funkhouser's term of office, as well as the 2009 mayoral recall campaign. It was then completely overhauled in a single edit, eliminating all adverse and embarrassing, yet factual and relevant, content. It was replaced with a long, sloppy list of Funkhouser's awards and achievements written in halting prose; essentially a C.V. This stood, amazingly, for more than two years. I'll also note that the editor in question has a username that is the same as Funkhouser's wife's name (Squitiro), and the changes were made from a Kansas City, Missouri City Hall IP address. I reintroduced the "Controversies" and "Recall" sections, although the rest of the article is still substandard. Feline Nursery (talk) 21:43, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

Updates
I updated some of the information on this page to reflect his current position and put some things in past tense that used to be in present. More controversially, I deleted about half of the section about Gloria Squitiro. The existence of the section is necessary, but it was a bit excessive (longer than the rest of the entire page). Let me know if you have any issues. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Enderadams (talk • contribs) 14:05, 28 May 2012 (UTC)