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The budget-balancing ideas he put forward Wednesday aren’t perfect. But they are a big step in the right direction. They would reduce the financial burden on residents, an excellent goal.
Now political reality sinks in: He needs at least six more City Council members to have the political courage to step forward with him.
That would provide a majority of the 13-member council in favor of a hard-nosed, eyes-wide-open budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Based on what I saw on the City Council campaign trail in 2007 — and on some council members’ actions since then — here are eight potential supporters of the mayor:
Deb Hermann, Bill Skaggs, Ed Ford, Russ Johnson, Beth Gottstein, Jan Marcason, Cindy Circo and Cathy Jolly.
For this region to succeed, its biggest city needs to live within its means.
That didn’t happen in the last few years of the Kay Barnes administration. And it wasn’t going to happen this year under the business-as-usual budget proposed by City Manager Wayne Cauthen.
He figured the City Council wouldn’t challenge his budget, especially when it didn’t call for tough choices to be made.
And especially just after nine members of the council had given Cauthen a new three-year contract, over Funkhouser’s strenuous objections.
But the mayor persevered.
On Wednesday, he came forward with ideas to eliminate dozens of mid-level management positions (good so far), close the city jail (possible), eliminate city funding for the zoo and Liberty Memorial over two years (now he’s stepping on civic toes), and consolidate a number of other programs.
Funkhouser made several statements that ought to bolster his stock with tens of thousands of Kansas Citians now dealing with money problems of their own.
Funkhouser said layoffs are possible, belt-tightening is needed and priorities have to be changed at City Hall.
He said Kansas Citians are “sick to death” of inadequate city services, as low citizen-satisfaction rankings indicate.
“I think it’s better when you see a problem, confront it,” the mayor said of the budget battles, noting, “I really think we’re at a crossroads.”
But he wasn’t all doom and gloom.
Funkhouser wants to add police, spend $10 million more to pave streets and provide better training to help city employees become more efficient.
That’s a potential way to gain council support: Get them to realize the city can provide better services by cutting back on lower-priority programs.
As of today, though, no one truly knows what the final budget will look like when the council passes it on March 27.
This kind of uncertainty is unprecedented in my 20 years of covering local politics. Usually, the politicians by now are trying to move a few hundred thousand dollars around to placate special-interest groups.
This year is different. The council soon may (and I emphasize may) slash tens of millions of dollars in city-financed programs.
The council ought to follow Funkhouser’s lead. Sure, the members won’t do everything he suggests. But it’s way past time to act.
The mayor must persuade his colleagues that their actions would be in the long-term interests of the city.
The other possibility is more ominous. Cauthen and his council supporters could stand pat, trying to ensure the mayor would not have the satisfaction of winning a tussle with the city manager.
Funkhouser said Wednesday that he’s “confident” a better budget can be approved. Now he has to find six other council members who have the nerve to agree.
• Bring it on, smokers
• H&R Block and Spitzer
• Kay Barnes’ fiscal mess
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