By Lee Ingalls
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-576110.mp3
Kansas City, MO – Kansas City, Missouri has a new mayor and his name is Mark Funkhouser. The former city auditor defeated mayor pro tem Alvin Brooks in a tight race. Just over one percent of the vote separated the two candidates. Funkhouser will succeed Kay Barnes, a champion of downtown redevelopment during her two terms in office. Funkhouser tapped into voter dissatisfaction, campaigning on improving city services and limiting tax breaks to developers. Funkhouser says voters can expect change when he takes over the mayor's office but says it will be careful and measured
Mark Funkhouser:
We're not going to try to race ahead. I've said a lot of times this is like turning the Queen Mary. We're going to be careful and solid with what we do.
Funkhouser says one of the first things he will do is reach out to his opponent in the mayor's race Alvin Brooks and the new council members.
In his concession speech, Brooks spoke glowingly of the city, and promised to play a roll in its future. KCUR's Frank Morris reports.
Term limits and the lure of the mayor's office opened up many city council seats this year. Nine new council members were voted in yesterday. Neighborhood leader Cindy Baker Circo took the fifth district at-large seat. She says the new faces on the council are coming in with a mandate.
Cindy Baker Circo: We better stick to neighborhoods. That's what we all ran on, you heard it over and over again. Basic services and bringing our neighborhoods back up, so I feel confident that you'll have a strong council for the neighborhoods.
Circo was one of seven women elected to the council. Three are former state representatives: Melba Curls in the third at-large, Cathy Jolly in the sixth at-large. And former state rep Sharon Sanders Brooks upset incumbent Saundra McFadden Weaver in the third district. Jan Marcason and Beth Gottstein won in the fourth district.
Former Council Member John Sharp won in the sixth district. Newcomers Russ Johnson and Ed Ford in the second. And incumbents Bill Skaggs, Deb Herman and Terry Riley all retained their seats.