Free Republic

Just aired on local radio: Mayor Mark Funkhouser holds a press conference expressing his regret that the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) will not hold it's annual convention in KC in 2008. Under pressure to remove Frances Semler, a 73 year old grandmother, appointed by Mayor Funkhouser to the Board of Parks and Recreation Commission, who is also a member of the Minutemen, he has stood tall and has refused to cave to vicious and racist attacks at him and Ms. Semler.

A national civil rights organization co-founded by Martin Luther King Jr. is pulling its 2008 national convention from Kansas City to protest decisions by the mayor. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference thinks Mayor Mark Funkhouser showed racial insensitivity when he appointed a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to the park board and when he tried to oust City Manager Wayne Cauthen, an African-American, without consulting with the City Council. Local SCLC members also have criticized Funkhouser and his wife, who allegedly called a mayoral aide “Mammy.”

Local Hispanic advocates and a national labor leader said Sunday they will continue to seek the removal of Frances Semler from Kansas City’s park board. The latest development in the ongoing battle over Semler’s appointment by Mayor Mark Funkhouser came at a news conference local leaders called to launch new efforts to educate the public about their position. They have sought Semler’s dismissal or resignation from the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners because of her membership in the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a national anti-illegal immigration group. Funkhouser has said that although his views often differ from Semler’s, he...

A few months ago, mostly just gardeners and Minutemen knew the woman who’s been at the center of Kansas City’s biggest controversy. ....Funkhouser's appointment alienated the Hispanic community and many allied organizations that call the Minutemen a vigilante group....[snip] [snip]..Semler acknowledges that she wasn't exactly forthright with Funkhouser when, before he appointed her to the parks board, he asked whether she was a member of other organizations. She says she thought Funkhouser was interested in groups like the Clay County Rose Society and the neighborhood association, where she held a leadership position. Her membership in the Minutemen, she says, just...

Just a heads up to all of you who are following the Kansas City Parks Board member, Francis Semler. Semler will be on Fox and Friends this morning around 7:20 central time. The AP ran this story http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hvKfSdRprsGKF7xQST3NJ9TNpGpg Semler has been the target of the local Coalition of Hispanic Organizations. They have demanded that she be removed from the Parks Board because she is a member of the Minutemen. The National Council of LaRaza and the NAACP have threatened to pull their conferences from Kansas City unless Semler is removed from the Board.