KANSAS CITY, Mo – A 35-page diary written by Gloria Squitiro, the wife of Mayor Mark Funkhouser, includes candid and sometimes profane thoughts about life inside the administration.
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WARNING: Content Includes Some Explicit Language
The document – which surfaced during the discovery portion of an ongoing lawsuit – was sent to council members on Monday. NBC Action News later obtained a copy of the diary that details Squitiro’s thoughts from July 2008 through January 2009.
Former mayoral aide Ruth Bates filed the lawsuit, which alleges racial discrimination and sexual harassment.
In August of 2008, Squitiro wrote, “(expletive) you Ruth Bates. You wanted to start something, well now you started something. Watch out. My lawyer is coming to get you.”
Squitiro also expressed her thoughts about a “volunteer ordinance” passed last year by the city council. The ordinance effectively banned her from City Hall.
“The hypocrisy of the female council members makes me want to puke,” she wrote on July 7, 2008. Later, Squitiro targeted Councilwoman Jan Marcason, the driving force behind drafting the volunteer ordinance: “I despise Jan Marcason with a vigor and an energy that knows no bounds. I will work to show the woman for what she really is – a complete phony.”
Finally, Squitiro gives a glimpse of Funkhouser, and how the controversy inside City Hall affects him. On October 21, she wrote, “Funk woke up weary today. He feels that this isn’t a term of office, but a sentence.”
The attorney representing Funkhouser, Jim Wirken, said the 35-page document will be discussed during a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday morning. Wirken said the diary was taken from Funkhouser’s computer, which is why it surfaced during discovery. He will ask on Tuesday that the document be declared inadmissible during the trial.
Wirken acknowledged that Squitiro had been recording her thoughts for the possibility of later writing a book about her experience.
Through a spokesman, Funkhouser and Squitiro declined to comment.
Reached by phone, several council members also declined to comment. Marcason would only said that she was “surprised.”
