Friends of Fido Protest Parks Decision

Pet lovers are slamming Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser with e-mails protesting yesterday’s decision by the parks board that puts a stop to the well-organized movement to build a dog park inside Sunnyside Park in Waldo.

The parks board put the resolution – which states that dog parks should avoid residential areas such as the one surrounding Sunnyside Park — on the agenda with minimal notice and did not allow public comment on the item. “Makes me want to just throw in the towel and move to Johnson County, Kansas,” disappointed constituent Allyson Berberich wrote to Funkhouser in an e-mail shared with the media.

Funkhouser is out of town. A spokesman, Kendrick Blackwood, says this morning that the mayor supports the construction of more dog parks and would applaud the Waldo group’s efforts. But he indicates that Funkhouser will not move to overrule the parks board’s decision. “He appointed them, and he empowered them as well,” Blackwood says.

Asked about the way yesterday’s meeting was conducted, Blackwood says he expects that Funkhouser will be briefed on how the decision was made. – David Martin