Minuteman Resigns From Park Board

An appointee to the Kansas City city parks board has resigned after her controversial membership in an immigration group led two organizations to take their annual conventions elsewhere.  The N.Y. Times reports that Frances Semler,a member of the Arizona-based Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, said that she resigned because her involvement with the parks board had become too contentious and she did not feel that Mayor Mark Funkhouser supported her. The Mayor appointed Semler last summer to the five-member park board, which considers issues such as off-leash dog areas and outdoor party permits. Her appointment triggered protests from minority advocacy groups, including the National Council of La Raza, which voted in October to cancel plans to hold its 2009 convention in Kansas City because of Semler’s membership in the Minutemen. Last week, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said it also decided to move its convention from Kansas City to New Orleans.

KJ