KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A national Hispanic civil rights group is leaning toward bringing its convention to Kansas City after pulling an earlier gathering from the city over a controversial appointment by former Mayor Mark Funkhouser.
The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/wNpSPs) reported that Bernardo Ramirez, the head of Kansas City's Hispanic Economic Development Corp., says La Raza has decided to make Kansas City its first choice for 2015.
La Raza had decided to go to Chicago instead of Kansas City in 2009 because of Funkhouser's appointment of a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps to the parks board. The organization advocates patrolling of the Mexican border and reports illegal immigrants to authorities.
Convention officials estimated the 2009 event would have brought $5 million into the Kansas City economy and filled 5,000 hotel rooms.