KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser is suing the city.

The mayor's attorney filed the lawsuit at the Jackson County Courthouse on Friday morning.

The mayor, his wife and his daughter, Tara Squitiro, are suing the city in an attempt to overturn an ordinance that bars his wife, Gloria Squitiro, from volunteering at City Hall on a regular basis.

The ordinance said elected officials can have family members volunteer only infrequently in their offices. The council passed the ordinance in September, saying it was tired of distractions Squitiro had caused in the mayor's office.

The ordinance was in part a response to a former mayoral staffer's lawsuit alleging that Squitiro created a hostile workplace.

The mayor was out of town Friday.

He boarded a train first thing Friday morning for a meeting in South Carolina. But before he left, he invited certain news media to his house Thursday night to reveal his plans for the lawsuit.

KCTV5 was not one of the news outlets. He told a radio station Friday morning, "We do talk to those we like, people who we think treat us fairly, and sometimes it's better to pick and choose."

He also issued a news release.

"I'm taking this action to protect the integrity of the Office of the Mayor," Funkhouser said in the news release. "I need to have the authority to run my office as I see fit in order to achieve the outcomes I intend to accomplish for the residents of Kansas City."

Funkhouser's lawyer told KCTV5 News on Friday morning that one of the reasons for the lawsuit is that the ordinance violates the mayor's right to free speech.

"What we have here is an ordinance that on its face says that the mayor or any other elected official cannot receive consultation, cannot receive advice, from a particular group of people of his choosing. That is not constitutional," Doug Carter said.

The city has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.

The City Council, which approved the ordinance 12-1 with the mayor being the only no vote, held an afternoon news conference.

"We are looking to create jobs here in Kansas City and the last thing the city needs is to worry about suing each other over frivolous things," said Councilman Terry Riley.

City Council members pointed out that while the mayor was meeting privately at his home with reporters Thursday night, he was missing an important meeting with potential trade partners from out of the country and that he had missed an important budget meeting at City Hall earlier in the day.

And they said these days the mayor is often simply out of the loop.

"I think somewhere the citizens have to decide how embarrassing it is to them. This isn't for the council to decide what happens to the mayor. Our job is to lead the city and that is what we are doing," said Councilwoman Cindy Circo.

Councilman Ed Ford said he thought the fact that the mayor's wife was a full-time volunteer in his office might be considered nepotism, which violates the Missouri constitution.

Ford said the penalty for nepotism is forfeiture of public office.