The City Council fired Johnson in March, because many residents held him responsible for the city’s financial woes. But Brown, an elected official who was first voted into office in 2009, remains in his post, pointing toward the city’s financial managers for failing to adjust expenditures to match the city’s tax base.

“The city has to make sure we receive these revenues, but we also need to understand what they are for and that we don’t spend more than we take in,” he said. “We have to talk about how to reduce expenditures and increase our revenue.”

Brown doesn’t consider his making public the names of tax evaders, which angered many residents, a form of public shaming. He sees it as a legitimate way of informing residents how much they owe.

“We are doing well as far as collecting the money, (and) I am going to continue to use these collection strategies,” he said, adding that he doesn’t know why so many Petersburg residents are behind on their tax payments.

“I wish I could tell you, but nobody has come in to say, ‘Mr. Brown, I can’t pay because we are in a certain type of situation’ and ask for a payment plan,” Brown said. “I get very few people coming in to dispute what they are paying.”