Ferguson voters to make history in election Tuesday

Yamiche Alcindor | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Ferguson elections may make history Ferguson voters could elect up to three African Americans to their city council for the first time in the city's history.

Voters in Ferguson, Mo., go to the polls Tuesday with an opportunity to transform the city's political fabric and put as many as three African Americans on the City Council for the first time in the city's history.

The St. Louis suburb drew worldwide attention as racial strife gripped the city following the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer last summer. Protesters thronged the city, claiming Ferguson's majority-white police force harassed black residents while the city's white politicians did nothing. A Justice Department report last month confirmed a broad pattern of biased policing that singled out African Americans for excessive arrests and harsh punishment.

If a black candidate in Ward 1 wins her race, it will be the first time that African Americans make up half of the six council members in a city where two-thirds of the residents are black. One sitting council member not up for re-election is black, and two black candidates are seeking the Ward 3 council seat. Mayor James Knowles, who is white, holds the seventh seat on the council. He is not up for re-election.

"The whole world is watching and we have one shot to get this right," said Adrienne Hawkins, 46, a black federal government worker who is running to represent Ward 1.

No matter the outcome, Ferguson is poised to alter its history. In its 121 years, residents have elected just two black people to the City Council, city spokesman Jeff Small said. Never has the council had more than one black member.

The number of African Americans on the council will at least double because Wesley Bell and Lee Smith, both black, are the only candidates for the seat in Ward 3, the neighborhood where Brown died. Bell, 40, a criminal justice instructor and municipal judge who previously lost a Democratic primary for St. Louis County Council, said he will seek to implement community policing, change the city's court system and spur economic development.

"You cannot have sustainable change without political access," Bell said. "For far too long, African Americans didn't get involved enough in the process and as a result we get ignored."

Candidate Mike McGrath, 64, who is white, faces three opponents — two black and one white — in the contest to represent Ward 1. Voters should focus on the candidate with the best plans for better schools and streets, not race, he said.

"I tell residents I understand you'd like to have more black faces up there and I don't disagree with that," McGrath said. "Unfortunately, I think for this election, experience and qualifications matter more than race or gender."

In the weeks after Brown's death, demonstrators saw an opportunity to channel the city's unrest into civic activism. Voting rights advocates set up shop at a burned-out gas station at the epicenter of protests and other groups set up voter registration stations across the city.

Between August 2014 and this month, about 500 people registered to vote, an increase of less than 4%, said Eric Fey, St. Louis County director of elections. If Tuesday's election mirrors past municipal elections, fewer than a quarter of the 14,704 voters eligible as of April 4 will go to the polls. About 12% of registered voters turned out for the April mayoral election, Fey said.

Former Ferguson resident Tammy Hawkins, who is black and not related to candidate Adrienne Hawkins, said she has little faith in an election to change the city's character. Hawkins, 30, moved from the city in October because she said she no longer felt safe.

"I feel like there's still going to be a lot of racial tension there and it's not going to change," Hawkins said.

The civic unrest inspired Bob Hudgins, who is white, to challenge former Ferguson mayor Brian Fletcher for a seat representing Ward 2 on the council. Hudgins, 51, said improving race relations and police treatment of Ferguson's black citizens would top his agenda.

"I want to lurch this place forward," Hudgins said. "I'm tired of living in a place where there is discrimination against my black brothers and sisters."

Fletcher, 55, a 30-year-resident of the city, says Ferguson needs stability and "normalcy" after months of protests.

"It's important that there is someone who comes back that has some history of the city and the knowledge of what's been going on," he said.

Meanwhile, people like Tony Rice, who protested for months following the shooting, are optimistic that the steady drumbeat of the protests will spur more voters to action.

"It's almost like pressing the restart button," Rice said. "This is an opportunity for residents and city hall to actually come together on a decision for the future of our city. A lot of people always believed they had no say-so and this election, people are going to be reminded: 'Hey. You do have a say-so.'"