“Those are some really substantial numbers that we need to work on,” Fletcher said. “We need to get some police officers talking to the tenants.”

City Manager John Shaw agreed: “There’s definitely a problem there.”

At that time, the council was just beginning to wrestle with issues that would escalate, as a corner of Ferguson already was overtaken by some of the most concentrated poverty in the state. It was a transition largely outside of the council’s control — accelerated by trends within subsidized housing that spurred the growth of low-income apartments in select parts of the region.

And yet, in that meeting four years ago and afterward, Ferguson officials tried to push back.

Fletcher, who at the time was earning $350 a month as mayor, asked for better screening of tenants.

A councilman said problem property owners should be the focus. Shaw, who essentially runs the city’s operations, said police were already working with the complexes.

Fletcher seemed alarmed by a potential public relations problem swelling on the horizon.