Ferguson mayor, under fire, says he shouldn't be held accountable

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Life in Ferguson: "Riots really shook the neighborhood" Joshua Wilkes, a Ferguson resident and father of two, explains how life goes on in Ferguson while it grabs the attention of the world's media.

FERGUSON, Mo. -- The top elected official here says he had limited authority to tackle enormous problems and quell racial tensions.

"I make $350 a month before taxes for being part-time mayor of Ferguson," Mayor James Knowles told USA TODAY. "You want to hold me accountable for not knowing that some employees were sending racist e-mails. I have no executive authority. I have no administrative authority. The charter doesn't allow me to hire, fire or even give direction to city employees."



Ferguson's city manager, police chief and municipal judge have been forced out of their jobs, after a Justice Department probe published earlier this month found that Ferguson police and the city's municipal court had engaged in systemic patterns of misconduct.

Knowles said he's dedicated to helping this city turn around as it continues to grapple with the fallout of the Aug. 9 death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, who was fatally shot by a white police officer. Brown's killing spurred months of occasionally violent protests.

Knowles, who claimed early in the protests that Ferguson has no racial divide, has had a bumpy ride and remains under fierce scrutiny. He said his supporters have told him that there's a possible mayoral recall effort underway.

In the days since the resignation of the top officials — as well as a few lower level Ferguson cops and bureaucrats — protesters and some community leaders have turned the attention to Knowles, saying that he must resign, and that the city should disband its police department and build it anew to help the city heal. He said he has been told by supporters that they have been approached to gather signatures to begin a mayoral recall.

On Wednesday, two police officers were wounded outside the Ferguson Police Department at the end of a protest following the announcement that Police Chief Tom Jackson was stepping down. No suspects have been identified.

"Dismantling the police department would be the ultimate thing to do — outside of the mayor leaving," said state Rep. Courtney Curtis, a Democratic lawmaker whose district includes Ferguson. "I don't think we have time. I don't think the patience is there. The damage has been done and the damage is being done each day they drag their feet."

But Knowles questioned what good his resigning would do.

"I realize everybody is out there singing for ceremonial heads to be rolling," said Knowles, who indicated many Ferguson residents have pleaded with him to stay in the job. "So you're going to put another council member in my place?"

While activists and some lawmakers are pressing for quick and widespread reform in how the city operates its police and courts, the Justice Department is likely, if past behavior is any precedent, to push Ferguson to make substantive reforms. But it will also give this St. Louis suburb some space to enact them.

Under Attorney General Eric Holder, who is soon expected to step down from his post, the Justice Department has launched more than 20 investigations of police departments — including in cities such as Cleveland, Miami and Portland -- for patterns of misconduct that have suggested police brutality, abuse of the mentally ill and racial bias.

But in all those cases, the police departments have agreed to make changes that line up with the Justice Department recommendations.

In a 102-page report it released on March 4, the Justice Department called for a litany of changes in how Ferguson goes about policing. Some of the reforms call for the city to embrace community policing techniques which would allow officers to build relationships in the neighborhoods they patrol, reorient officers' approach to using force, and provide recurring training to all officers that racial profiling and other forms of discriminatory policing won't be tolerated.

At the heart of Ferguson's police problems was a department that was more focused on raising revenue through tickets and fines than actually looking out for the safety of residents, the Justice Department report concluded.

Holder suggested on Thursday that he was pleased with some of the early steps taken by Ferguson officials, noting "we have begun to see really important signs of progress."

Knowles said that Ferguson officials are expected to meet with Justice Department officials in the coming weeks to start setting a path forward.

"Whatever we do has to be sustainable for the community, and not financially bankrupt us," Knowles said. "Obviously, if the Department of Justice wants to bankrupt us with huge burdens ... they could."

Mark Byrne, a city council member, said Ferguson officials had started addressing some of the issues that the Justice Department raises in its new report soon after protesters began taking to the streets following Brown's killing last August.

The court revamped how fines and fees are handled, including creating a special docket for those who have garnered financial penalties from the municipal court for failure to appear. The failure-to-appear fines were blamed for creating a vicious circle for poor people of color, who were disproportionately targeted by police officers for small infractions and could not afford to pay their fines. The city council also passed an ordinance that caps the amount of its budget that can come from municipal court revenue to 15%.

In addition, the city council has taken steps to create a citizen review board, which will advise and review operations of the Ferguson Police Department. The board will be made up of citizens currently not involved in government.

Ferguson has also established a scholarship program to help recruit minority candidates to attend the police academy and sought out other partnerships to help provide college scholarships and mentoring in the city's African-American community.

"Anybody that is still saying that the city isn't doing everything it can to right this ship … what exactly is it that we can do that we're not doing?" Byrne said.

Ashley Yates, who has been among the more prominent activists to take part in the Ferguson movement, said it is also crucial that Ferguson disband the police department and rehire its force.

Such a move, which was used in recent years in the nearby city of Jennings, Mo., when it was dealing with endemic issues of corruption, was not among the proposals offered by the Justice Department. City officials also are pushing back against the suggestion.

"It seemed a no-brainer to me to fire a police chief who fumbled the (Mike Brown) case from Day One," Yates said. "It seemed like a no-brainer to me to get rid of a city manager who'd been hiding in the midst the crisis, and yet they didn't do it until recently."

But Byrne said that the push to disband the police department is one that is largely advocated by outsiders.

"I am hearing overwhelmingly — and from every single candidate that is running for city council — that the better approach is to keep the police department we have and reform," Byrne said. "At the end of the day if we can have the absolutely best trained police force in conflict resolution, in diversity training, in use of force, in use of tasers and all of those things … Who can argue against that?"

While Ferguson has lost some of its highest profile leaders, the city is managing to muddle through by spreading out the duties among other officials. Municipal court hearings were canceled this week and cases are going to be handled by a state court judge.

Byrne said it may take some time for the city council to properly vet and hire a new city manager. The council may seek to hire a temporary manager through a contracting firm until a permanent hire can be made, he said.

Under Ferguson's charter, the city manager is charged with hiring the police chief.

There's plenty of interest in both jobs.

"I've already received e-mails from candidates inquiring about jobs," he said. "I'm sure my colleagues have, too."