Ferguson voters add two African Americans to city council

[Sherman A1]

Ferguson residents voted to add two African Americans to the city council, a move that diversifies an elected body that was overwhelmingly white in a city with a majority black population.

Ella Jones, Brian Fletcher and Wesley Bell captured three seats on the Ferguson City Council. Jones and Bell are African American, while Fletcher is white. The six-member council will now have three black members for the first time in its history.

Jones won nearly 50 percent of the vote in a four-way race that also featured Adrianne Hawkins, Mike McGrath and Doyle McClellan. Fletcher captured about 57 percent of the vote against Bob Hudgins. And Bell took in nearly 67 percent against Lee Smith.

Eric Fey, the Democratic director for the St. Louis County Board of Elections, told St. Louis Public Radio reporter Jo Mannies that the turnout on Tuesday was around 30 percent. That surpasses recent municipal elections in Ferguson -- and nearly doubles the roughly 16 percent turnout in the rest of St. Louis County.

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/ferguson-voters-add-two-african-americans-city-council

[mucifer]

1. The article says the city council only has 6 seats and 3 are now African American

[Sherman A1]

2. Yes,

as I understand, Ferguson has 3 wards each with 2 council members. 1 seat from each Ward was up this cycle. 1 African American who was on the Council was not up for election. The Mayor also votes in the Council serving as both Mayor and something of a Council Member at Large for the City and allows for an uneven number of votes to prevent deadlock. The daily operations of the City are conducted by the City Manager. Why this particular arrangement was established I do not know, but I am sure it was done many years ago.

Also of importance is the election in the Ferguson-Florissant School District which had two seats up this cycle. One incumbent chose to retire from the School Board and one (Ebert) retained his seat. Of the 5 total candidates 2 were White and 3 were African American. Courtney Graves and African American Woman appears to have won the other seat. The Bond issue for school infrastructure also passed.

[Cryptoad]

3. I hope more and more,,,

people will realize the important of voting in local elections.... these are the people who are in the end accountable for the hiring of people like Wilson.

[Sherman A1]

5. Precisely

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10611279

The link is to a post with the election results. One Ward was a total of some 750 or so votes cast and with such small numbers each vote gains importance.

[Enthusiast]

4. Will this enable the city council to end the practice of racial profiling?

Seems like that should be first priority.

[romanic]

6. I hope this marks change.

But I honestly don't think adding two more black faces to a council rampant with corruption will change much.

[Sherman A1]

7. Well,

The council is only 6 members, so I believe it will make a difference. Change will take time, not everything happens overnight, but I believe this will indeed mark a change. The voter turn out is also a significant factor as was the school board election.

[romanic]

9. You're right.

I'm just being cautiously optimistic.

[riqster]

8. This is how change starts: voter involvement.

Good on those who led the GOTV campaign, and all the voters who are demanding change!