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| FILE - In this March 11, 2015 file photo, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III announces the resignation of police chief Thomas Jackson during a news conference in Ferguson, Mo. Despite calls for him to go, Knowles is the last man standing in Ferguson city government after a Justice Department report highly critical of the city’s police force and court system prompted six officials to resign. |
FERGUSON, Mo.
(AP) -- In the days since the release of a Justice Department report
that found widespread racial bias in the Ferguson Police Department, the
mayor of the St. Louis suburb has become a part-time public servant in a
full-time spotlight.
The attention has only
intensified as six city employees - most notably the police chief and
city manager - have been fired or stepped down.
But
Mayor James Knowles III remains, making just $4,200 a year in a job he
called basically ceremonial before a white police officer shot an
unarmed black 18-year-old in August, prompting weeks of
sometimes-violent protests and the Justice Department inquiry. He's now
so involved that he's opened a City Hall office and insists he will stay
to see the city through the changes it must make.
On
Friday, five residents filed an affidavit seeking to recall Knowles.
They have 60 days to collect enough signatures - 15 percent of
registered voters in the last mayoral election - to qualify for a
special election.
Knowles said he has no plans to step aside.
"Obviously
there are people on the street calling for my resignation, but my
voicemail, my text messages and my Facebook are full with literally
hundreds of people who want me to stay," Knowles said in an Associated
Press interview Friday. "Somebody has to show leadership, and I'm
focused on how we can move this community forward."
He
argues that Ferguson's city manager form of government made him more
figurehead than administrator, leading the city council but lacking the
power to do much else. But critics say he must have known about the lax
police oversight, racial profiling and profit-driven court practices
cited in the Justice Department report released March 4.
"I
want the mayor out," said Kayla Reed, 25, of the Organization for Black
Struggle. "True accountability means clean house, top to bottom."
Knowles,
who grew up in Ferguson, was just a few years out of Truman State
University when he defeated an incumbent for election to the city
council in 2005. He was elected state chairman of the Missouri
Federation of Young Republicans in 2008 and was on the fast-track,
earning mention in 2009 in the St. Louis Business Journal's "30 Under
30" list. He was elected to his current post in 2011, becoming one of
Missouri's youngest mayors, and re-elected without opposition in 2014.
But
he was little known outside the area until Aug. 9, when Officer Darren
Wilson shot 18-year-old Michael Brown and Ferguson found itself suddenly
in the national spotlight. After the shooting, Knowles and Police Chief
Tom Jackson became the public face of Ferguson, holding news
conferences, hosting public forums and reaching out to civil rights
leaders and protesters. Meanwhile, City Manager John Shaw, who made
$120,000 a year until he resigned Tuesday, remained out of sight.
Assistant city manager, Pam Hylton, has been named the interim city
manager.
Knowles has a full-time job: general
manager of the state-contracted motor vehicle license office in
Ferguson. He said he typically works about 60 hours a week, evenly
splitting the time between the two duties.
"I'm
a phenomenal multitasker," he joked, adding that he bounces between the
offices, which are within walking distance of each other, throughout
the day.
Knowles has sought to be a reassuring
presence for supporters and critics alike. At a council meeting
Tuesday, he sat patiently as some residents loudly called for his
ouster. He was equally passive as others praised him and the council.
When a brief shouting match began between a city critic and supporter,
he urged both sides to calm down.
Knowles, who
is white, has deep roots in the city of 21,000, where two-thirds of
residents are black. He was a top wrestler at McCluer High School and
has been an assistant wrestling coach at another mostly black high
school for several years. He and his wife are expecting their first
child in May.
He was drawn to politics in
fourth grade, when his father ran for city council (he lost but won on a
subsequent try.) Former Mayor Brian Fletcher, who worked alongside him
when he was a young councilman, said Knowles has a bit of ego, like most
politicians. He isn't up for re-election for another two years, and
Fletcher believes he'll ride out the storm.
"He's
in a tough situation," Fletcher said. "He's taken a lead. From the
people I've talked to they're very pleased with the way he's handled
himself under a very difficult circumstance, a very difficult time for
our community."
But Rasheen Aldridge, director
of Young Activists United St. Louis and a member of the Ferguson
Commission appointed by Gov. Jay Nixon, believes Knowles needs to follow
the police chief and city manager out the door. The Justice Department
report - a companion to one that cleared Wilson of any wrongdoing - laid
bare instances of racial profiling and bias in the police department
and a municipal court system that profited largely on the backs of
blacks.
"When all of this stuff was going on,
there's no way you can be the mayor of the town and not look at how much
money is coming in, and even if you see it you don't raise a concern,"
Aldridge said. "This is his city. He's the mayor, and he needs to be
held accountable."
