US Ferguson City Council to Comprise Record Number of Three Black Members

The newly-elected council is expected to begin implementing some of the recommendations made in a recent US Department of Justice report. The report released in March revealed that Ferguson Police Department intentionally racially profiled black residents and violated their rights.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Voters in Ferguson, Missouri elected two black officials to the city council, transforming the body's racial composition in the first municipal election after local police killed an African-American teenager Michael Brown in August 2014, local media reported.

Voters on Tuesday brought the total number of black council members to three, including current member Dwayne James. The number of black officials in the council is the highest in the city's 121-year history.

Eight candidates ran for three open city council seats in Ferguson. The council consists of the mayor and three wards, with two officials in each.

Two black and two white candidates ran to fill City Council seats in Ward 1, two white candidates ran in Ward 2, including former Ferguson Mayor Brian Fletcher, and two black candidates ran in Ward 3, according to the media.

The newly-elected council is expected to begin implementing some of the recommendations made in a recent US Department of Justice report. The 100-page investigative report released in March revealed that Ferguson Police Department intentionally racially profiled black residents and violated their rights.