The Ferguson Observer

30/03/2024

The 2024 Ferguson Voter's Guide to Campaign Finance and Ethics is now available. Check out how each candidate has funded their campaign, managed spending, and whether or not they have all followed state campaign finance laws (spoiler alert: one candidate, Blake Ashby, has failed to follow legal requirements in reporting.)

This past week, the 8 Days Before Election report was due for candidates in the upcoming Council election. This report, along with previous filings, provides great insight into each candidate […]

23/03/2024

The City Council Election is drawing closer and the Observer reached out to the candidates to share a letter of personal endorsement from a friend or neighbor. We've gathered those we have received to share with voters. Take a look at the personal insights shared on the candidates (as well as one current council member's personal explanation on why she does not support the return of one candidate to the council).

As we’ve done once before in 2022, the Ferguson Observer contacted each of the City Council candidates for the April 2, 2024 election to participate to ask a friend, colleague […]

20/03/2024

Holy Week activities at the Ferguson Church of the Nazarene.

07/03/2024

The City Council previously amended the ordinance requiring Boards and Commission members to pay taxes to ensure there was a review process for the requirement. But some people appear to remain seated without complying with this ordinance.

Last year, the city council passed an amendment to the ordinance which already required boards and commission members to pay personal and property taxes but lacked a process to have […]

20/02/2024

We asked all of the council candidates to respond to questions from residents. We received responses from the five challengers, but had no response from two current council members while a third responded she was advised not to answer.

Read the questions and responses here.

The Ferguson Municipal Election is scheduled for April 2, 2024 and each of Ferguson’s three wards will hold an election for the selection of one council member for each ward. […]

14/02/2024

In case you missed it, recap of last night's city council meeting is available now.

Last night’s council meeting was yet another display of dysfunction, from beginning to end. First, the public comment section was an organized effort at attacking councilor Palmer. Speaker after speaker […]

07/02/2024

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Metro bus driver Bruce Williams. The Ferguson Observer was there for the celebration, and honors his service today.

The average job tenure today is a little over four years. Typically, people have at least three careers during their working life. That makes it all the more incredible that […]

21/01/2024

Political corruption is nothing new in north county. And a lot of it comes from one place, a political organization founded by a now disbarred lawyer, which has its tentacles in a surprising number of places. If you vote, you need to be aware of this, as it affects our politics at every level. We provide some background, and illuminate the connections to Ferguson, today in The Ferguson Observer.

Earlier this week, the Post-Dispatch reported that the Missouri Ethics Commission fined former county council rep Rochelle Walton and the Walton’s political organization, Unified Democratic Township Organization, for violations of […]

09/01/2024

So long as humans hold public office, politics must always include a personal element. In an editorial piece this morning, Sara Holmes provides an account of her personal perspective on ward 2 candidate Blake Ashby.

The Ferguson Observer will be covering the  upcoming City Council elections to be held on April 2nd. I will be reporting. We plan to provide an introduction to each candidate […]

09/01/2024

Candidate petitions were filed at the end of December and have been validated by the Board of Elections. This year's City Council election has a total of eight candidates running for office.

Campaigning is in swing already for the upcoming election on April 2, 2024. There are eight candidates altogether across the city’s three wards. This will be the first election under […]

03/01/2024

Today's Court Watch covers the week of October 30. We had the highest failure to appear rate that I can remember. Total fines collected wouldn't even pay for the judge's bill. And our "FTA Superstar" of the week has the typically long list of warrants, with a wrinkle: We found a jurisdiction which is actually arresting people on warrants.

Today’s Court Watch is for cases filed during the week of October 30, 2023. There were no cases for the week of October 23, so there is no court watch […]

15/12/2023

Court watch is now available for October 9. Failure to appear rate was 85%. And we've got a couple of great chronic offenders.

Today’s Court Watch is for cases filed during the week of October 9, 2023. There were a total of 65 cases. They continued 5 cases. Defendants failed to appear in […]

12/12/2023

Good government places a priority on transparency. Ferguson has chosen to do the opposite, making it as difficult as the law allows to know what is being done in closed sessions, and conducting business in closed sessions that is not permitted by law. See details now in The Ferguson Observer.

In a recent council meeting, the city announced that it would not be publishing closed session minutes, but that interested residents could pay for a sunshine request if they wanted […]

01/12/2023

It's time for another Court Watch! This time, we have the usual statistics, and a few interesting individual cases. Catch it now in The Ferguson Observer.

Today’s Court Watch is for cases filed during the week of September 25, 2023. There were a total of 97 cases. They continued 20 cases, 5 of which had an […]

21/11/2023

County halts Ferguson's Property Restoration Program. Details now in The Ferguson Observer.

North county mayors have sent a letter to county executive Sam Page, asking him to resume the county program allowing municipalities to obtain post-third tax sale properties at nominal cost. […]

20/11/2023

Ferguson recently had a public hearing to tear down dozens of houses. You can take a tour of these houses now at The Ferguson Observer.

The city recently held a mass public hearing to authorize the teardown of dozens of derelict houses. Council allocated ARPA funds to demolish these properties. This is a tour of […]

15/11/2023

A recap of last night's disappointing council meeting is available now, at The Ferguson Observer.

Last night’s council meeting was a perfect illustration of the inability of the current council to accomplish even the most simple tasks. Since the last municipal election, the council has […]

10/11/2023

The city clerk is the gatekeeper for transparency in the city. Today in The Ferguson Observer, we point out significant problems in her work.

The position of city clerk is not merely clerical. The city clerk is the custodian of records, responsible for the city’s compliance with the state’s Sunshine Law. She is responsible […]

07/11/2023

According to reports, a drunk driver on Halls Ferry ran over three highway workers last night. Our failed court system strikes again. Details on what came before are in The Ferguson Observer.

Last night, according to a report by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Mario Eiland struck three highway workers while driving on Halls Ferry at 270. The report indicates that he […]

01/11/2023

The next issue of Court Watch is now available in The Ferguson Observer. This week, 80% of cases failed to appear. And there was one surprising plea bargain.

This week’s court watch, for the week of August 7, includes only traffic violations. The docket included a total of 60 cases. Of those cases, defendants in 48 cases failed […]

30/10/2023

If you ever wondered why things seem out of control in Ferguson, this morning's story about Sarah, a defendant in our municipal court, explains it all.

In this morning’s Court Watch, we take a look at the record of a defendant currently pending in Ferguson Municipal Court. Sarah, a Dellwood resident, showed up on the August […]

25/10/2023

At last night's council meeting, councilor Palmer introduced 4 bills. Details and the bill texts are up now in The Ferguson Observer.

Ordinarily, it wouldn’t be news that a legislative body was considering legislation. But Ferguson City Council has been stuck in park for a while, with no substantive legislation considered. At […]

18/10/2023

This morning in The Ferguson Observer, we have the first in an ongoing series, "Court Watch." For these columns, we review every case filed in municipal court for a selected week, and provide you with summary analysis. How well is our municipal court doing in upholding public safety in Ferguson? Click to see for yourself.

Our municipal court is an important part of the full public safety picture in Ferguson. In this, the first of an ongoing series, we analyze a weekly docket in our […]

07/10/2023

The Missouri State Ethics Commission recently found that two residents of Ferguson violated state law in undertaking their personal campaign for the mayoral election.

The Missouri Ethics Commission, which serves in a nonpartisan manner to review complaints and conduct audits and investigations to ensure that lobbyists, committees, and public officials are properly filing reports, […]

06/10/2023

The internal audit from the city's accounting firm is now available. See a quick summary, and link to the audit report, right now in The Ferguson Observer.

The city’s internal audit report for 2023 has been released. The full report is available on the city website. A few highlights are worth noting: It is worth noting that […]