ST. CHARLES 鈥 The Ferguson Commission took its work to the neighboring county鈥檚 suburbs Monday night and found that the public attending a meeting at St. Charles High School had the same priority for the commission as those in 最新杏吧原创 County and 最新杏吧原创: addressing problems of citizen-law enforcement relations.
In the wake of the Michael Brown shooting, 64 percent of the audience of 85 people Monday night chose police-citizen relations as chief priority for change from a list of issues, followed by problems in municipal government and municipal courts. The percentage choosing police relations was roughly the same as in other parts of the region.
The Rev. Starsky Wilson and Rich McClure, the co-chairs of the commission, said the finding was an indicator that there must be regional change with all parts pulling together. Wilson said that successes in one part of the region 鈥渟hine a light鈥 on what must be accomplished 鈥渢hroughout our entire region for the sake of kids throughout the region.鈥
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Wilson said later he was disappointed that police representatives did not make presentations. 鈥淥ut of seven departments, no police chiefs were here,鈥 Wilson said.
McClure said in an interview that the people in St. Charles County are grappling with the same kinds of serious problems as in other parts of the region: from issues of juvenile detention to heroin use to student achievement gaps in education.
The commission, which is preparing a report on recommendations for reforms due to the governor this fall, went to St. Charles County to learn about concerns and policies to deal with child well-being, economic inequity, racial disparity and education.
At the meeting, St. Charles leaders including County Executive Steve Ehlmann and County Prosecutor Tim Lohmar discussed programs they said were successfully changing outcomes.
Bruce Sowatsky heads the county-appointed Community and Children鈥檚 Resource Board, which provides services through nonprofits to 70,000 to 80,000 young people from lower-income families. He told the commission that St. Charles County has ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in Missouri Kids Count for child well-being for 16 of the last 18 years.
Speakers included Jeff Marion, superintendent of St. Charles School district, who spoke of an innovative truancy program and two projects to address health and hunger issues. Others were St. Charles Mayor Sally Faith; Ken Simmons, chief juvenile officer for the courts, who talked about a juvenile detention alternatives initiative; and Craig Leavell, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the county.
Rita Days, who represented Ferguson as a state representative and state senator for 15 years, said in an interview that the way the commission and community deal with the problems in Ferguson can set a model for others.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why it鈥檚 really important we get this right,鈥 she said.
