Ferguson City Council Vote To Conditionally Approve Agreement

FERGUSON, Mo – In a 6-0 vote, Ferguson City Council members voted in favor of a Bill that authorized an agreement, subject to certain conditions, between the City and the Department of Justice. Upon its passage, the Bill becomes an Ordinance and City officials are authorized to execute an amended settlement agreement with the Department of Justice.

Those seven conditions on acceptance are that (i) the agreement contain no mandate for the payment of additional salary to police department or other city employees; (ii) the agreement contain no mandate for staffing in the Ferguson Jail; (iii) deadlines set forth in the agreement are extended; and (iv) the terms of the agreement shall not apply to other governmental entities or agencies who, in the future, take over services or operations currently being provided by the City of Ferguson; (v) a provision for local preference in contracting with consultants, contractors and third parties providing services under the agreement shall be included; (vi) project goals for minority and women participation in consulting, oversight and third party services shall be included; and (vii) the monitoring fee caps in the Side Agreement are changed to $1 million over the first five years with no more than $250,000 in any single year.

The Department of Justice must accept the seven amendments in order for the settlement agreement to be valid. If the Department of Justice accepts the seven amendments, it is expected that the amended settlement agreement will be filed with the federal court in St. Louis for approval by the Federal Judge.

Following months of negotiation with representatives of the Department of Justice, the City of Ferguson received the proposed agreement from the Department on January 26. The City held three community meetings on Feb. 2, 6, and 9, seeking public input from the citizens of Ferguson concerning the agreement.

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