Dozens of Ferguson residents used the council's public-comment period to urge the city to continue funding work required by its consent decree and to oppose cutting the salary of the city's consent-decree coordinator.
The comments followed a status hearing in federal court earlier in the day in which attorneys, the monitor and the judge reviewed progress, residents said; speakers reported the judge and U.S. Department of Justice representatives praised the city's recent work. Residents repeatedly asked the council not to divert consent-decree funds to other priorities.
Speakers described the status hearing as a public reaffirmation of the city's legal obligations under the consent decree and said cutting staff or dollars could slow the reforms. Cassandra Butler, a Ward 2 resident, told the council, "If your goal is to speed up the activity needed to complete the consent decree sooner, then one needs to allocate more money, not less." Fran Griffin told the council the judge warned, "if you go against the consent decree, you will be in contempt."
Other speakers praised Patricia Washington, identified in public comments as the city's consent-decree coordinator. Mildred Clines said Washington is serving in two roles and urged the council not to cut her pay: "She's doing the work of two people, and they're wanting to cut what she's making. That's crazy." Several speakers said they had attended the status hearing and that the monitor and DOJ had commended the city's recent progress.
Tiffany Ellis read a petition from the Ferguson Neighborhood Police Steering Committee with more than 70 signatures asking the city to fully fund the consent-decree work. Cassandra Butler and other speakers said failing to budget sufficient staff or contractor support would likely lengthen the implementation timeline and could increase legal or litigation costs for the city.
The mayor closed public comment by referring allegations from business owners that they had been harassed to the city manager for investigation; no formal budget action or vote on consent-decree funding took place during the meeting.
Council members did not adopt any motion to change funding at the meeting; residents and community groups asked the council to maintain or increase resources to finish the court-ordered reforms.
The council did not take a formal vote on the consent decree at this meeting. The city manager was directed to review and respond to public complaints about alleged targeting of Black-owned businesses mentioned during public comment.