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Esther Richards, left, 18, and Sabreen Jolly, 18, both students at Clark Atlanta University, talk with Sue Kern after learning that she is already a registered in Ferguson, Mo., on Sunday, March 8, 2015. Dozens of college students are forgoing traditional spring break plans at a beach or another easygoing destination and have instead arrived in Ferguson to encourage residents to vote in next month's election.(Photo: Cristina Fletes-BouttÈ, AP)
A political group that helped elect Mayor Bill de Blasio in New York is joining forces with one of America's biggest unions and other activists to campaign on behalf of two candidates running for city council in next month's election in Ferguson, Mo.
The Service Employees International Union tells USA TODAY it will join the progressive group Working Families Party and activists from Organization for Black Struggle and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment to help get out the vote for two candidates running for city council that they say can best help Ferguson move forward.
The April 7 election comes just weeks after the Justice Department issued its report outlining endemic problems of racial bias in how the Ferguson's police department and municipal court went about its business.
Ferguson has been under the microscope since the killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by a white police officer last August ignited months of demonstrations and uncovered long simmering racial tensions in the St. Louis suburb.
"Our purpose is to back candidates that are aware of the issues that were brought up [in the Department of Justice report] and are willing to take them on," said Jake Olson, executive director of SEIU's Missouri/Kansas state council. "It's not only important for Ferguson, but it could be a beginning for grassroots folks in this region that are trying to take on these issues."
The coalition plans to knock on the doors of 5,000 Ferguson residents living in two of the city's wards on behalf of candidates Lee Smith, a retiree and longtime Ferguson resident, and Bob Hudgins, who has been active in the protest movement since shortly after Brown's killing.
The coalition, which was spearheaded by the Working Families Party (WFP), also plans on running phone banks to try to reach out to voters and tout the candidates. WFP is perhaps best known for helping lift New York's de Blasio's insurgent campaign in 2013.
"This is about restoring justice and police accountability in Ferguson, but it's also about asserting that black lives do matter in our political system and in America," said Delvone Michael, a senior organizer for WFP who be helping organize the effort in Ferguson.
The amount of attention being poured into the council races in this town of about 21,000 is unusual, and the coalition's effort could be meaningful in contests that are typically decided by several hundred voters.
The election has the potential to reshape this city's political landscape, where only one of six members on the current city council are African-American despite the city being about 68% black. (The lone incumbent black council member is not up for reelection during this cycle. All three incumbents up for reelection chose not to run for another term.)
Smith is facing Wesley Bell to represent Ferguson's ward three, an area that includes the neighborhood where Brown lived and that was at the center of the unrest. Both candidates are black, assuring that African-American representation will at least double on the council.
"What the next two weeks is going to look like is us working to increase black voter turnout," said Christine Assefa, an organizer with Organization for Black Struggle. "We are really excited about the opportunity to get people out to vote and make the city council more reflective of the population of Ferguson."
Hudgins, who has been a fierce critic of the Ferguson government, is facing off against former Mayor Brian Fletcher, who started an "I Love Ferguson" campaign in the midst of last year's protests to counter the negative attention the city was getting. Both candidates in the second ward race are white.
"Bob Hudgins is really the people's candidate," Assefa said. "Since Aug. 9, he's been standing side-by-side Ferguson residents, next to protesters advocating for justice for Michael Brown."
The coalition opted not to formally endorse a candidate in the ward one race, where four candidates are vying for the seat. Assefa said that coalition preferred Ella Jones, but the candidate asked the groups not to campaign on her behalf.
"I just wanted my campaign to be about the work I do and from the people I know," said Jones, who began planning her run for office for more than two years ago. "I just wanted to be independent of that. I didn't want anybody to be getting any cloudy ideas."
Three top Ferguson officials—the city manager, police chief and court clerk—announced their resignations in the aftermath of the release of a Justice Department report earlier this month.
Mayor James Knowles said in a recent USA TODAY interview that the city would wait until the new council members are seated after the election to pick a city manager.
The city manager is charged with hiring a new police chief.
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