Missouri Governor Jay Nixon announced the members of the independent Ferguson Commission this afternoon. The 16 members were selection from more than 300 applicants. Ten men and six women were selected from business, clergy, health care, law enforcement, civic and educational leadership.
Nixon said, “The work of the commission is not about one case,” referring to the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Wilson. The Commission was created to examine issues that came forth in light of the killing and subsequent demonstrations and protests, and to make recommendations to make the St. Louis area better for everyone.
The Commission will be led by co-chairs Rev. Starsky Wilson, pastor of St. John United Church of Christ and CEO of Deaconess Foundation and Rich McClure, former president and COO of Unigroup and chairman of the St. Louis Regional Board of Teach for America.
“As much as our voices are independent, our lives are interdependent,” Wilson said. “We commit to listening more than we talk.”
McClure said the significant challenges we face as a region have been vividly exposed by events in Ferguson.
“Committed and thoughtful citizens must identify necessary actions to take and policies that have to change,” McClure said. “Then, our state and our region must pursue their implementation vigorously.”
The Ferguson Commission members are the co-chairs and Rev. Traci Blackmon, pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant; Daniel Isom, II, director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety; Scott Newger, president of Newger Materials in Ferguson, Missouri; Bethany Johnson-Javois, CEO of the St. Louis Integrated Health Network; Gabriel Gore, attorney and partner at Dowd Bennett LLC; Brittany Packnett, executive director at Teach for America; Rose Windmiller, assistant vice chancellor for government and community affairs at Washington University; Rasheen Aldridge, Jr., community organizer and director of Young Activists United; Grayling Tobias, Ed.D, superintendent of Hazelwood School District; Becky James-Hatter, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri; Felicia Pulliam, director of development for Focus St. Louis and Ferguson resident; Sgt. Kevin Ahlbrand detective sergeant with St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and president of the Missouri State Fraternal Order of Police; Patrick Sly, executive vice president of Emerson; and T.R. Carr, Ph.D., professor of public administration at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville former mayor of Hazelwood, Missouri.
“The choices we make in troubled times are the true expression of our humanity,” Nixon said. “We cannot walk alone. Let us walk together in strength and solidarity for a brighter future for all of us.”
The commission is expected to report its findings no later than September 15, 2015.
For more about the members, visit http://www.stlpositivechange.org.
