Statement from Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon

[karynnj]

40. The Governor does not have the power unilaterally to remove a city official

I think he does have the power to call out the state's National Guard - assuming it is not completely in Afghanistan! This may - in all seriousness be the step he will have to take because working through the city has not been working. I think he, personally, should have been far more a presence than he was from the beginning. It is too late now to play an RFK like role of going to the black community expressing solidarity with them and calling for a full blown investigation - not just of the death, but of the type of practices that led to it.

There are procedures - that take time and are NOT necessarily a good first idea, under which states have taken control over cities. The ones I have heard of are usually triggered because of financial problems. The state of Michigan now controls everything in Detroit - and I doubt there are ANY people here on DU that think this is a good idea. In NJ, Camden has been controlled by the state as well. http://www.governing.com/columns/urban-notebook/col-pontiac-camden-pew-state-aid-municipal-financial-crisis.html Given the results in these places, one wonders if giving financial aid could have led to better results preserving people's rights.