Who Is Fact Checking The Ferguson Commission?

Edited 12/17/2014 because a new fact, maybe, maybe not, was brought to my attention.

Who is Fact Checking the Ferguson Commission?

Last night, there was this in my Twitter Timeline, a quote from one of the Ferguson Commission panelists.

"St. Louis is very decentralized..We have more municipalities in St. Louis then there are nations in the UN." #FergusonCommission #Ferguson

— Bradley J. Rayford (@BradleyRayford) December 16, 2014

It was retweeted fifteen times. Problem is, it’s not true.

The Commissioner was only off by 103.

The United Nations has 193 member nations.

St. Louis County has 90 municipalities.

And this is how we came to know that St. Louis County has more municipalities than any county in the country. It, also, is not true. Cook County has 132 municipalities. But somebody with a title said it years ago and then it was repeated and now accepted as true.

And, then, this happened.

@stlouist @stl7thward Well, the correct line was "We have more elected officials in our region than there are Representatives at the UN"

— Martin Casas (@MARTIN_CASAS) December 17, 2014

Not helpful.

It suggests that a member of the Ferguson Commission has a critical thinking skills deficit.

Comparing the United Nations to a Missouri county. Comparing local elected officials, most unpaid, with international diplomats appointed by heads of state. Really? Seriously?

Not helpful.

–Marie Ceselski