Ferguson, Missouri, Mayor James Knowles is coming under heavy fire to step down from his post in the wake of a scathing new Department of Justice report that finds that city officials routinely allowed for lax police oversight, racial profiling and profit-driven court practices where black and minority citizens were concerned.

According to Newsday, since the report was released earlier this month, at least six city workers, including the city manager and police chief, have been fired or forced to resign. With the pressure now building on him to follow suit, Knowles now insists his job was only ceremonial, paying him just $4,200 a year, and that his powers have been stripped to more or less merely serving as a figurehead for the city council.

Just the same, since the Aug. 9, 2014, shooting death of unarmed black teen Michael Brown at the hands of then white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, Knowles has opened an office at City Hall and vows to be there to see the city through all the changes DOJ has strongly suggested the system undergo.

"Obviously there are people on the street calling for my resignation, but my voicemail, my text messages and my Facebook are full with literally hundreds of people who want me to stay," Knowles said. "Somebody has to show leadership, and I'm focused on how we can move this community forward."

Late last week, five community residents filed an affidavit seeking to have Knowles recalled. They now have 60 days to collect a minimum of signatures, 15 percent of all registered voters, to force a special election.

"I want the mayor out," said Kayla Reed, 25, of the Organization for Black Struggle. "True accountability" means clean house, top to bottom."

A native of Ferguson, Knowles became the youngest mayor in the city's history in 2011. He was re-elected unopposed as a Republican in 2014. Knowles also has a full-time job as a general manager of the state-controlled motor vehicle license office in Ferguson.