Ward 7 Candidate Pagano Sees Safety, Development, Property as Priorities

Jackie Pagano isn’t the first in her family to run for Florissant’s Ward 7 city council seat.

Her father, Donald Bond served in the same Ward 7 seat that Pagano seeks, and he later was elected to the St. Louis County Council. Her brother, Ken Bond, also was elected to the city council.

“I’m pretty passionate about the city. I take great pride in it and I’d like others to do the same,” Pagano said. “I have a positive outlook for Florissant. I’m not into the negative.”

She and her husband Joe have owned and operate on Dunn Road for about 12 years.

Pagano’s experience includes:

• Serving on Florissant’s Citizens Participation Committee
• Volunteering at Our Lady of Fatima until it merged with
• Volunteering at CBC High School on the Parents Board and fundraising committees.

She said that she has thought about running for council for several years, and now that her children are grown, she has the time to commit to the council.

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Watching neighborhoods

Safety is her priority, but but she thinks the city is very safe already.

“I think Florissant sometimes gets a bad rap, but we have a great . We just need to get people more involved in watching the neighborhoods and knowing who their neighbors are,” Pagano said.

Pagano said she wants to get more residents involved in the Neighborhood Watch program.

“Our police do a great job, but they can’t be everywhere,” she said.

Keep businesses coming

Continued economic growth is another priority for Pagano.

“We need to keep the city growing,” she said.

Pagano said she would like to attract some newer businesses, too.

“I like the same things St. Charles has,” Pagano said. “I don’t understand why we can’t get them here. New businesses that have come in have all thrived.” 

Although she approved of using a TIF to redevelop the Cross Keys shopping center, she thinks the city should be careful when and where it uses tax incentives to attract businesses, she said.

“I would not have approved either to come in here,” she said. “For the jobs it would create, there would be businesses closing and jobs lost.”

Quicker fixes

As she has been campaigning door-to-door, a frequent resident comment has been about how others care for their property.

“I see a lot of nice houses, well kept houses, but there may be one that’s not,” she said. “People ask what we can do about it. People say they’ve called, it’s been thrown in the courts, and I’d like to see how we can get that taken care of quicker.

Pagano said, “I don’t want one house pulling down an entire street.”

She said she grew up in Florissant and always has lived in the city.

“It’s home. It always has been, and I don’t want to go anywhere,” Pagano said.