Ward Two Race Will Bring a New Voice to the Board of Aldermen

By Pauline Masson

• 

• 

First in a series – Change is in the air. Two candidates’ names will be on the ballot for the Ward Two seat in the April 5 municipal election. 

The seat is empty after Herb Adams, who occupied it for the past two years, filed to to run for mayor.

Ward Two candidates Stephen Flannery III and James Cleeve are on opposite ends of opinions on a new residential development in progress that has created a rift between the City and a group of vocal residents.

At the center of the dispute is The Manors at Brush Creek a 45-home subdivision on Lamar Parkway between Old Gray Summit Road and the railroad overpass. McBride Homes is the developer.

Flannery, scion of a leading family, civic activist and Realtor, favors the subdivision as filling a need for more homes in the city. This will be his fourth attempt to gain an elected seat in city government.

Cleeve, a two-year resident, retail technology professional and concerned citizen says approval of the subdivision revealed a disconnect between the City and residents. Cleeve is a first time candidate for a seat in Pacific city government.

Cleeve, 57, lives at 1926 Hwy N which requires him to drive on Lamar Parkway to I-44 every day as he heads to work at CCA, in Earth City, where he is director of technical services. The firm provides a co-op service for mom and pop retail businesses to help them compete with big box stores.

“Although my job is technology, I know the systems that help small shops compete with the big guys,” Cleeve said.

Cleeve graduated from the Citadel military academy with a degree in math and computer technology at the time computers were new. He worked in a series of retail technology jobs, managing a retail grocery store, and managing technology with a consulting firm and a home design firm. For the past eleven years he has been with CCA.

James and Lisa, his wife of  32 years lived in Ballwin until uncontrolled growth prompted them to look for more space. They moved to Pacific in 2020 only to encounter a subdivision that threatened their neighborhood and revealed a city government that was unwilling to listen to residents.

“I’m absolutely in favor of growth, but growth can be controlled so it does not threaten the existing neighborhood,” Cleeve said. “There are multiple challenges with this subdivision that the City refused to review and discuss with neighbors of the development.”

Seeing the City’s unwillingness to respond to the residents questions and concerns about the subdivision was absolutely the reason he decided to run for a seat on the board.

“Some 700 people signed a petition asking for changes to this subdivision,” Cleeve said. “That is a significant number. There were only 1,200 votes cast for mayor in the last election. Some 75 percent of the voters were worried about the impact of this subdivision.  Where is the logic?”

“They did not have to cram so many homes on the site and place homes on both sides of the roadway. There will be more new subdivisions on Hwy N, which will bring more traffic, but with this development this heavily traveled street can never be widened.”

The unwillingness of officials to communicate with neighbors of the subdivision continues to concern citizens. At the January board meeting, Cleeve asked aldermen to respond to questions from the subdivision opponents.

“The residents posed a series of question to officials and they were just ignored,” Cleeve said. “As acting mayor, Herb Adams said ‘talk to the city attorney after the meeting,’ but they went into executive session and the city attorney was nowhere to answer questions.”

“If I am elected, talking with and listening to residents will be a priority,” Cleeve said. “I trust that people here will tell me what they want,” Cleeve said.

Flannery, 42 has lived in Pacific most of his life, except for his 1999 to 2008 USMC tour. He attended Missouri State University where he earned a bachelor of science (BS) degree in recreation and Maryville University, where he earned a Masters degree in business (MBA).

He began a career in real estate 2008 and earned the Realtor (c) designation the following year and served as president of the FranklinCounty Board of Realtors for 1.5 years.

He has been active in local affairs following his time in the military. He served as president of the Pacific Park Board for ten years, where he assisted in developing a stand alone Parks Master Plan as part of the city’s new Comprehensive Plan. He oversaw installation of new children’s playground equipment in the city park, the development and opening of Adams Garden in Lower Blackburn Park, opening of Jensen’s Point as a city park, and the construction of concession/restroom building in Liberty Field.

In civic activities he has been involved with the Pacific Partnership where he served as president and spearheaded the Missouri Main Street grant to help the city develop a plan to revitalize downtown.

He has also been active in the Pacific Eagles Aerie 3842, the Pacific Lions Club, where he served as president for two years. He became an Eagle Scout at age 16 and served on the Eagle Scout board of review.

He say he is running for the board of aldermen again because he still has a passion for Pacific and wants to see it grow to bring retail development and other amenities that residents want.

Flannery said he understands that the Lamar Parkway subdivision has been a lightning rod for interaction between citizens and officials. He said he is a strong advocate for positive growth for the city and he believes in the long term the McBride subdivision will benefit the city.

“I understand that people have concerns and are emotional,” he said. “But it is my hope that the new subdivision will not be the deciding factor in the upcoming election.”

“There are always folks who approach the city and are not happy,” Flannery said. “It is the city’s role to listen and take notice. But in the decision making process aldermen have to act in the best interest of all the citizens. At the end of the day some people will still be unhappy.”

“If I am elected, I will listen to residents as I work with city leaders to improve and grow Pacific by enhancing a vital downtown district and increasing the housing market, while maintaining our small town vibe,” he said.