City Council Approves Appointment of Pagan as Newest Member

JAMESTOWN – Mayor Sam Teresi has made his cross-party appointment for Ward 3 of the Jamestown City Council.

On Monday night the city council approved the appointment of Rev. Alfonso Pagan to the city council to finish the term of outgoing council woman Tamara Dickey, who announced earlier this month she was stepping down do to work obligations. The current term for the seat runs until the end of 2015.

Pagan is the Pastor of the Nueva Vida Covenant Church in Jamestown and also serves as a board member of the Eastside YMCA. He was previously a board member of the Joint Neighborhood Project.

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi said he was happy to appoint Pagan to the council.

“I’ve known Mr. Pagan for a number of years, he’s somebody who cares deeply about this community and has worked on different projects and ventures with us,” Teresi said following the council’s approval of his appointment. “When I saw his name on the registration list, it kind of jumped off the page. When I also consulted with other associates of mine and members of the city council and received their input and encouragement. It made it a fairly easy appointment to bring him on board and fill this vacancy as soon as possible.”

Following his appointment, Pagan said he looks forward to serving the residents of the city, including the growing Hispanic population.

“I think that’s one of the biggest accomplishments – to allow that community to have a voice here, on the city council and in city government. I think that’s going to be a real big plus for the community as a whole, to understand the Hispanic community and culture.” Pagan said following Monday’s meeting. “I have a lot of connections that can be used, since I’m the pastor of a Hispanic church, so we do have quite an open communication channel with the community where if anything comes up I can be that bridge for the community.”

Like Dickey, Pagan is a registered Republican. According to the city charter, the mayor has to appoint a new council member to fill a vacated seat, but that person must be the member of the same party of the council member who stepped down.