Changes

==City council service==

==City council service==

A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Batton served on the Minden City Council in the former position of streets and parks commissioner from 1946 to 1962 and from 1966 to 1978. He was defeated in the at-large city council races held on May 12, 1962, as were all sitting council members.<ref>''Minden Press'', May 14, 1962, p. 1.</ref><ref>''Minden Herald'', May 17, 1962, p. 6.</ref> The dry cleaners businessman J. Travis Taylor (1914–1995) became the new streets and park commissioner for a single term.<ref>"Commission Posts Set for Council", ''Minden Herald'', May 24, 1962, p. 1</ref> Batton was a brother of J. D. Batton, the former Minden police chief and then from 1952 to 1964, the Webster Parish sheriff. In 1948, J. D. Batton lost a race for Webster Parish clerk of court to the incumbent Thomas J. "Tom" Campbell (1895–1968), a native of Castor in Bienville Parish.<ref name="Minden Herald 1947, p. 1"/> Jack Batton's brother-in-law, Arthur Howard Shurtleff (1920–1985), was a member of the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body akin to the county commission in most other states.

A [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Batton served on the Minden City Council in the former position of streets and parks commissioner from 1946 to 1962 and from 1966 to 1978. He was defeated in the at-large city council races held on May 12, 1962, as were all sitting council members.<ref>''Minden Press'', May 14, 1962, p. 1.</ref><ref>''Minden Herald'', May 17, 1962, p. 6.</ref> The dry cleaners businessman J. Travis Taylor (1914–1995) became the new streets and park commissioner for a single term.<ref>"Commission Posts Set for Council", ''Minden Herald'', May 24, 1962, p. 1</ref> Batton was a brother of [[J. D. Batton]], the former Minden police chief and then from 1952 to 1964, the Webster Parish sheriff. In 1948, J. D. Batton lost a race for Webster Parish clerk of court to the incumbent Thomas J. "Tom" Campbell (1895–1968), a native of Castor in Bienville Parish.<ref name="Minden Herald 1947, p. 1"/> Jack Batton's brother-in-law, Arthur Howard Shurtleff (1920–1985), was a member of the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body akin to the county commission in most other states.

In his first term as streets and parks commissioner in 1946, Batton and then newly elected Mayor [[John T. David]] moved forward a plan to blacktop eight miles of Minden municipal streets, beginning with a short link of Bayou Avenue from Pine Street west to the Minden Cemetery.<ref>"Paving Program Announced by Mayor David", ''Minden Herald'', August 2, 1946, p. 1.</ref> At the time, most city streets were unpaved, and the city had used mule-drawn equipment. Batton was the city council president at the time of his defeat in 1962. He stressed street paving, curbing and guttering, and improvements to parks in his unsuccessful reelection bid.<ref>Batton advertisement, ''Minden Herald'', May 3, 1962, p. 9.</ref>

In his first term as streets and parks commissioner in 1946, Batton and then newly elected Mayor [[John T. David]] moved forward a plan to blacktop eight miles of Minden municipal streets, beginning with a short link of Bayou Avenue from Pine Street west to the Minden Cemetery.<ref>"Paving Program Announced by Mayor David", ''Minden Herald'', August 2, 1946, p. 1.</ref> At the time, most city streets were unpaved, and the city had used mule-drawn equipment. Batton was the city council president at the time of his defeat in 1962. He stressed street paving, curbing and guttering, and improvements to parks in his unsuccessful reelection bid.<ref>Batton advertisement, ''Minden Herald'', May 3, 1962, p. 9.</ref>