Changes

===City improvements===

===City improvements===

Mitchell was in the private practice of engineering for fifteen years before he was elected in 1934 at the height of the [[Great Depression]] to the former position of Shreveport public works commissioner,<ref>In [[Shreveport]] and in other cities with the city commission form of government, the commissioner exercises both legislative and executive duties, on the city council and as a department head. This position should not be confused with a county commissioner, most of whom were and still are elected by single-member districts. County commissioners are the "legislators" of a county (called parish in Louisiana), with the county judge normally in the role of the "executive" head of the county. In Louisiana, the executive of the parish can be the police jury president, the president of the parish, or a parish "administrator", depending on the structure of the parish government. City commissioners could not be chosen on a district basis, as their administrative duties affected the entire city, and they were elected citywide.. [[African American]]s were not then elected to city government in most parts of the South. Soon an outcry in the [[civil rights]] movement raised legal challenges to the city commission governments.</ref> an office under the city commission government, which was subsequently abolished effective November 1978, just a few days after Mitchell's death, with the implementation instead of the mayor-council form of municipal government.<ref name=stimes>"H. Lane Mitchell dies, funeral Friday morning", 'The Shreveport Times'', November 9, 1978, p. 10-A.</ref>

Mitchell was in the private practice of engineering for fifteen years before he was elected in 1934 at the height of the [[Great Depression]] to the former position of Shreveport public works commissioner,<ref>In [[Shreveport]] and in other cities with the city commission form of government, the commissioner exercises both legislative and executive duties, on the city council and as a department head. This position should not be confused with a county commissioner, most of whom were and still are elected by single-member districts. County commissioners are the "legislators" of a county (called parish in Louisiana), with the county judge normally in the role of the "executive" head of the county. In Louisiana, the executive of the parish can be the police jury president, the president of the parish, or a parish "administrator", depending on the structure of the parish government. City commissioners could not be chosen on a district basis, as their administrative duties affected the entire city, and they were elected citywide.. [[African American]]s were not then elected to city government in most parts of the South. Soon an outcry in the [[civil rights]] movement raised legal challenges to the city commission governments.</ref> an office under the city commission government, which was subsequently abolished effective November 1978, just a few days after Mitchell's death, with the implementation instead of the mayor-council form of municipal government.<ref name=stimes>"H. Lane Mitchell dies, funeral Friday morning", ''The Shreveport Times,'' November 9, 1978, p. 10-A.</ref>

In 1946, Mitchell broke with his other council members to oppose a resolution by then Public Safety Commissioner L. K. Barney which ordered vendors off the sidewalks along busy Shreveport streets. Barney claimed that his motion would relieve traffic congestion; Mitchell said that the vendors, mostly small businessmen, could become wards of charity if unable to pursue their livelihoods.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=H.+Lane+Mitchell+of+Shreveport,+LA&source=bl&ots=KFd6XvHiEO&sig=k_7eglZvzSJ2QvUYUrePkxYIi6c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3rK4U7avA-zisASa_YCQDQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAzgU#v=onepage&q=H.%20Lane%20Mitchell%20of%20Shreveport%2C%20LA&f=falserl=|title=Shreveport bans vendors from walks|date=April 20, 1946|publisher=''Billboard'' ([[magazine]])|accessdate=July 5, 2014}}</ref>

In 1946, Mitchell broke with his other council members to oppose a resolution by then Public Safety Commissioner L. K. Barney which ordered vendors off the sidewalks along busy Shreveport streets. Barney claimed that his motion would relieve traffic congestion; Mitchell said that the vendors, mostly small businessmen, could become wards of charity if unable to pursue their livelihoods.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA129&lpg=PA129&dq=H.+Lane+Mitchell+of+Shreveport,+LA&source=bl&ots=KFd6XvHiEO&sig=k_7eglZvzSJ2QvUYUrePkxYIi6c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3rK4U7avA-zisASa_YCQDQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAzgU#v=onepage&q=H.%20Lane%20Mitchell%20of%20Shreveport%2C%20LA&f=falserl=|title=Shreveport bans vendors from walks|date=April 20, 1946|publisher=''Billboard'' ([[magazine]])|accessdate=July 5, 2014}}</ref>