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'''Clarence Ray Fields, Sr.''' (born November 7, 1955), is an [[African-American]] [[politician]] who has been since December 14, 1999, the [[mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]], the sister city separated by the Red River from the larger [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], both in Rapides Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pineville.net/egov/apps/directory/list.egov?path=pro&usr=10|title=Clarence Fields|publisher=|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref>​

'''Clarence Ray Fields, Sr.''' (born November 7, 1955), is an [[African-American]] [[politician]] who has been since December 14, 1999, the [[mayor]] of [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], [[Louisiana]], the sister city separated by the Red River from the larger [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], both in Rapides Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pineville.net/egov/apps/directory/list.egov?path=pro&usr=10|title=Clarence Fields|publisher=|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref>​

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==Background==​

==Background==

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Fields was born at the former Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville, a state charity hospital named for the late [[Governor]] and [[U.S. Senator]] [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], which operated from 1939 to 2014. Officials have sought to place the structure, under the original name of Huey P. Long Memorial Hospital, into the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/National-Register-status-wanted-for-Pineville-6346509.php|title=National Register status wanted for Pineville hospital|date=June 24, 2015|publisher=newstimes.com|accessdate=July 23, 2015}}</ref> Fields graduated c. 1973 from the former J. S. Slocum High School at 901 Crepe Myrtle Street in Pineville, now the J. S. Slocum Learning Center. He was formerly employed for twenty-two years by the Pineville-based Central Louisiana Electric Company (CLECO). He and his wife, the former Rosa Ceasar, have two children, Clarence, Jr., and Bethany Fields, and one grandchild. The family is actively involved in the First [[United Methodist]] Church of Pineville.

Fields was born at the former Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville, a state charity hospital named for the late [[Governor]] and [[U.S. Senator]] [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], which operated from 1939 to 2014. Officials have sought to place the structure, under the original name of Huey P. Long Memorial Hospital, into the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/National-Register-status-wanted-for-Pineville-6346509.php|title=National Register status wanted for Pineville hospital|date=June 24, 2015|publisher=newstimes.com|accessdate=July 23, 2015}}</ref> Fields graduated c. 1973 from the former J. S. Slocum High School at 901 Crepe Myrtle Street in Pineville, now the J. S. Slocum Learning Center. He was formerly employed for twenty-two years by the Pineville-based Central Louisiana Electric Company (CLECO). He and his wife, the former Rosa Ceasar, have two children, Clarence, Jr., and Bethany Fields, and one grandchild. The family is actively involved in the First [[United Methodist]] Church of Pineville.

==Career==​

==Career==

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Prior to becoming mayor, Fields served on the Rapides Area Planning Commission and the board of directors of Rapides Senior Citizens. He became mayor when [[Leo Deslatte]], a [[Republican Party|Republican]] elected in 1998, proved unable to work with the city council and resigned after less than two years into his term. Deslatte said that the political pressure was too much to make the job worth keeping. The council then appointed Fields, one of its five members, as the interim mayor.<ref name=adtt>''The  Alexandria Town Talk'', December 10, 1999.</ref> Fields was then elected to a partial term in October 2000.<ref name=lousecstate>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10072000/10072000_40.html|title=Election Results|date=October 7, 2000|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> Unseated in 1998 by Deslatte, former Mayor Frederick Herman "Fred" Baden, Sr. (1934-2009), announced that he would challenge Fields for the partial term but subsequently withdrew from consideration,<ref name=adtt/> and [[George  Hearn]], a [[Louisiana College]] [[psychology]] [[professor]] and former city council member, ran for mayor. Fields received 2,228 votes (65.7 percent) to Hearn's 1,102 (32.5 percent).<ref name=lousecstate/>​

Prior to becoming mayor, Fields served on the Rapides Area Planning Commission and the board of directors of Rapides Senior Citizens. He became mayor when [[Leo Deslatte]], a [[Republican Party|Republican]] elected in 1998, proved unable to work with the city council and resigned after less than two years into his term. Deslatte said that the political pressure was too much to make the job worth keeping. The council then appointed Fields, one of its five members, as the interim mayor.<ref name=adtt>''The  Alexandria Town Talk'', December 10, 1999.</ref> Fields was then elected to a partial term in October 2000.<ref name=lousecstate>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/10072000/10072000_40.html|title=Election Results|date=October 7, 2000|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> Unseated in 1998 by Deslatte, former Mayor Frederick Herman "Fred" Baden, Sr. (1934-2009), announced that he would challenge Fields for the partial term but subsequently withdrew from consideration,<ref name=adtt/> and [[George  Hearn]], a [[Louisiana College]] [[psychology]] [[professor]] and former city council member, ran for mayor. Fields received 2,228 votes (65.7 percent) to Hearn's 1,102 (32.5 percent).<ref name=lousecstate/>​