Changes

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/>​

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In 2002, Fields defeated fellow Democrat Irving Wainwright, III, 2,373 votes (78.9 percent) to 636 (21.2 percent) for his first full term in office.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/04062002/04062002_40.html|title=Election Results|date=April 6, 2002|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> Fields was elected without opposition in 2006, 2010, and 2014.​

In 2002, Fields defeated fellow Democrat Irving Wainwright, III, 2,373 votes (78.9 percent) to 636 (21.2 percent) for his first full term in office.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/04062002/04062002_40.html|title=Election Results|date=April 6, 2002|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> Fields was elected without opposition in 2006, 2010, and 2014.​<ref>Jeff Matthews, Pineville Mayor Fields once again re-elected without opposition, ''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref>​

<ref>Jeff Matthews, Pineville Mayor Fields once again re-elected without opposition, ''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref>​

 

In 2003, Pineville won the state "Cleanest City" award for municipalities between 8,000 and 16,000 in population, an early highlight of the Fields administration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pineville.net/egov/docs/1236778755_347473.pdf|title=Pineville Wins State Cleanest City Contest|publisher=pineville.net|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> From 2000 to 2003, Fields and then Alexandria Mayor Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr. (1942-2016) joined with the Evangelical Pastor's Fellowship to host a "Minister's and Mayor's Prayer Breakfast".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pineville.net/egov/docs/1236778755_347473.pdf|title=United in Prayer|publisher=pineville.net|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> In 2007, Fields was elected president of the Louisiana Municipal Association by his fellow mayors, the first Pineville mayor to hold that position. He was succeeded by the first vice president,  [[Bill Robertson]], then the longest-serving mayor of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]].<ref>''Minden Press-Herald'', August 10, 2008, p. 1.</ref> Fields remains a current member of the LMA board of directors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lma.org/LMA20/About/Board_of_Directors/LMA20/About_LMA/Board_Photos.aspx?hkey=e0dea89e-15aa-4b49-a253-4aba2dc7ead6|title=LMA Board of Directors|publisher=lma.org|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> He is vice chairman of the Municipal Employees Retirement Board.​

In 2003, Pineville won the state "Cleanest City" award for municipalities between 8,000 and 16,000 in population, an early highlight of the Fields administration.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pineville.net/egov/docs/1236778755_347473.pdf|title=Pineville Wins State Cleanest City Contest|publisher=pineville.net|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> From 2000 to 2003, Fields and then Alexandria Mayor Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr. (1942-2016) joined with the Evangelical Pastor's Fellowship to host a "Minister's and Mayor's Prayer Breakfast".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pineville.net/egov/docs/1236778755_347473.pdf|title=United in Prayer|publisher=pineville.net|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> In 2007, Fields was elected president of the Louisiana Municipal Association by his fellow mayors, the first Pineville mayor to hold that position. He was succeeded by the first vice president,  [[Bill Robertson]], then the longest-serving mayor of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]].<ref>''Minden Press-Herald'', August 10, 2008, p. 1.</ref> Fields remains a current member of the LMA board of directors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lma.org/LMA20/About/Board_of_Directors/LMA20/About_LMA/Board_Photos.aspx?hkey=e0dea89e-15aa-4b49-a253-4aba2dc7ead6|title=LMA Board of Directors|publisher=lma.org|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref> He is vice chairman of the Municipal Employees Retirement Board.​

 

In 2010, the city council approved Fields' choice of Donald "Don" Weatherford to succeed the retiring Terral Paul as the Pineville police chief. A veteran of the Alexandria Police Department, Weatherford reached the rank there of executive officer of criminal investigations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pinevillepd.com/chief-of-police/|title=Chief of Police|publisher=pinevillepd.com|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref>​

In 2010, the city council approved Fields' choice of Donald "Don" Weatherford to succeed the retiring Terral Paul as the Pineville police chief. A veteran of the Alexandria Police Department, Weatherford reached the rank there of executive officer of criminal investigations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pinevillepd.com/chief-of-police/|title=Chief of Police|publisher=pinevillepd.com|accessdate=July 17, 2015}}</ref>​

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Liquor became available in restaurants in January 2014.<ref name=pinevilleliquor>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20131022/NEWS01/310220008/Pineville|title=Jeff Matthews, Pineville restaurants to serve alcohol, just not right away: City Council still must make change official by ordinance, October 22, 2013|work=The Alexandria Town Talk|accessdate=October 22, 2013}}</ref> Fields claimed that allowing limited liquor sales, requested by area developers, would boost economic development, particularly along the riverfront.<ref name=pinevilleliquor/> According to Fields, members of the clergy, including city council member Nathan Martin of the Christian Challenge Worship Center in Pineville, joined the call for liquor sales: "We've had a lot of conversations with our religious community, and all of the ministers I have spoken with are favorable.".<ref name=alcohol>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20130516/NEWS01/305160022/House-committee-OKs-Pineville-alcohol-plan|author=Mike Hasten|title=House committee OKs Pineville alcohol plan|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=May 16, 2013}}</ref>​

Liquor became available in restaurants in January 2014.<ref name=pinevilleliquor>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20131022/NEWS01/310220008/Pineville|title=Jeff Matthews, Pineville restaurants to serve alcohol, just not right away: City Council still must make change official by ordinance, October 22, 2013|work=The Alexandria Town Talk|accessdate=October 22, 2013}}</ref> Fields claimed that allowing limited liquor sales, requested by area developers, would boost economic development, particularly along the riverfront.<ref name=pinevilleliquor/> According to Fields, members of the clergy, including city council member Nathan Martin of the Christian Challenge Worship Center in Pineville, joined the call for liquor sales: "We've had a lot of conversations with our religious community, and all of the ministers I have spoken with are favorable.".<ref name=alcohol>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20130516/NEWS01/305160022/House-committee-OKs-Pineville-alcohol-plan|author=Mike Hasten|title=House committee OKs Pineville alcohol plan|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=May 16, 2013}}</ref>​

 

Fields said that his success as an African American in the politics of predominantly white Pineville was the continued outgrowth from the election in 1974 of Lemon "Billy" Coleman Jr. (1935-2015), a Rapides Parish black educator who won a seat on the Pineville City Council from a heavily white district. Coleman sat on the council for twenty-four years and served a stint too as mayor pro tem. Fields said that the manner in which Coleman "carried himself, his character, his diplomacy, in a lot of ways, it gave me [the] opportunity [to serve as well]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2015/08/18/trailblazer-coleman--surely-missed/31924825/|title=Trailblazer Coleman will "surely be missed"|author=Jeff Matthews|date=August 20, 2015|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk'' |accessdate=January 8, 2016}}</ref> The Curtis-Coleman Memorial Bridge, the replacement for the O.K. Allen Bridge, is named for Lemon Coleman and the late state Representative Israel "Bo" Curtis (1932-2012), another African-American Democrat.​

Fields said that his success as an African American in the politics of predominantly white Pineville was the continued outgrowth from the election in 1974 of Lemon "Billy" Coleman Jr. (1935-2015), a Rapides Parish black educator who won a seat on the Pineville City Council from a heavily white district. Coleman sat on the council for twenty-four years and served a stint too as mayor pro tem. Fields said that the manner in which Coleman "carried himself, his character, his diplomacy, in a lot of ways, it gave me [the] opportunity [to serve as well]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/story/news/local/2015/08/18/trailblazer-coleman--surely-missed/31924825/|title=Trailblazer Coleman will "surely be missed"|author=Jeff Matthews|date=August 20, 2015|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk'' |accessdate=January 8, 2016}}</ref> The Curtis-Coleman Memorial Bridge, the replacement for the O.K. Allen Bridge, is named for Lemon Coleman and the late state Representative Israel "Bo" Curtis (1932-2012), another African-American Democrat.​

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