Baines to Lead Jamestown After Mayor’s Passing

Alderman Lyndon Baines will lead Jamestown as its newest mayor following the passing of former mayor Darlene Monday Davis.

Baines said the city hopes to carry on the legacy that Davis left behind.

“We’ve got a good bunch here. The aldermen here in town works well together,” Baines said. “No arguing or fighting or anything like that. We all work together and I believe we can do all this. That’s what I said the night I was appointed and they all believed I could do it.”

Baines, a Chattanooga native and Fentress County resident for 16 years, said the aldermen agreed bringing in someone not already involved in the city’s government may not have worked.

“I think we were all a little worried that if somebody new came in, they might not carry on what Darlene would’ve wanted done,” Baines said. “We don’t know that for a fact, but that could’ve happened so we just wanted to make sure. I think that’s the reason it should’ve been an alderman to come in and carry on her dream for the next two years.”

Baines said he’ll have “big shoes to fill” in replacing Davis, citing her popularity within the city.

“She was well liked in the county. She was on the fair board, she was on the 911 board… a lot of irons in the fire, as they say,” Baines said. “It’s going to be a tough job but I think I’m up to the task. As an alderman I would sit beside her and we would talk at the meetings. I learned a lot from her and she gave me a lot of advice on what to do and what not to do, what to say and what not to say.”

Baines said the city is looking over resumes for the now-vacant alderman position he held before becoming Mayor. A new alderman will be selected at the city’s November meeting on Nov. 12.

Davis passed away Sept. 15 at the age of 68 after fighting cancer. She was elected Mayor of Jamestown in November 2016.