By Bill Short
The newly re-elected Millington mayor and three aldermen were recently sworn in to new terms at separate events in the city.
On Dec. 22, 2020, at the annual City Employees’ Luncheon in Baker Community Center, District 99 State Rep. Tom Leatherwood administered the Oath of Office to Mayor Terry Jones as well as Aldermen Mike Caruthers and Thomas McGhee.
Because Alderman Don Lowry was out of town on that date, he was sworn in by Jones on Monday night shortly before the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
Jones, Caruthers and Lowry were each sworn in to a fourth term and McGhee to a third term.
They vowed to support the U.S. and Tennessee Constitutions, the Millington City Charter and ordinances and to “faithfully and impartially” perform all their duties.
They affirmed that they are not under any direct or indirect obligation to approve the appointment of any person as a police officer, firefighter or any other position in the city.
They also swore that they will not have any “direct” interest in any contracts made by the city and will “publicly disclose” any “indirect” interest they may have in them.
Jones, Lowry and McGhee were unopposed in the Nov. 3, 2020 city elections, and Caruthers defeated his challenger Tom Stephens.
Jones was initially elected an alderman in 2000. He served one term before defeating fellow alderman Richard Hodges in a 2004 runoff election for mayor. In 2008, Hodges defeated Jones in a rematch election.
Jones was re-elected in 2012, defeating Kenneth Uselton in a hotly contested runoff race. He won a third term in 2016 when he defeated then-Position 6 Alderman Chris Ford.
Caruthers was initially elected to Position 7 in 2008 and re-elected in 2012 and 2016. For the past eight years, he has also been a member of the Millington Municipal Planning Commission.
Lowry was initially elected as Position 3 alderman in 2000 and re-elected in 2004 and 2008. He was defeated in 2012 by Frankie Dakin and elected in 2016 to the open Position 6 seat then occupied by Ford.
McGhee was initially elected in 2012 when he defeated then-Position 5 Alderman Brett Morgan and was re-elected in 2016 by defeating his challenger Don Holsinger.
In April 2016, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and the Tennessee General Assembly approved amendments to the Millington City Charter that changed the date of the city elections and established staggered terms for the aldermen.
The elections had previously been conducted on the first Thursday in August every four years. But they are now scheduled every two years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November to coincide with the federal and state general elections.
In 2016, alderman positions 1-4 were up for re-election to a two-year and positions 5-7 to a four-year term. The first four positions were up for re-election to a four-year term in 2018.
The mayor’s position will continue to be up for re-election every four years.
