LaFayette Mayor seeks to improve municipal water
BY KADIE TAYLOR
FOR THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Serving another term, Mayor Kenneth Vines was reelected Mayor of LaFayette on Aug. 27.
“I’m just honored, and I’m humbled to be reelected mayor of the city of LaFayette,” he said. “I just want to thank the citizens for trusting me to serve another term, and I am just looking forward to working with the city council and the staff, and just like to keep improving our city, you know, our beautiful city of LaFayette, and so I’m just very, very excited about being reelected for a second term.”
With his recent victory, Vines said he is thankful for the support of everyone who helped him throughout his candidacy.
“I give all the thanks and praise to God above,” he said. “I give Him thanks and pray. That’s number one. And then, you know, my family was very supportive, friends and just all my supporters. I had a good campaign team.”
When reflecting on his campaign, Vines said his race against Terry Mangram was positive and supportive.
“I ran a good campaign, so we won no animosity or anything like that,” he said. “He had his ideas, he presented his ideas and I presented mine. It was up to the people who gave me an opportunity to run again, to be elected for a second time, but we didn’t have any problems, and I’m thankful for that, that everybody ran a good, clean campaign.”
Vines said throughout his next term, he wants to continue to lead the community as he did in his previous term, with accountability.
“I’ve said before, when I won the election in 2020, and I’ll say it again this year, 2025, for the next four years, I plan to lead with transparency, accountability and just a deep commitment to the citizens here in LaFayette,” he said.
Along with representing and leading the community, Vines said he is planning to respond to community needs.
“Number one is our water system,” he said. “We’ve got to do something to alleviate those problems dealing with our water system. I think somewhere down the road, we all have had some type of effect with this water system. So that’s number one on the agenda.”
Through his position as mayor, Vines said he wants to see LaFayette grow to serve the community members who live there.
“The people in LaFayette have a big heart,” he said. “It’s a small town with a big heart, and I just want to see things continue to grow for the future. A lot of our kids leave from LaFayette to go off to college, some return and some don’t. I want to leave a legacy here in LaFayette that I was the one I cared so much about it. I want the kids, when they do come back, to see some growth and say, ‘You know what, I want to move back home, because I see growth. I see opportunities now.’”
While working to ensure LaFayette serves its citizens, Vines said it is important to create unity and thanked the community for reelecting him as their mayor.
“I thank the citizens of LaFayette for entrusting in me for another four years to continue to build what already been established,” he said. “I just want to continue to grow. My slogan is, ‘one city, one vision, one future.’ So one city is not my city and not your city, it’s all of our city, and we all should have one vision, and that vision is growth and opportunity.”
