Photo: New Mayor Jimmy Stokes II and the Horn Lake Board of Aldermen, sworn into office Tuesday evening. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)
July 1, 2025 – All four DeSoto County cities started a new four-year term of municipal government Tuesday. The people who won election or reelection to seats as mayor or alderman officially began their elected service to their city.
Both Olive Branch and Horn Lake held swearing-in ceremonies to begin their board meetings on Tuesday night. In Horn Lake, a full municipal courtroom where the Board of Aldermen meet watched as a new mayor and four new aldermen joined three former members reelected in June in a radical shakeup of city government. Where the past makeup of the Horn Lake board had six Republicans and one Democrat, the lone Democrat Tuesday was officially joined by the new Democratic mayor and four new Democratic aldermen.
Led by new Mayor Jimmy Stokes II, the new representatives include Alderman-at-Large Larry McKinney, Ward 4 Alderman Kelly Lee Smith, and Ward 6 Alderwoman Charlotte Armstrong, and Ward 1 Alderman Joshua Langston.
Republicans Ward 2 Alderman Tommy Bledsoe and Ward 3 Alderman Jackie Bostick, along with Democrat LaShonda Johnson from Ward 5 remain from the previous board.
McKinney, who defeated Heather DuPree for the at-Large seat left open when Danny Klein ran for mayor, aims to get the city more involved as he starts his term.
Horn Lake Board of Aldermen with Mayor Jimmy Stokes II Aldermen being sworn in as a groupAldermen being sworn in as a groupMayor Jimmy Stokes is sworn into office.Mayor Jimmy Stokes II, with his family and Chancellor Vicki DanielsA full Horn Lake Municipal Court room watched as new board members and Mayor Jimmy Stokes II were sworn into office.
“That’s a big thing that I’m trying to see,” McKinney said. “I can start doing that and just talking and letting people know who I am and how they can get involved.”
For Stokes, who also is a pastor at a Bartlett, Tenn. church, getting Horn Lake church leaders together is one of the first things he wants to do.
“I’m going to unify the clergies, bring all of them together and the business community to get more insight on the city and figure out how to boost the morale of the city,” Stokes said. “In the first 100 days, I want to be going after businesses that we want, what the citizens want.”
If there’s a belief that Horn Lake gets overlooked for business and development compared to other county cities, Stokes wants to work quickly to address that belief.
“We’re the 14th largest city in the state out of 400 plus,” Stokes said. “We’re a big city and we deserve equal treatment as other major cities. For instance, we don’t have a movie theater…why don’t we have one? There’s a lot of things we can do to grow our economy and DeSoto County revenue.”
Stokes was sworn into office by Chancellor Vicki Daniels, followed by the swearing in of the board as a group. Once made official, the board took one vote and approved Ravonda Griffin Willis as new City Attorney. That was followed by a half-hour recess for photos before the board went back to business, approving a consent agenda that included the resignation of Steven Boxx as Public Works Director and the hiring of Tanya Carter as City Clerk/City Administrator full-time with an annual salary of $70,000. Tara Warren was also appointed as a temporary City Administrator at $100 per month through Sept. 30.
