==Background==
Baden, who was of [[Germans|German]] extraction, was the only son of four children born in Pineville to Herman P. Baden (1885–1959) and Maude H. Baden (1896–1973). Baden was reared in a house located on Lakeview Street in downtown Pineville. The late Alexandria Mayor [[John K. Snyder]], whose tenure corresponded with that of Baden in Pineville, also grew up on Lakeview Street about a block from the Baden household. "He was the mayor of Alexandria, but he spent more time in Pineville," said Baden, who recalled that while Snyder maintained an apartment in Alexandria, he spent more time at his mother's Pineville residence.<ref>Jodi Belgard, "John Snyder seemed to relish controversy," ''The [[Alexandria Town Talk]],'' April 29, 2000.</ref>
Baden dropped out of school in the eighth grade.<ref name=sulphur/> At the age of eighteen, he became a volunteer firefighter and worked as an auxiliary police officer. Baden also became a [[plumber]] and at the age of twenty-eight attained the level of "Master Plumber." He served on the Pineville City Council from 1966 until his election as mayor in the spring of 1970.<ref name=obit>Obituary of Frederick Herman Baden, I, ''Alexandria Town Talk,'' December 18, 2009.</ref>
In 1974, Baden made prohibition a key issue when he won his second term by a large margin over Rapides Parish School Board member Gary K. Hays (1938–1981). Baden continued to be reelected with few obstacles in 1978, 1982, 1986, and 1990. His last victory was in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held on March 26, 1994, when he polled 2,449 votes (69 percent) to 1,075 (30 percent) for Republican Chris Cunningham, and 31 votes (1 percent) for another Democrat, Nick Patten.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Municipal election returns, March 26, 1994.</ref> Patten blamed his weak showing on the alleged theft of his campaign signs by Baden supporters. "It's just a terrible thing that you can't run a legitimate election in Pineville," Patten said. Baden retorted that some of his own signs had vanished as well.<ref>"Candidate files complaint; Says campaign signs disappearing," ''Alexandria Daily Town Talk,'' December 2, 1993, p. D-2.</ref>
In the primary held on April 4, 1998, Baden led the four-candidate field with 1,805 votes (44 percent). Republican [[Leo Deslatte ]] trailed with 1,243 ballots (31 percent). A second Democrat, Barbara B. Gypin, polled 35 votes (1 percent). The "No Party" candidate was [[attorney]] Randal Bryan "Randy" Tannehill (born 1960), son of Fred Tannehill, a wealthy businessman who served years earlier as a Democratic remember of the Louisiana State Board of Education (since renamed as the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education). Randal Tannehill received 977 votes (24 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns (Rapides Parish), April 4, 1998.</ref> The last campaign was bitter. In the [[general election]] on May 2, Deslatte prevailed with 2,304 votes (53 percent) to Baden's 2,062 (47 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, May 2, 1998.</ref> In 1999, Randy Tannehill ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in the District 27 state House election, having been defeated by the Democrat [[Rick Lamar L. Farrar (1960-2018)]].
==City financial audit==
Mayor Deslatte invited the Louisiana legislative auditor, [[Dan Kyle]], a Republican, to inspect Pineville's municipal books. Kyle's office criticized the Baden administration for violations ranging from the illegal donation of thirty-one vehicles to other governmental entities as well as special leave benefits for Baden's wife, Roxan, when she became an employee in her husband's office.<ref>Bret H. McCormick, "7-term Pineville Mayor Fred Baden remembered for 'big heart,'" ''The Alexandria Town Talk, December 18, 2009.</ref>
Thereafter, the office of then Louisiana Attorney General [[Richard Ieyoub]], a Democrat, cleared Baden of any wrongdoing, but Dan Kyle claimed that Ieyoub had ignored critical evidence that would have found Baden guilty of [[malfeasance]] in office. However, Ieyoub reported that a lengthy investigation concluded "there is insufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution."<ref name=adtt/> Baden said at the time that he knew he would be cleared of the allegations. "I felt all along that I would be cleared of these allegations . . . I never did anything wrong. We never took anything from the city that we didn't earn."<ref name=adtt/>
Deslatte was unable to work with the city council and resigned as mayor after less than two years into his term. He said that the political pressure was too much to make the job worth keeping. The council then appointed an [[African American]] council member, [[Clarence Fields]] as interim mayor to succeed Deslatte.<ref>''Alexandria Daily Town Talk,'' December 10, 1999.</ref> Fields, hence the first black mayor of Pineville, was then elected to a partial term in 2000,<ref>Louisiana Secretary of States, Election Returns, October 2, 2000.</ref> a full term in 2002 and reelected again without opposition in 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. Baden announced that he would oppose Fields for the partial term in 2000 but subsequently withdrew from consideration,<ref name=adtt/> and [[George Hearn ]] instead ran unsuccessfully for mayor that year against Fields.