COOPERTOWN, Tenn. -- In Robertson County, a new administration has taken over the city of Coopertown, but it was far from a normal transition of power.

Video: Coopertown Mayor Seeks To Polish City's Image

The town has had its share of bad publicity over the years, and one of the first moves by the new mayor was to change the locks at City Hall.

Coopertown's new Mayor Sam Childs was sworn in right after his election was officially certified on Nov. 17, which was a little earlier than usual for a new leader.

Childs said it was necessary to stabilize City Hall, a building that is no larger than an average family home.

There were lots of concerns about what outgoing Mayor Danny Crosby would do before he left office.

"If any of them were true, I just wanted to stop them," said Childs.

Those concerns were unfounded, but nonetheless, Childs' first order of business was to change the locks at City Hall.

The new mayor then placed a phone call to Crosby to remind him that he no longer had the job.

"(The call) was kind of cold and chilled," said Childs.

Coopertown is a small town with big city politics that has a reputation as being a speed trap. Triple A put the town on its watch list for drivers trying to avoid tickets.

Crosby ordered city patrol cars to ticket speeders on Interstate 24 and Highway 49. The fines generated more than $1 million a year, but Childs will no longer be counting on that revenue.

"I ran on the campaign of getting the police off the freeway. That has been done. It was done the day after I took over this office," said Childs.

The mayor said he'll make up for the shortfall by cutting the police and highway department. The town's patrol cars will get a change.

The dark-tinted glass that was on the town's police cars will be removed because Childs said the residents considered it a form of intimidation.

Childs said there's no reason for ugly politics in a small town.

"(The media isn’t going to) like us anymore because we're not going to be news worthy anymore," said Childs.