GONZALES — City voters elected their first Black mayor, Timothy "Tim" Riley, on Saturday. Voters in the parish also approved a change in its home rule charter to let the parish council pick an administrative secretary, rather than the parish president.

Riley and Kemlyn Bailey Lomas advanced to a runoff from the Nov. 5 primary. Riley won 1,277 votes and Lomas won 1,107. 

Lomas had said before the election that she wanted to focus on community engagement, while Riley said he'd concentrate on public safety. Riley has served as a councilman. 

"I want to make sure that they know that their mayor is working for them everyday to make sure public safety is a priority. Tim Riley is a mayor for everybody. I care about the city of Gonzales, I care about the people. The people are always going to have accessibility to me. Just like they had when I was a city councilman," he said.

The race for Gonzales police chief came down to incumbent Sherman Jackson and retired officer Stephen Ussery. Jackson won with 59% of the total 2,382 votes cast. 

Jackson said he wanted to install more crime cameras in the city, while Ussery said he wanted to take a more personal approach to policing.

Eddie Williams Jr. and Cynthia James were elected to Gonzales City Council and Clem "Boo" Brown was elected to the Donaldsonville council. 

The change in how to select a Gonzales city secretary was billed as a way to bring Ascension Parish in line with the state's other parishes. Proponents said that while they haven't had a problem with the secretary post under President Clint Cointment, issues did come up in previous administrations.

A handful of tax renewals for road lighting were also on the ballot.