BATON ROUGE - The Metro Council voted for a new council member to fill new Superintendent LaMont Cole's District 7 seat and Mayor Pro-Tem role Wednesday.

Patricia Derozan was voted in by the council as the District 7 council member in an 8-4 vote. District 1 Council Member Brandon Noel was selected to take up the Mayor Pro-Tem role until the end of 2024.

According to a press release from the Baton Rouge Office of Public Information, Derozan was born and raised in the Eden Park neighborhood of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, graduated from Capitol High School and went on to pursue and attain a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Southern University.

Derozan's career includes over 25 years of service in state government. Before these years, she worked in private industry, serving on technology-related boards and standards committees.

Cole resigned from both roles to take up the superintendent seat. He spoke after the votes to address his departure from the council and to thank the members.

"To all of you, I'm extremely thankful, and I want to remind all of you that the world is watching... and I think it's extremely important that this council over the next four months show the world that the sum total of our similarities is far greater than the harsh realities of our differences at times," Cole said. "Please go forth and lead this city, lead this state and lead this country in a way that is a model of excellence so people know we don't have to be harsh on each other."

Cole then spoke about his desires for collaboration when it comes to public education.

"At the end of the day in the new role I'm serving in, we need all of you," Cole said. "Public education is by far the greatest gift that has ever been given to society because it is the bridge that takes one generation to the next without having to pay for it... if we want our city to be great, we have to invest in our public school system so it can be great."