ST. GEORGE - Nearly twenty years after the community of Central incorporated, St. George followed suit and is now the fifth largest city in Louisiana.

Monday evening, the city’s first mayor, police chief and aldermen were sworn in.

“From collecting signatures door to door, on street corners and in parking lots ... You persevered through it all,” Mayor Dustin Yates said.

Yates, along with Chief of Police Todd Morris and five aldermen were appointed by Governor Jeff Landry after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that the city could move forward with incorporation. The officials were confirmed into their positions during the swearing in Monday. 

In 2019, 54 percent of area voters supported the measure creating the city. Leaders say Monday’s celebration culminated the years of fighting to separate from East Baton Rouge.

“Many years from now when we’re all gone from here, this world will have never forgotten what a group of ordinary citizens in this part of the world came together to accomplish, and that will never be forgotten,” Yates said.