New Mayor in Ball

 Gail Wilking was sworn in as mayor last week and started the job by meeting with the police chief, fire chief and maintenance superintendent.

The Republican won a November election in a town do-over.

Voters chose Roy Hebron as mayor last year. But the Democrat was sidelined by a constitutional restriction on felons holding elected office. Louisiana voters adopted the measure on the same 2018 ballot.

Hebron had been mayor of the town from 1987 until 2011.

He didn’t meet the new standard requiring felons to wait five years after their sentences before seeking office. Hebron had fewer than two years removed from corrections supervision for a hurricane-related fraud conviction.