Hidalgo will chair Parish Council in 2023

The St. Mary Parish Council got its first female chairperson in 2022. On Wednesday, the council picked a woman as chair for a second straight year.

The council voted Wednesday to make Councilwoman Gwendolyn Hidalgo its leader for 2023. Hidalgo, of Bayou Vista, succeeds Dr. Kristi Prejeant Rink of Centerville

Rink was elected vice chair at Wednesday's regular council meeting.

The chair presides at council meetings. The St. Mary Parish charter limits the chair and vice chair posts to members elected from the three at-large districts from which members are elected by a parishwide vote.

That means the eligible members were Rink from District 9, Hidalgo from District 10 and Dean Adams of Morgan City from District 11.

Adams served as chair in 2021 and withdrew from consideration for either leadership post for 2023.

Hidalgo won the chair by a 6-3 vote. Voting for Hidalgo were members J Ina, Rodney Olander, Patrick Hebert, Adams, James Bennett and Hidalgo herself. Members Les Rulf, Mark Duhon and Rink herself voted for Rink.

That made Rink the council's choice for vice chair.

Councilman Scott Ramsey was absent from Wednesday's meeting, and the Rev. Craig Mathews abstained.

Mathews argued that all 11 council members are capable of serving as the chair and asked if he could nominate Ina, only to be told that he couldn't under the charter.

"That's a shame," Mathews said.

Ina had introduced a charter amendment that appeared on the Dec. 10 ballot and would have opened the leadership positions to any member of the council.

Voters defeated the amendment by a 61%-39% margin.