BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) -- Mayor-President Sid Edwards issued a new statement Monday after the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board voted to expand the fire chief's job description.

A district judge had previously blocked Edwards' attempt to merge the fire department and emergency medical services. A temporary restraining order was granted to stop the board from voting on the proposal. Edwards said the Monday vote was on the heels of the dissolution of the order.

“Last week I mentioned that I would respect the (judicial) process, and today I was pleased to see the process work,” Edwards said. “I have always said I want what’s best for our parish.”

In June, Edwards announced his plans to merge the departments to streamline operations. The plan proposed that emergency

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