GONZALES — The Ascension Parish Council is hoping a proposition on the December ballot will pass, giving more power to the parish's legislative branch.

Currently, the Ascension Parish home rule charter gives the power to appoint the parish secretary to the parish president. The proposition would shift that power to the parish council.

Click here to read the proposed changes to the charter

"Under the current charter, she is hired, fired, everyday operation under the executive branch," Ascension Parish Councilman Todd Varnado said. "Sixty-three out of 64 parishes operate in the way we're proposing on the ballot."

The secretary handles information like records of historical votes, internal documents and important contacts.

"That's our only resource as a council to get the information we request," Varnado said.

Varnado added there have been problems in the past between the executive and legislative branches of Ascension Parish, but not under Parish President Clint Cointment's current administration.

"If the legislative branch requests information and the executive branch may or may not be excited about that information being put out or given, the secretary's office can be caught in the middle so to speak. That job can potentially be threatened," Varnado said.

Ascension Parish Deputy Chief Administrative Officer and Communications Director Pamela Matassa said the current parish president had no comment on the proposition.

Former Parish President Tommy Martinez, however, said he supports the proposition.

"There needs to be some separation of power in a way. The council has a lot to do with the parish going the way it is," Martinez said.

He said as Ascension Parish grows, so does the need for information.

"They [the council] have a lot more questions now that the parish president probably doesn't have a whole lot of time to answer. They can go to the council secretary and get those answers," Martinez said.

The proposition will be on the ballot for the Dec. 7 election. Early voting is currently underway.