DEMOPOLIS – The District 3 council race resulted in a win for Melvin Yelverton, who outdistanced challenge John Wallace 181 votes to 123 votes in voting Tuesday.

Yelverton, in his first race for political office, said he’d concentrate his first term on the council at learning the ropes and pushing basic priorities of police fire and economic development.

“I believe we need a policeman at every school all of the time,” he said. “We may not be able to staff one at each school every day, but we can provide one that rotates between the school.”

Hiring a police chief was also a “top priority” for him, but he stopped short of taking a position on whether or the city needed both a police chief and a public safety director.

“I don’t know enough to give a truthful answer or make a qualified statement about that he said.

Taking a load off his feet at city hall, Yelverton said he’d been on them since five o’clock Tuesday morning.

“I’ve been standing since five,” he quipped. “I had a lot of people helping me.