Thompson Falls mayor takes office

Danielle Switalski

Carla Parks was sworn in as the new mayor of Thompson Falls Monday night at the City Hall, replacing the former mayor of almost ten years Luis LaRock.

Around a dozen people showed up to watch Parks, along with council people Linda McKahan, Mark Sheets and Randy Roberts, officially take their new city posts and be sworn in by Thompson Falls city judge David S. Johnson.

The official ceremony followed with many congratulations to Parks from attendees such as Representative Pat Ingraham.

“I’m excited. I’ve been really anticipating it and I have some different things that I want to work on and get done and I feel like I can really get started,” said Parks.

Parks said one of the things that her and the council people are interested on looking at right away is working towards stimulus money grants, particularly the energy conservation grant and see if it is something feasible for the city to obtain and work with. She added that this is simply the first in a long line of resources she will be looking at and trying to get for the city of Thompson Falls.

Also on the immediate agenda for Parks is to try and keep the north side of Main Street regularly maintained and in addition to make sure the city keeps all of the sidewalks repaired and up-to-date. Parks said it was too soon to tell if the street and sidewalk maintenance would require grant money or could be worked into the town’s budget, however, she said confidently that it is one of the areas she wants to start looking into.

Since the November 3 election when Parks beat LaRock with 323 votes compared to his 152, Parks has been preparing to take the official mayor seat by going in and working with LaRock to learn “some of the ropes and the codes and the resources that are available here at the city.”

“I have been working to get ready to hit the ground running,” said Parks.

Besides these initial goals, Parks said she has plans to do the day-to-day work with the city and work cohesively with the council. Parks will now be available all day every Wednesday and first thing every morning.