by April Scheinoha
Reporter
The Thief River Falls City Council has appointed Kelly Langness to the vacant Ward 3 seat. He succeeds Mike Lorenson, who was elected mayor in November. Langness will recite the oath of office at the next council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 21.
The council held a special meeting Thursday, Jan. 9 to interview the six candidates for the position. The other applicants included Derek Demers, Gary Hintz, Dale Narlock, Mary Sjaaheim and Key Teeters.
Langness will serve the remainder of Lorenson’s term, which expires Dec. 31, 2026. Ward 3 includes the southwest side of the city as well as the area near Challenger Elementary School.
Langness, a Thief River Falls native, is employed at DigiKey. He applied for the council position because he wanted to become more involved. Langness said he wanted to look into the housing and daycare issues, and help Thief River Falls move forward. For him, he listed as his three highest priorities or the issues that the city needs to address as housing, a dog park, and daycare.
Langness was selected by secret ballot. Council members voted for their top two candidates. Then they voted a second time between the top two vote-getters. Langness and Narlock were the top two vote-getters. In the second vote, Langness came out on top 4-2. (Council member Megan Arlt was absent from the meeting.) Narlock is the former electric superintendent for the City of Thief River Falls.
More information will appear in the next edition of The Times.