David W. Konshok and Susan Tomte were voted onto the Park Rapids City Council Tuesday, beating out longtime incumbents Clyde Zirkle and Gene Kinkel.
The newly-elected council members are excited about the future of the city and acknowledge there will be challenges ahead.
"I'm very pleased and excited to be back on the council," Konshok said. "I think we've got a good team."
He was on the council for about a year before resigning to avoid a conflict of interest when he unsuccessfully applied for the position of city administrator nearly two years ago.
"Finances are tight and will get tighter. But we need to keep making progress," Konshok said.
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He also praised the work of Zirkle and Kinkel over the years.
"I really appreciate their service," he said.
Tomte is looking forward to working on the Main Avenue project.
"The downtown revitalization project is a huge project on so many levels," she said. "We have the opportunity to make downtown even better."
Tomte said she is looking forward to learning the details of city projects. She wants the city to grow while at the same time being fiscally responsible.
"I'm looking forward to getting up to speed on everything and being part of the process," Tomte said.
The vote totals were Konshok, 927 votes, Tomte, 843 votes, Kinkel, 567 votes, and Zirkle, 497 votes.
Councilman Pat Mikesh, who was appointed to fill out Konshok's seat about a year ago, was unopposed in a special election to fill the remaining two years of the seat in a special election. He gathered 1,335 votes.
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Mayor Nancy Carroll was unopposed in seeking a second term. She had 1,345 votes.
