Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
By unanimous vote Nov. 19, the Tekoa City Council appointed Troy Wilson as its new mayor, to serve the remainder of John Jaeger’s term, who resigned in October.
Wilson, mayor pro-tem for Jaeger and an eight-year city councilman, will serve at least until January 2020, before which he may run for a full term in November of next year.
“I feel like I can do a good job, as I’ve thought about it a few times that I might throw my hat in,” said Wilson. “I wasn’t planning on it in the near future, but eventually.”
He was sworn-in early in the Nov. 19 meeting and then presided for the rest of it to begin his mayorship.
“It’s been rather eye-opening,” Wilson said. “It’s a little more work than I had thought. I did nothing on Thanksgiving and the day after, but every other day since there was something to do as mayor. There’s a lot more to it than I expected.”
Early tasks included time sheets to sign and documents to review for the city.
Wilson sat down at the mayor’s roll-top desk at city hall and started.
Behind the door which says “Mayor’s Office” is a room stored with food commodities, which will soon be used by the Whitman County Sheriff’s office.
Wilson met with Jaeger the Saturday after he resigned, to go over things as Wilson became acting mayor pro-tem. Jaeger was mayor for 11 years.
Wilson, his wife Alicia and five children moved to Tekoa in 2006. He is a 19-year employee of U.S. West/Qwest/CenturyLink communications, for which he is now supervisor, regional operations, with an office in Clarkston. The region covers a 1,500 square-mile area with a crew of 16. The group’s Idaho territory runs from the Lewis-Clark Valley to Nez Perce and Cottonwood.
Wilson grew up in Lakeview, Ore., the son of a sawmill worker. He rode motorcycles on BLM land and played guitar in a Christian rock band. In the spring of 1990, his senior year of high school, Wilson moved to Grand Junction, Colo., to stay near Alicia, his then-girlfriend, whose family had moved from Lakeview. The couple were soon married and later returned to Lakeview where Wilson began work as a plumber’s apprentice.
In the following years, he worked at a wood molding plant and joined the National Guard, training as an infantryman and serving a year in Germany as part of his six-year enlistment.
Before Tekoa, Wilson and his family lived in Atkinson, Neb., where he worked for CenturyLink and trained as a part-time sheriff’s deputy, working two years on the force.
Wilson was then promoted by CenturyLink back to Yakima, and then the Spokane area.
It was 2006 when Troy and Alicia were looking to buy a house and heard of someone through their church who had fixed up a 1905 house in Tekoa. They went and looked at it and they could have their first home where the five kids could have their own room.
“We wanted somewhere to feel safe raising our children in small-town America. I love small-town America,” Wilson said. “When I walk down the street, I like to know the faces and appreciate them knowing me.”
How does living in Tekoa compare to Atkinson, Nebraska?
“It’s not flat for one,” said Wilson. “There’s good people wherever you go, you just gotta find them. I believe Tekoa’s got a few problems here and there, but it’s full of good people.”
The new mayor’s next city council meeting is Dec. 17.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge,” Wilson said. “I know I can be successful. I’m honored that the council felt the same.”
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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