Sean P. Kelly is no stranger to the Maple Valley community. As a life-long resident, he has worked at the Tahoma School District for 11 years and is entering his fifth year as a City Council member and first as mayor of Maple Valley.

“I was very honored that the council trusted me and has faith in me to be the leader of the city,” Kelly said.

Kelly wanted to become mayor to enhance the city of Maple Valley as best he could. His main concerns are working on traffic on state Route 169, economic development throughout the city while maintaining and improving the quality of life in Maple Valley.

After serving his first two years on the council, Kelly was selected to serve as the deputy mayor. Now entering his second term as a councilman, Kelly knows the changes he hopes to make as mayor. Above anything else, his No. 1 goal is to be as transparent and as available as possible to community members and community partners, he said.

“It is important to hear from the community what their opinion is,” Kelly said. “We already have great communication with the citizens and I want to keep it going and make it better.”

He wants to keep in constant contact and be more interactive with community partnerships so citizens know exactly what is going on at all times, and in detail. This way, the City Council can let community members know what is happening if they have any questions or concerns, he said.

One thing Kelly is very excited about is the running a bond for parks in Maple Valley. He is confident it will pass, which will pay for more ballfields.

Kelly said he looks forward to building on all that is best in the community.

Councilman Dana Parnello was selected as deputy mayor.

The city’s form of government is council-manager, which means the mayor is one of the elected members of the City Council and is selected by the council. The city manager is hired by the City Council to oversee the daily administration of the city.