A new decade has brought new faces to the Maple Valley City Council with Councilwoman Erin Weaver and Councilman Bill Allison.

With just a pair of meetings under their belts, Weaver and Allison both said the transition is going smoothly so far, and they’re both looking forward to tackling a number of issues and challenges the city is facing alongside their fellow council members.

“The support of the rest of the council has been very strong,” Allison said. “I heard back from citizens who attended the first week and even yesterday. They’re saying, ‘Hey, it is a totally positive feeling.’ The energy is just different. Erin and I are on a learning curve, learning how to focus on parliamentary procedure.”

Once they get through that initial learning period, Allison said, he is confident that residents will see them working well with the rest of the council as a “very strong, strong team.”

“I think you’re going to see things get done, I think you’re going to see decisions get made,” he said. “We do understand that there was a legacy set by the previous council, so we continue to honor and respect them for everything they did.”

Weaver and Allison both said they were “saddened” by Laure Iddings sudden departure from the council shortly before the start of the New Year.

Iddings served on the city’s incorporation committee, leading the effort to create Maple Valley, and she served as mayor for 12 years. She had two years remaining on her term.

“Laure was a strong leader and I’m a little bit saddened that she’s not there, but it’s our turn to step up and take the city to the next level,” Allison said.

While the new councilors respect the work previous members did, they are looking forward to dealing with some big issues like Summit Place, economic development and transportation.

Allison said that he would “love to see a clear direction of what we’re going to do with Summit Place” but Maple Valley is waiting on King County and YarrowBay.

Public safety is also important to Allison and he’s glad the city is adding a patrol sergeant to the Maple Valley Police Department “because we’re growing.”

Another thing Allison would like to work on during his term would be the city’s plans for parks and recreation, particularly the effort to build ball fields.

Weaver and Allison would like to see the city have “a louder voice” regionally and to build its reputation both in transportation issues so Maple Valley Highway and Kent Kangley Road get the improvements they need as well as bringing in new businesses to create new revenue streams for the city.

“What I’m personally hoping to see happen on the City Council is continued collaboration among the City Council members and for all of us to be real active participants at each of the meetings,” Weaver said. “Creating an open dialog and an open debate that I think has been lacking … I’d like to see more of that happening.”

From there, Weaver said, it is important for there to be a focus on how economic development and city wide planning are connected particularly looking at how Summit Place, Four Corners, the Hayes Gravel Pit site and other undeveloped or underdeveloped properties will evolve.

“We need to tie all those together,” she said. “When the economy starts recovering, we need to be ready and not still planning. We need to start going out on a regional and even a national level and get our name out there. People are planning for the future and we need to be part of those plans.”

Weaver, who grew up in Bellevue and has a teaching degree from Western Washington University, also wants to see the council cultivate stronger relationships with community organizations like the Tahoma School District, the Greater Maple Valley Area Council and the Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce, to name a few.

“When the city doesn’t actively engage other groups … it creates some separation between community groups,” Weaver said.

Weaver volunteers with the Tahoma School District on two different PTA boards as well as the VOTE committee, which campaigns on issues such as the upcoming levies that will provide funding for operations, educational and technology programs.

Her volunteering did get her into a little hot water at her second council meeting as she started stumping for the district’s levies from the dais.

“Being involved with a lot of different committees and groups in Maple Valley, I’m going to have to figure out how to balance that with being a public figure,” Weaver said. “When we have issues that arise, for example we have a hearing on the school district levies on Jan. 25, I’m going to have to recuse myself when it comes to a vote.”

While Weaver said wasn’t prepared for that challenge, she does know generally what’s expected having served as an appointed member of the council in 2002, as well as having spent nearly four years on the Planning Commission.

Allison said his biggest challenge as a new council member will be coping with the snail’s pace of municipal government.

“I’m just excited to get involved and get some stuff done,” he said. “The thing that I think I’m going to have to work on is that I’m more of the personality of ‘let’s go, let’s get this done’ and I need to be patient because government moves slow.”

He hopes to apply a lesson he learned as a youth pastor about learning from others.

“There’s always someone out there doing it better than we are doing,” he said. “Let’s go sit down with them, let’s go pick their brains and figure out how they’re doing it.”

Allison, who was born in Southern California and grew up primarily in Issaquah, attended college in Minneapolis then lived in Colorado with his wife, Kelly, before moving to Maple Valley in 1999.

He has been married 16 years and has four children, Amanda, 14, Ashlee, 13, Madison, 11 and 8-year-old Cody.

These days, Allison serves as the general manager of Jamba Juice in Covington, and when he’s not working he likes to spend time with his children who are all involved in sports, as well as play golf and fish.

He also likes to get out on his 2008 Kawasaki 900 Vulcan Custom motorcycle for rides with his dad and brother.

His family, he said, was a big inspiration for him to run for office.

“That’s why I got involved with the City Council,” he said. “Looking at my four kids, I want them to live here. I want to set this up for my kids and their kids. We can’t always think about ourselves.”

Weaver taught middle and high school math and science for five years before starting her family with her husband Randy.

She has three children, Sara, 15, Michaela, 13 and Ben, who is 10.

In addition to her positions with other groups and the council, Weaver serves on Fire District 43’s community relations committee and is an assistant soccer coach and up until recently was a Girl Scout leader.

When she’s not taking care of her kids or volunteering, Weaver tries to find time to play tennis, and during the summer she swims daily in Pipe Lake or spends time out with her family on their boat.

Weaver said, “I’m blessed.”

As she considers the start of her term and what the next four years hold, Weaver said, she sees great things in Maple Valley’s future — if the council steps up.

“We’re a force to be reckoned with and we need to recognize that,” she said. “We should be forthright, confident and become more of a regional player.”