Before he was even sworn into the office, soon-to-be council member Sean Kelly already learned a vital lesson about politics.

“It’s hard to please everybody,” he said. “You do the best you can and make sound decisions that people can discuss.”

After his swearing in at the Dec. 5 Maple Valley City Council meeting, Kelly is prepared to start working on the three main issues he emphasized during his campaign such as traffic improvement, public safety and parks.

In the meantime, however, he is also trying to help break the stand still on other city projects. He, along with the rest of the City Council, plan to go to Olympia Jan. 24-26 for training. It will also provide them with the opportunity to meet with state representatives and senators. Kelly said intends to bring several issues to their attention, such as the Maple Valley Highway.

“We need to widen it,” he said. “We’ve got to work on that.”

In November, Kelly defeated Bill Woodcock for the City Council seat vacated by Dana Parnello, a race he described as “time-consuming” and “informative.”

With the exception of moving to Black Diamond briefly, Kelly has lived in Maple Valley his whole life. A 1993 graduate of Tahoma High, he currently works for the Tahoma School District.

But during the campaign, he said, was when he began to learn what the community’s real concerns were.

“When I was door belling, traffic was one of peoples’ major concerns, as well as public safety and the Donut Hole,” he said.

Kelly said it was among the first topics he discussed with individuals after being elected and he has already met with people to try and find solutions. Whatever the end result for the 156-acre property owned by King County, he stated, the City Council will have to act sooner rather than later.

“My biggest thing is we’ve got to get that Donut Hole thing going,” he said. “We’ve got to be a partner in it. We have no say in it right now. That will be important over the next two years.”

The City Council has also faced controversy with the business zoning of what is known as the northwest quadrant in the Four Corners subarea plan which is intended to provide a blueprint for future development, particularly economic development, for that portion of the city. Kelly says he has already begun to meet with people, including a representative of the businesses there.

“I’m learning a lot about the history of the northwest quadrant,” he said.

Kelly believes it is vital for an agreement to be made so the subarea plan can move forward and projects planned for it can get off the ground.

“I’m not a table-it-later type of person,” he said. “We need to make decisions. As long as we have all of our information and facts together we need to make a decision. One thing I’ve learned is how slow things can be. We need to get moving right away.”

At the same time, he said, it is also critical for both sides to be heard and have their opinions considered.

“I’m really good at going outside and listening to people’s opinions,” he said. “I start meeting with them and ask them what their input is, what their history is, because they have a lot of history, and I’ve learned a lot from their history and why they don’t want things to change. I listen to their side and then I present what I envision.”

What Kelly envisions is his hometown becoming like Snoqualmie, which also had recent development, except without the conflict and division.

Kelly doesn’t believe the city won’t be divided by development because, “We have a plan for the future. Our road system, our schools, and our public safety is going to be part of that.”

Aside from roads and business zoning, Kelly said he intends to push for more youth involvement in the community, which is hindered by the lack of ball fields.

While he hopes for the Summit Park and Ballfields to be built within the next 10 years, he said, the dearth of fields is already having an effect.

“There’s no fields for our kids,” he said. “We’re running out of fields. Parents are driving their kids miles out of the city to play ball,” he said.

For public safety, Kelly stated his support of hiring new police and fire personnel, which he believes is understaffed. Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety is a King County Fire District, so, the city does not provide funding for it because it is a special taxing district. The city’s police department is one of a dozen or so contracts with the King County Sheriff’s Office, which the city does provide funding to pay for officers and equipment.

He admitted, however, beefing up the city’s police department would be expensive, and he would not vote for any new taxes or tax increases unless the voters approved it first.