POULSBO — A new era in Little Norway opened to a packed house as Mayor Kathryn Quade was sworn in along with three council members Wednesday night.

In her first official act as mayor, Quade administered the oath of office to Jeff Tolman, who will continue presiding as Poulsbo Municipal Court Judge.

“I am very proud to serve the City of Poulsbo and this is a time of change for Poulsbo,” Quade said, as she outlined her four main goals for 2006.

Among those goals is securing a stable funding source for the Marine Science Center and re-opening it to the public for use by not only Poulsbo residents but the entire region.

The center closed its doors in 2005 but the city council approved funding for the building’s maintenance through 2006.

Quade also said she wants to see low-impact development standards incorporated into the city’s developers’ manual.

“I also want to increase public understanding of and participation in local government,” she said, as she announced her fourth goal for the upcoming year: the renewal of a citywide visioning process.

The visioning process began in June 2005 under former Mayor Donna Jean Bruce but stalled when disagreements arose over the facilitator leading it.

Those disagreements led to the facilitator selection being handed to the city’s long-range planning committee, which is still working on the issue.

“I want to get as much public input as possible and incorporate it into our comprehensive plan update,” Quade said.

Incumbent councilmen Ed Stern and Dale Rudolph were sworn in by Judge Tolman along with new Councilwoman Kimberlee Crowder, who ran unopposed for the seat vacated by Quade when she ran for mayor.

The council then tackled the selection of the deputy mayor and alternate deputy mayor, concurring with one of Quade’s recommendations and differing with another.

Quade had asked the council to consider alternating those positions instead of selecting them based solely on seniority.

Councilman Mike Regis nominated Councilman Jeff McGinty to continue serving as deputy mayor, which was contrary to Quade’s recommendation of Rudolph.

After Councilman Jim Henry seconded the nomination, McGinty was affirmed with a 6-1 vote as only Councilwoman Connie Lord dissented.

“I had hoped we would move things around and allow others to serve in those capacities,” Quade said after the vote. “However, it is the pleasure of the council to maintain the status quo.”

Regis then nominated Lord for alternate deputy mayor and Henry followed that by nominating Rudolph, which led to Stern asking the council to discuss the selection process at its Feb. 4 retreat.

Once the nominations reached a vote, Lord was affirmed as alternate deputy mayor by a 5-2 vote with McGinty voting no and Rudolph voting no “just in the interest of tradition.”