Whidbey Island has three new mayors starting their terms this year: Tim Callison of Langley; Molly Hughes of Coupeville; and Bob Severns of Oak Harbor.

We caught up with all three of them during the holiday break, just before they were about to step into office, and asked what we can expect to see from their leadership.

TIM CALLISON, LANGLEY

After taking office Jan. 4, “my first job will be to swear in my wife, Robin Black, as a city council member, and then to accept her resignation,” said Callison, 63.

Black ran unopposed, and when both she and Tim won their races, “we decided that would be too much government in the house,” he said.

Black is already serving as president of Langley’s chamber of commerce, he said.

Callison inherits a city “in great shape financially in terms of its ability to absorb debt,” he said. But coffers are far from overflowing, because Langley is “just coming out of a severe economic downturn,” with declines in retail sales and real estate sales. “We’ll do some water and sewer projects and some street resurfacing, but no major projects like the Second Street renewal,” he said. Walking and bicycling could get additional emphasis too.

Though Callison based his campaign on preserving the authenticity of Langley’s downtown, he said he’d like to improve economic diversity, attracting green-friendly businesses, possibly those based on food or agriculture. He’d also like to attract younger residents to the city through affordable housing and job creation.

Two major undertakings — finding new uses for the fairgrounds and enlarging the marina — aren’t strictly within the mayor’s or the city council’s purview, but “we control zoning for the fairgrounds, and we’ll be be working with the port on the marina, the back-door entry into the town.”

Callison said he’d like to be remembered as a mayor who “worked well administratively so the city continued to grow and thrive, and as someone who’d look for and listen to new ideas and be creative.”

MOLLY HUGHES, COUPEVILLE

Hughes, 56, ran unopposed for mayor after serving on the town council for 12 years and living in Coupeville for 20 years.

“I thought it would be an interesting next step,” she said.

“We have a great staff and a great council, and I wanted to continue working for the town.”

She will focus not on growth but on preservation, she said.

“We’re very aware we’re in the Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, and we’ve got a good record of being respectful of the past,” she said.

Hughes said she plans to move ahead with some projects under discussion for several years. “Some of the ideas we’re pretty committed to are a new restroom in town, possibly expanding and lighting our public parking lot and doing some maintenance on the town kitchen and the town park,” she said.

“There are no big projects planned.”

The Madrona Way project, replacing water and sewer lines, is set for completion in the spring, she added. And “probably the biggest thing in terms of administrative time is updating the town’s Comprehensive Plan.”

The town is “in really good financial shape,” in part because outgoing mayor Nancy Conard “was a very conservative budgeter,” Hughes said. “We weathered the recession really well.”

Hughes’ first act in office will be to huddle with the staff and council to lay out their priorities for her first year, she said. “It really needs to be a group decision. I know I have a lot to learn. We’ll all be learning together.”

BOB SEVERNS,

OAK HARBOR

This eight-year veteran of the city council said one major objective of his administration will be restoring a good relationship with the city council.

That relationship “has been pretty much nonexistent” over the past few years, he said.

“There was no communication. It had diminished to almost zero by the end of the term. I will be talking to council people on an ongoing basis.

“The mayor has to develop the ability to communicate with each and every one of them, and I have that.”

Severns, 65, said he plans to reach out to “partners,” including Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, the county, state, other island mayors and schools.

“My entire campaign was about working together,” he said.

He plans to “do everything (he) can” to develop the local economy, including helping fill vacant storefronts downtown by considering whether to cut annual business fees and implement streamlined, friendlier permitting procedures. He plans to step down from the Main Street Association’s board, though his wife, Rhonda, will likely stay on it, he said.

He plans to remain a director of the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce.

One thing that won’t change during his administration is the one-way traffic flow on Southeast Pioneer Way, he predicted, though “a few people talk about that as a bad thing.”

Oak Harbor will get another 500-750 elementary school students over the next two years as the base’s population expands, Severns said. He plans a trip to Washington, D.C., to seek Federal Impact Aid funds that can help the school district.

The new sewage-treatment plan under construction along the waterfront will come in “on time and within budget,” Severns predicted. Its costs, which because of its construction method can’t be finally determined until it’s further along, are predicted to range between $91.3 and $110.2 million.

“The state would like to have it done by the end of 2017, and we’re on target to do that,” he said. Though residents’ sewage rates will go up, “I will work to keep them as affordable as possible,” he pledged.

Seeking to attract new, major employers to the city — to replace those like Waste Management’s call center, which employed more than 120 people until its closure in late 2014 — “is certainly something I could do,” Severns said.

So is marketing the city based on its waterfront, he said. “The amount of waterfront, the access, the views — they are greater than in most cities I know of.”

Severns said he’d like to be remembered as “the mayor who got our city started working together. In four years, citizens will see a more vibrant community.”