Debra Anderson has spent the past three years teaching aspiring building officials.

But the former Oregon resident has left the classroom and entered the field as the city of Waterloo's next building official and maintenance administrator.

"I'm looking forward to going back into the industry and the management side of things," said Anderson, who started this week after City Council members voted unanimously Monday to approve her appointment.

Louis Cutwright, who has served as the city's building official for 20 years picking up building maintenance and code enforcement duties along the way, is retiring Jan. 29. He's helping Anderson get accustomed to the new surroundings before leaving.

"Everyone's very friendly and helpful," Anderson said. "I see a lot of pride in the city."

Anderson has a bachelor's degree in communication studies from Portland State University and an associate degree in building inspection technology from Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore. She worked as a commercial plans examiner for the cities of Portland, Ore., and Beaverton, Ore., for nine years before becoming an instructor and chair of the building inspection technology program at Portland Community College in 2003.

In addition to the professional opportunities, the Minnesota native was anxious to be closer to her family.

"They're still in Minnesota and Wisconsin," she said.

Mayor Buck Clark said he was "happy to have (Anderson) and anxious to have her working for us here in the city."

"We had three very qualified candidates for that position," Clark said. "Debra Anderson rose to the top in all of our minds because of her enthusiasm, her knowledge of the codes and her background. She was teaching people to do what she's going to do."

He was particularly pleased with Anderson's responses to questions he asked about customer relations.

"That's very important to me, and she fit the bill," said Clark, who has publicly stated his intent to have a more user-friendly city and building inspections department.

Anderson is experienced with building codes but said overseeing the city's maintenance code enforcement officers will be new. But she served in a community mediation program, which worked to iron out code issues outside of the legal system.

Anderson's salary will be $72,000 a year.