Mineola's first and only woman mayor Ann M. Galante has kept the front cover of the Mineola American from when she won the village election that made her mayor very well preserved in a frame. For Galante, it represents a victory, albeit an unlikely one, which made her serve as the head of the community she has called home since 1969.

Now, in her office, as the Town of North Hempstead Receiver of Taxes, Galante looks back at her time in Mineola government and the issues she faced.

It was 20 years ago when Galante, running with fellow Hometown Party member Scott Fairgrieve, won the 1982 election to become the first woman ever on the Mineola Board of Trustees. The election of the two trustees meant a changing of the guard of sorts. In fact, when Robert Hinck was elected trustee in 1974, it marked the first time the Citizens Party had lost in 40 years.

Although Galante wasn't the first women to run for the board (friend and current village trustee Elizabeth A.J. Conlon ran in 1973), Galante paved the way of sorts for women to enter government in Mineola as Conlon and Linda Fairgrieve both hold village trustee seats.

In 1982, there wasn't exactly opposition to women being in government as there had been in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Galante figured the community was ready in the early 1980s to have a woman in government, although the first year she ran, she was unsuccessful.

"I always had an interest in the community. I did a lot of community work and the Hometown people felt it was a party that represented the residents. I was doing some work on the campaign and all the candidates dropped out. They asked Scott and me to run. Actually, they asked everybody but we agreed to run," she said.

Although Galante was extremely active in community affairs, she had an interest in politics and government. Three years after becoming a village trustee, she ran for mayor and defeated Ed Smith of the Citizens Party by 17 votes. "It was very tiring, that's for sure. We really worked hard at it and it was kind of hard because I was on the board and I was running against the incumbent," recalled Galante about her experience running for mayor. "Most of the reason why I ran is because he never really had any opposition and I felt it was time for people to make the decision on who was mayor."

Galante was surprised she had, considering the Citizens Party's strength. When she became mayor, though, she didn't really think of herself as a woman mayor, rather as just the mayor of the village. "I felt that if you were capable of doing the job, it didn't matter if you were a woman or a man," she said. "At the point that I ran for mayor, the residents saw that I had experience and that I worked hard."

However, she admits being surprised that she won, especially by 17 votes, 14 after a recount. "It was surprising to everyone," Galante said.

Although being mayor of a village can have its share of headaches, Galante found it rewarding as she served three terms until 1991, when she decided not to seek re-election. "It was very rewarding to me because I could help a lot of people, bring in new ideas, bring in new people to participate and because it was an education. There was so much to learn," she said.

At the time, Galante didn't only have the responsibilities of village government. She was involved in other activities, working on different committees for the state and county. One important lesson she learned, though, is that you have to have a sense of humor. In addition, she said she tried to work closely with the board so that there was a consensus on different issues.

One of the issues Galante faced as mayor was trying to get all the grade crossings for the Long Island Railroad depressed. This proved to be an ongoing struggle as only the one on Herricks Road was eliminated and it didn't happen until after Galante was out of office.

There was also the ongoing issue of parking or lack of in the village. Galante also recalled a moratorium on zoning laws to change building heights. "The issue that we talked about in the campaign was keeping Mineola a suburban village. We made height limits for the buildings," she said, also noting that Mineola received the Tree City designation for planting trees in the village. "Every year, people call me or write to me or I meet them on the street and they thank me for the trees, especially when they are in bloom."