In the final days of his administration, John P. Colbert looked back at his 10 years as mayor of Mineola. Although the position consumed many hours, the former mayor is glad he served. As he left office left week, Colbert said he was sad, but not hurt. He accepted defeat graciously, and accepts the voters' edict that he should no longer be the village's mayor.

Colbert became Mineola's mayor in June of 1994, but his service to the board began in April 1989. "I was thrilled at being a trustee. I was in a new community. I had only lived here for three years," he said.

But it wasn't boredom or a need to fill Wednesday nights that made Colbert want to get on the board of trustees. He had been involved in the Hometown Party after meeting Ann Galante and Bob Hinck. Colbert would run with Galante in 1989 as a trustee and would be elected to the board.

"I was eager to do it. I had a political background upstate. They asked me to run and I ran and was successful," Colbert said.

He was surprised he won since he was new to the community, but worked with Galante to start the senior citizen committee. At the time, the board was comprised of Galante, Scott Fairgrieve, Hinck, Frank Pewarski and Colbert "It was a real team approach," he said.

In 1992, Colbert became the village's deputy mayor under Mayor Hinck. In 1994, Hinck stepped down. Colbert was elected by the board to be Mineola's mayor. Colbert's first order of business was appointing a trustee to take his spot on the board. He looked to Lou Santosus. The two have remained allies and friends since then.

Colbert ran successfully for Mineola mayor in 1995. Then, in November of that year, he took a shot at running for supervisor of the Town of North Hempstead against May Newburger and nearly won, losing by only 462 votes.

Despite the loss, Colbert received 82 percent of the vote in Mineola, proving that he was popular with the residents. Colbert's popularity in politics was also on the rise. He became clerk of the Nassau County Legislature in 1996 and then chief of staff to Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta in 2000.

After 14 years in village politics, Colbert said serving gave him personal satisfaction. His only regret is that it prevented him from spending more time with his family, especially his wife Eleanor, whom he thanks for having allowed him to serve. "Many times, the village came first and not my family," he said.

But Colbert leaves the village board with a collection of wonderful memories. He is proud of the improvements made to the village's infrastructure. He doesn't take sole responsibility for those improvements, but rather refers to them as a team effort. "I always had the village board as a team. If we had problems behind the scenes, I never let it be known outside. To me it was working with individuals who were elected by the people to serve the people and I was the chairman. It worked out that it really didn't matter what party you were on. These were all respected individuals and were elected," he said.

Under Colbert's tenure as mayor, he helped establish a new village hall with community center, a renovated swimming pool, the expansion and renovation of the Mineola Memorial Library, the expansion of the Mineola Firehouse and the renovation of the Wilson Park fields.

Colbert is also proud of the activities that are available to seniors as well as young people in the village. As mayor, Colbert helped put together an annual Senior Recognition Day along with the Mineola Chamber of Commerce. The annual Halloween Party was formed under Colbert's tenure. "It grew to be a major success," he said of the Halloween Party and parade. "I'll never forget being on Jericho Turnpike and Willis Avenue and looking back and seeing all of Jericho Turnpike filled with kids."

Also during Colbert's tenure, the village was able to expand its Christmas Party, which it holds with the Mineola Fire Department.

While many improvements may have come under the Colbert administration, the former mayor gives much of the credit to volunteers and the village employees. "A mayor is only as good as the people who work for him. I was very fortunate," he said.

Colbert remained in office as mayor for 10 years. There are those who support him and the job he has done. Santosus, the last deputy mayor to serve with Colbert, thanked the former mayor for his tireless efforts over the last nine years during reorganization night last week. "His leadership during the 10 years has left a positive mark throughout the village. I commend him for doing that," Santosus said.

"I think I worked with the people. I worked with the commercial enterprises, the business people, the hospital, the police department, the county and the town. There were things we had to do together that we did together," he said. "It's like being the head coach of a football team. It's understanding the offense and the defense and the special teams and putting in together for the one benefit, which is the quality of life in the village."

His critics question the fiscal health of the village as Colbert leaves the post of mayor. During the campaign, it was brought out that the village had incurred over $30 million in debt. In addition, the village's budgetary practices were questioned. However, Colbert still defends the fiscal health of Mineola and walks away feeling gratified at the job he has done for which he was elected. "I leave the village with a far better financial picture than when I came here. It was in good financial condition when I came and I leave it even better today," he said. "I kept taxes down and increased services."

Colbert also points to the program to fight illegal housing in Mineola, a program he said that was mirrored in Nassau County, the Mineola Boulevard Bridge project and the elimination of the grade crossing at Herricks Road as other accomplishments.

As he leaves office, he has no regrets except for spending less time with his family and has no bitterness toward his defeat. "I'm leaving this village and this term with the people much happier than they were when I first came," he said. "I really wanted to do it and I feel I was successful. Would I do it again? Absolutely."

As Colbert leaves the village, a new era has begun. The former mayor, although sad to be leaving the position of mayor, has accepted his defeat. "I've always known that the job that I was in was a temporary situation. You're only in as long as the people keep voting for you. The people on March 18 said that we should move on," he said. "I wish the Martins administration all the luck in the world and success. I'm still a resident and a taxpayer in the Village of Mineola. I do have a vested interest that the village continue on an upward spiral. I have no animosity toward anybody You cannot be a truly successful politician unless you're thick-skinned and life goes on."

Colbert said he will get on with his life, go back to the private sector where he will take the qualifications he possesses and spend time with his family. His legacy as mayor has perhaps yet to be determined. But Colbert has his place in village history as one who dedicated 13 years of service to Mineola.

Confident that he has served the village as best he could, Colbert leaves with his dignity and his sense of humor. On whether he would continue to be visible in the community, he joked, "When you're as big as me, it's going to be hard not to be visible."