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<p>PITTSTON &#8212; It was in 1997 that Michael Lombardo was first elected city mayor. Twenty years later, he is returning to that office.</p><p>Lombardo was recently elected new city mayor, winning 918 votes to his opponent Charles Bufalino&#8217;s 298 during the general election on Nov. 7.</p><p>He ran with Councilmen Ken Bangs and his cousin Michael Lombardo, Esq.</p><p>&#8220;At the end of the day, we were happy,&#8221; Lombardo said of his victory. &#8220;We got together a little bit that night and celebrated. I said on election night I had a coach that used to say &#8216;When you get in the endzone, act like you&#8217;ve been there before.&#8217; We&#8217;ve all been here before and we know the reality that Tuesday night was fun, and Wednesday morning we start thinking about work.&#8221;</p><p>Lombardo&#8217;s first term was from 1998 to 2005. He elected not to run for a third term because he wanted to spend more time with his family, particularly his two daughters who both recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame.</p><p>He said he has no regrets about stepping away when he did.</p><p>&#8220;That was really the main reason,&#8221; he said of not running for a third term. &#8220;My daughters were coming into their teenage years and were involved in sports, and I really didn&#8217;t want to have to make hard choices. I&#8217;m glad I made that choice. It was the right choice, and now here we are 12 years later and they&#8217;re done with college and moving onward in their adult lives. I have more time and I&#8217;m ready to give my full energy again.&#8221;</p><p>Lombardo said he never thought he would return to office after 20 years and didn&#8217;t have an exact reason for wanting to run as mayor again.</p><p>&#8220;I liked being mayor because I cared about it, and I think we got things done,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t thinking about coming back; in fact, it was the farthest thing from my mind. But, after sitting down and talking to (current mayor) Jason (Klush) and talking to my cousin a little bit, and looking at the lay of the land, I thought it would be a good opportunity to transition into where we go the next four years from now.&#8221;</p><p>When not in office, Lombardo remained involved with city as a member of the Housing Authority and the Redevelopment Authority.</p><p>He has to relinquish his seat on both boards, but intends to remain involved with both of them.</p><p>Because of his continued involvement with the city, Lombardo believes his transition back into the mayoral spot will be easier this time around.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s no learning curve now,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The good news is that, 20 years later, I come into this job with a ton of experience, and also sort of the road map of where we need to go and where we need help with things. I&#8217;ve built relationships, not just for myself, but for the city.&#8221;</p><p>Lombardo has also overseen projects such as the recent Luzerne County Community College Satellite Campus coming to Main Street.</p><p>&#8220;The implications of a couple hundred students downtown for our food places and our little shops is critical,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to continue to try and build critical mass with people downtown, and focus on residential downtown and the neighborhoods that back up into our downtown.&#8221;</p><p>Another project Lombardo tackled both during and after his first run as mayor weas the revitalization of downtown Pittston that included renovating buildings that house businesses, such as Napoli&#8217;s Pizza, and art projects such as the Inspiration Mural.</p><p>He also spearheaded getting the Pittston Memorial Library its own building, as it was previously located in the basement of City Hall.</p><p>With the downtown revitalization a success, Lombardo said he&#8217;s ready to emulate that success with a new initiative that tackles the upper part of Pittston.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re jumping north on the next Streetscape Project to the last city street and we&#8217;re going to start working backwards in the junction section,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;ve always believed that we need to connect the junction section to the downtown, and we started to actively do that, now. We&#8217;ve got some projects lined up in that area.&#8221;</p><p>Art projects will also be included in the uptown revitalization, such as the <a href="http://www.psdispatch.com/news/local/57162/new-art-mural-completed-in-pittston" target="_blank">Pittston Mural</a> that was completed in September.</p><p>Lombardo said the biggest thing he wants to do is continue to work on surrounding neighborhoods and parks in the city, and not worry too much about the downtown area.</p><p>&#8220;What I don&#8217;t personally want to do as much anymore is focus the vast majority of my energy on downtown,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think there are enough other stewards within city administration and within city council that can do that. Other than that, there&#8217;s not a whole lot that I don&#8217;t want to continue to do. I think we&#8217;ve got a clear understanding of what are the neat things we have to do in the neighborhoods in terms of the parks.&#8221;</p><p>Lombardo won&#8217;t be sworn in as mayor until January, but said he&#8217;s doing everything he can to prepare himself for his new term.</p><p>&#8220;I want to get my feet back on the ground in terms of interacting with some of the other elects and get the ground works stuff out of the way,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want to enjoy the rest of this year and enjoy the holidays with my family, and then just be ready to work.&#8221;</p><p>With Lombardo set to hold office for the next four years, he said he&#8217;s not sure if it will be a one-and-done term as he plans to take things one step at a time.</p><p>&#8220;I think that&#8217;ll be a decision three years from now, whenever we make that decision, I want to see where I am in my life,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I want to see what my cousin is thinking, what the rest of this council is thinking, and I want to make sure we do a good job. If I don&#8217;t do a good job, I don&#8217;t deserve to run again. It&#8217;ll figure itself out, but I&#8217;m never saying never.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Mayor-elect Mike Lombardo ready to return to office</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jimmy Fisher</p><p>jfisher@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jimmy Fisher at 570-704-3972 or on Twitter @SD_JimmyFisher</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Mayor-elect Mike Lombardo gearing up for his to return to office as new mayor