JOLIET – Mayor Tom Giarrante, talking with a couple of well-wishers during one of his last days at his City Hall office, mentioned that he weighs eight pounds more than when he retired from the fire department.

Later, he confided that he wasn’t exactly in great shape when he left the Joliet Fire Department in 1992. He had triple bypass heart surgery, and staying on as a firefighter really wasn’t an option.

“Then when I told the doctor I was going into politics, he said, ‘Are you crazy?’ ” Giarrante said.

Giarrante had 24 years in public office without losing an election until April 7, when he lost his bid for a second term as mayor to Councilman Bob O'Dekirk. As Giarrante prepares for his last day as mayor Monday, he appears ready to move on without regrets.

“That’s April,” he said, showing a busy calendar during his last days in office. Then he clicked to the next month on his computer and laughed, “That’s May.” Nothing is on the calendar.

Taking grandkids fishing is a high priority. Giarrante, 73, has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He and wife Rose have three children, and everyone lives nearby.

One of the grandchildren, Lily, 6, was among the first to inquire about the mayor’s plans once he left office.

“After the election, she says, ‘Poppy.’ That’s what she calls me. ‘Poppy, what are you going to do with your time?’ I said, ‘I’m going to take you fishing.’ She got excited about that.”

Family has always been a big part of Giarrante’s life. On election night, when it was evident he was not winning a second term, the first thing Giarrante mentioned to a reporter was that he could consequently spend more time with the family.

Would have been last term

He also won’t face the kind of criticism that had become routine at City Council meetings.

Giarrante said he has shrugged off his critics and managed to sleep well at night.

“Our father died young,” he said, recalling a household accident that took his father’s life when Giarrante was 15. “We had a great mother who raised us. One thing she used to say, and thank God I was able to do this, she said, ‘Don’t worry about things you don’t have any control of.’ ”

One thing he could not control was his exit from politics. Giarrante said that if he won this election, it would have been his last term. As relaxed as he appears now, he still wanted another term.

“I probably worked harder in this election than I ever did,” he said, looking back at two elections to the Joliet Park District Board, four citywide elections as councilman at-large, and his election to mayor in 2011.

“I’m going to miss it certainly,” Giarrante said of leaving office. “I’m going to miss the people that I met who really, really are concerned about the city. I’m going to miss meeting with neighborhood groups. I’m going to miss meeting with developers interested in our city.”

Accomplishments

Asked what he saw as his accomplishments, Giarrante talked about new business that has come to Joliet, the city’s recovery from the recession, and even the tax and fee increases that may have contributed to his defeat April 7.

“I bit the bullet and proposed a budget that had some tax increases in it, knowing it would be a campaign issue,” he said. “But I didn’t want to kick the can down the road.”

Critics accused him of not doing enough for economic development. But Giarrante said he made it a point to meet with developers and introduce them to city staff so they could get projects started.

Home Depot expanded its Joliet distribution center to become its largest in the United States in 2013. Several projects are in the works, including an e-commerce retailer interested in an operation with 500-plus jobs. Cadence Premier Logistics is eyeing Joliet for a relocation of its corporate office and distribution operations.

Giarrante noted one developer is interested in land at Interstates 55 and 80, where previous plans for a lifestyle shopping center were abandoned when the recession hit.

One thing he did not like about being mayor, Giarrante said, was that it interfered with weekend time that he would normally spend with Rose.

He adds the 16 years he spent as union president of Joliet Firefighters Local 44 to the 24 years in elected office as time he spent away from home.

“You add it up, that’s 40 years,” he said. “My wife’s a saint.”