The year 2020 marks the start of a new beginning for John Bertoni.

The outgoing Endicott mayor served the village for more than a decade and now plans to begin his next chapter in life.

"Twelve years is a long time," Bertoni said. "I always tell everybody, 'you go to school for 12 years,' or 'there's 12 months in a year.' Twelve might be a good number."

Looking back on his three terms, the Democrat is most proud of restoring many of the village's parks. George W. Johnson Park is now home to "The Stage at Little Italy," and a soon to be renovated carousel. Logan, Davis and Sertoma Fields also underwent changes.

"As a kid growing up in Endicott, it was just wonderful times. The parks became a centralized meeting spot, a point of discussion. When you came home from college, it was the first place you drove by to see who was there," said Bertoni.

But Bertoni's time in office wasn't without some challenges. His biggest was perhaps dealing with the historic flood of 2011.

"It was a tough thing to deal with every day, not only with the people in and around the neighborhoods, but also our employees. They were chipping in as best as they can and did a great job," said Bertoni.

Just weeks before stepping away, Bertoni was given some good news. Washington Avenue is now set to see major improvements thanks to a $350,000 a grant the village had worked to secure for years, after coming up short three years in a row in the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

"We were close. We get a nice letter saying we're close but not close enough, so getting this money outside of the DRI is somewhat of hopefully a momentum to move forward," said Bertoni.

So what's next for him?

"I'm not going anywhere. Everybody says, 'where are you going?' I say I'm going to John Street in Endicott," said Bertoni.

Republican Linda Jackson will take over for Bertoni in 2020.