It didn’t take Tuesday night’s city council meeting for Bob Sampayan to realize his four-year run as Vallejo mayor was over.

It was Monday, actually, when Sampayan arrived to finish cleaning out his office at City Hall.

“They had already removed my nameplate from the door,” Sampayan said. “That was a subtle as getting hit on the head with a rock.”

Sampayan smiled. It’s all part of the journey, he acknowledged. And a journey where he handed over the figurative gavel to Robert McConnell and, while perhaps not drifting into the sunset, has hopes of at least fishing into the sunset.

“That has been one of my big dreams — go back and fish. I haven’t gone fishing in probably three years and I used to go almost every weekend,” Sampayan said. “I’m so excited about that.”

First, there was the final council meeting  “with more pomp and circumstance than anything else. It’s the passing of the gavel and saying good-bye, wishing people well,” Sampayan said.

The now former mayor said his tour of duty ends on a bittersweet note, something he expected when he decided not to run for re-election during the summer because of “health issues.”

“I’m really going to miss the job. That’s the ‘bitter’ part,” he said. “I have been in public service since I was 18. I’m coming up on 70, so do the math. It’s tough to take that ‘public service switch’ and switch it to the ‘off’ position.”

“A part of me does regret not running again,” Sampayan said. “The other part of me, however, believes it’s time.”

As an extrovert, “the fun part has been all the events, the people, the celebration, the excitement of seeing things happen like economic development. Things that were in your goals,” Sampayan said.

There were those throw-your-head-into-your-palms moments, he acknowledged, even as he eased out of the mayor’s seat this week.

“Most people were thanking me so very much for my service to the community and the job I did,” Sampayan said. “Conversely, I received emails from people, ‘We’re glad you’re gone. You haven’t done anything.’ You’re always going to have that.”

Unfortunately, Sampayan said, there are people who believe the mayor does nothing but “kiss babies.”

“In fact, a lot of folks believe that,” he said. “For me, I do love the fun stuff. But there’s a lot of other stuff that goes along with that. As a mayor, you don’t have a magic wand that when you wave it, things happen. I do wish government could move faster. This isn’t a job for an impatient person.”

Sampayan said he’s always realized the responsibility of the position, going back to his police officer days when he would tell his kids, “don’t embarrass me.”

The mayor’s title “carries the weight of notoriety,” he said. “It’s ‘Oh, that’s the mayor.’ If the mayor were walking down the street with a council member and a citizen wants to talk, who are they going to want to talk to? It’s the notoriety that you are the mayor.”

Though proud of his achievements —  Mare Island development, homelessness, and “building relationships at City Hall” — Sampayan said he could have used two more years to work on other challenges “like police reform, like the homeless issue, like economic development, social equity, environmental justice. Those are the things I truly believe in and I think if I had another couple of years, we could have done something.”

Again, he reiterated, he realizes some in the community feel he fell short.

“There are areas that people wished I would have taken a harder stance on,” he said. “I would have to pick my battles and some of them weren’t battles because I knew I wouldn’t win them. You’re not going to satisfy everybody.”

That would include some officers, who didn’t take kindly to Sampayan’s police reform involvement.

“Being a former officer made it harder on me,” Sampayan said. “The thing is, when I ran for city council and mayor, I made it clear. I don’t have special interests. I wasn’t there for 150 people of a certain city department, I was there for 123,000 people that live in the city. That got me into a bit of trouble.”

Sampayan said he realized “from the first day” as mayor that it’s a whole different world than life as a council member.

“There’s no learning curve. It goes straight up,” Sampayan said, initially shocked “that you’re expected to know so much.”

It was one of the “warnings” Sampayan gave the new mayor during their six weeks of transition meetings which Sampayan discussed their different styles.

Firstly, “I’m not a lawyer,” Sampayan said laughing. “I’m not as hands-on as other people. I have a lot of faith in the staff.”

Sampayan insisted that he had a positive working relationship with City Manager Greg Nyhoff.

“I know there’s controversy regarding Greg. His style for some folks is abrasive. But he has been absolutely phenomenal for our city,” Sampayan said. “He and I got along exceptionally well.”

Sampayan puts the interview on pause. A delivery of flowers to his and a cheeseboard, slice of chocolate and proclamation is delivered on behalf of the city.

“As I said, it’s bittersweet,” Sampayan grinned.

And it’s something his wife, Ramona, has always supported.

“It’s been quite a ride. The experiences we’ve had, the people we met. I wouldn’t trade it in for anything,” she said.

Never, said Sampayan, did he regret his five years on city council and four years as mayor.

“If I had to do it over again, I would,” he said. “I believe in this town. I believe in who we are and celebrate this community, celebrate the diversity, the people and its history. I celebrate everything about Vallejo.”