What can Mayor Peter do for you?

He will not officially become the mayor of Norwich until his swearing-in Dec. 1, but that has not stopped some people from already referring to Peter A. Nystrom as "Mayor Nystrom."

The UPS driver said that is going to take some getting used to.

"I'm used to people calling me Peter and now it's suddenly mayor, Mayor Nystrom. I'm not sure about that. Maybe Mayor Pete? It worked for Mayor Mike," he said, referring to the late Hartford Mayor Mike Peters, a lifelong firefighter who preferred the less formal title Mayor Mike.

Nystrom won election in a four-way race back on Nov. 3. But with one kid in college, and two more children due to join the college ranks before his four-year term is over, Nystrom is not giving up his day job. Norwich pays its mayor only $45,000 a year. In addition to presiding over council meetings and setting its agendas, the mayor has primary responsibility for driving economic development as well as representing the city at various business, civic and ceremonial events.

Mayor-elect Nystrom hopes to grab a 4:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. shift at UPS. In the afternoon he will swap his UPS browns for a jacket and tie, spend time at City Hall and keep evening hours open for all those meetings.

"I'm planning on having fun for the next four years," Nystrom said during a recent interview, seemingly unfazed by the idea of such long days.

The days were also often long, he said, when he served as a state representative from Norwich, 1985-2002. A Republican, he surrendered the seemingly secure seat to try to unseat Democratic state Sen. Edith Prague. He lost and she is still the senator.

"It was the best thing that ever happened to me," he said recently of that loss. "It may have saved my marriage. I'm being honest."

The defeat allowed him to spend more time with his wife and children during some formative years. But now he is eager to get back in the governing game. And while the hours will again be long, "at least the commute will be a lot shorter," he said.

The significance attached to becoming the top elected leader of the city sunk in when he received congratulatory calls from U.S. Sens. Christopher J. Dodd, Joe Lieberman and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, among others.

"You get elected a mayor of a city and everyone calls you. When you're a state rep no one calls you. I never had that kind of attention after an election before," Nystrom said.

Roman Catholic, ardently pro-life and socially conservative, Nystrom is also pragmatic when it comes to fiscal matters. He said he would have no qualms about grabbing federal stimulus money for Norwich if it becomes available. Nystrom said the city must figure out a way to expand its commercial tax base, because he expects there will be no help coming from a fiscally strapped state government. And struggling families are in no position to deal with property tax increases, he said.

As for those working people, Nystrom says he is one of them.

"I am very well-grounded; my feet are planted firmly on the ground. I have no airs," he told me.

A top priority for the new mayor will be trying to take best advantage of the fact Norwich owns its own electric, water and natural gas utilities department. He contends this should give Norwich a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting industries, particularly those that want to utilize or develop new green and energy efficient technologies.

There is symmetry to Nystrom's desire to leverage Norwich Public Utilities for economic growth. His dad was a superintendent for the department, in charge of power plant operations.

Nystrom comes across as a nice guy, almost too nice, it might seem, for the intrigue of City Hall politics. But he wasted no time in making one tough decision. In 2006 out-going Mayor Benjamin Lathrop assigned planning director Peter Davis the additional job of economic development assistant, along with an additional stipend.

The mayor-elect calls it a conflict of interest. Part of the planning director's job is to assure proposed developments meet with the city's plan of development, while the primary job of an economic development official is to attract developers, Nystrom said. Sometimes those dual roles can conflict and Nystrom wants two different people doing them.

So while he is a nice guy, it appears Nystrom is also prepared to be a tough guy when necessary. And I guess you have to be tough to start your days around 3:30 a.m. and end them at 10 or 11 p.m.

Paul Choiniere is editorial page editor.