Longest Serving Mayor Will Not Seek Reelection

The city's longest serving mayor - elected nine times over the past two decades - will not run again.

That was the announcement on Monday by Mayor Bill Scanlon.

The thought of another campaign was what Scanlon said helped make his decision. He ran 10 campaigns, won nine of them and characterized eight of the races as "hotly contested."

"I was not ready to go through an 11th," he said.

He told City Hall staff about his decision in the morning and the announcement was first reported online by The Salem News.

Scanlon said his effort to renovate five elementary school and rebuild a new academic wing at Beverly High School was a top accomplishment, plus his effort to ensure elementary school districts send an equal number of students that qualify for free and reduced lunches to each school.

"That's a big deal because that effort affects the lives of a lot of kids," he said.

Scanlon said does not plan to become involved in another mayoral campaign, at least "not at the moment."

Sacnlon's nine terms as mayor makes him the longest serving mayor in city history. The next longest serving mayor was Daniel "Chick" McLean, who was mayor for six-terms from 1937 to 1948.

Scanlon was first elected in 1993 and lost one election - in 2001 - when he was defeated Tom Crean. Scanlon returned to the corner office at City Hall two years later, defeating Crean.

Scanlon said he does now plan to retire, but said he wouldkeep busy.

"I'd like to do something but I am not exactly sure what I will do," he said.

While Scanlon has become synonymous with Beverly city government during the past 20 years, he noted he had only set foot in City Hall twice before being elected - to get a building permit for his home and to file an abatement for his former employer - the United Shoe Machinery Co.

"I'd like to think this place is a little better off than when I started," he said.