James Barrett McNulty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Barrett McNulty | |
|---|---|
| 26th Mayor of Scranton | |
| In office January 17, 1982 – January 17, 1986 | |
| Preceded by | Eugene F. Hickey |
| Succeeded by | David J. Wenzel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 27, 1945 |
| Died | March 2, 2016 (aged 71) Scranton, Pennsylvania |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Evelyn “Evie” Rafalko McNulty |
| Alma mater | University of Scranton |
James Barrett McNulty (February 27, 1945 – March 2, 2016) was an American politician who served as Mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
McNulty was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania on February 27, 1945[1] to Henry and Aloise McNulty, the eldest of six siblings.[1] He graduated from St. Patrick's High School in 1962 and the University of Scranton, where he received a degree in political science.[2]
Mayor of Scranton
1981 campaign
McNulty ran for mayor in the 1981 mayoral election. The flamboyant and rotund McNulty's trademark was the red rose and the red rose boutonniere he was never without. He also handed out some 20,000 red roses to both supporters and other courted members of the electorate during his career. His main campaign pledge was to try to revive the near dead coal mining city's economy with tourism. His plans helped to boost the city's profile and he won the November election.
Building a New Scranton
During his term, he undertook several large scale projects designed to build a new economy to replace the lost coal mining industry. He attracted Steamtown, USA, a Hilton Hotels & Resorts (for which grand opening McNulty hired Guy Lombardo's orchestra to play) and the Montage Ski Resort to Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is on a thoroughfare that "Jimmy" stated a million Canadians passed down on their way to gamble in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He convinced Houston Astros owner John McMullen (engineer) to serve as developer of a civic arena for Scranton.[2] This was said to be, itself, a 24 million dollar project.[3]
Mayor as promoter
McNulty also arranged several publicity stunts to draw attention to the city. He helped plan for the 1983 heavy weight title bout between Easton, Pennsylvania's Larry Holmes and French challenger Lucien Rodriguez to be fought in Scranton and as the network television cameras panned in on the champion Holmes' robe, there inside it was, instead, the 300 pound mayor "Jimmy" McNulty plugging the city of Scranton and its fight.[4]
In the summer of 1982 McNulty gave free rein to the city to Scranton resident Jason Miller to direct the on-location filming of his motion picture That Championship Season based on his Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name and set in Scranton. Many city locales and properties were featured in the film, including the city council chambers and the mayor's office at Scranton City Hall.
McNulty also traveled extensively promoting "his" city. During the aftermath of Hurricane Gloria, "Jimmy" could be seen in his fire engine red "Scranton No. 1" warm up jacket, conspicuously, personally, directing hurricane cleanup.