State's Longest-Serving Mayor Celebrates Last Day In Office

MEDFORD (CBS) -- As the rest of the world was watching the last hours of 2015 slip away Thursday, Mike McGlynn was saying goodbye to the job he's held for 28 years as Mayor of Medford.

McGlynn, 62, told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 on his last day in office that he's loved every minute of it.

"I love it as much today as I did the first day I was sworn in," McGlynn said. "I had an opportunity to do what my father did. He was my greatest role model, we both dedicated our lives to helping people, and it's been a blast."

McGlynn's father John, now 94, was a previous Medford mayor. In fact, Friday will be the first day since 1956 that neither father nor son are serving as a state representative, city councilor, or mayor.

"January 9, 1961, I was seven years of age, I told my dad, 'Dad, I wanna be the mayor of Medford'," said McGlynn. "He said, 'go to bed and we'll talk about it in the morning.' And we did, every day until January 4, 1988, when I was sworn in."

McGlynn is the longest-serving Massachusetts mayor. He talked to WBZ political analyst Jon Keller about his 28 years of service back in April.

But now, McGlynn said it's time for a change--he wants to spend more time with his grandchildren.

"I have almost 41 years in the system," McGlynn said. "Our fifth grandchild just showed up. Now, three of my grandchildren are two. One is four, and one is two months. And it's too fun of an age to miss anything--I wanna be there with them."

But just because he's leaving his longest-held job doesn't mean he doesn't have any plans.

"The first thing I'm gonna do is fulfill a commitment that I made to my wife 28 years ago, and I don't think she thought it would ever happen, but, starting Monday, I'm gonna start cleaning the garage," said McGlynn.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports