Richmond mayor hits 60-year milestone

Richmond Mayor Hilmar Moore's parlor is filled with some of the items he's hunted through the years.

When Richmond Mayor Hilmar G. Moore first took office, he did so because no one else wanted the job.
He was selected to fill an unexpired two-year mayoral term on Sept. 22, 1949. Tuesday marked the 60-year anniversary of that moment.
I intended to just finish that (term)," said Moore, 89. But I just stuck around. There was nothing else to do."
Since then, Moore has won 29 consecutive mayoral elections. He is believed to be the nation's longest-tenured mayor currently in office. Robert Linn, the mayor of Beaver, Pa., died in 2004 after serving 58 years.
Yet, Moore downplays his longevity in office.
I'm not amazed," Moore said. Obviously, once I got in to it, I've enjoyed it. I feel like I offer a lot of service to the community and I found that people are satisfied with my job. They could kick me out at anytime."
He wasn't the first person in his family to enter politics. His father, John M. Moore Jr., was a Fort Bend County judge and mayor of Richmond in the 1930s. His grandfather, John Matthew Moore, was a U.S. congressman from 1905 to 1913.
The mayor said the secret to his success has been extremely good" city staff, particularly when it comes to city managers.
I just let them do what they know how to do which is run the city," he said.
Moore plans to continue as mayor as long I know who I am, where I am, and if people want me."
I guess today started my next 60 years," he said on Tuesday.
If his mark is ever surpassed, ironically it could be by someone within Fort Bend County. That's because Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella has been in office for 40 years.
Asked if he could be a mayor at the age of 100, Moore was taken aback by the possibility.
Now that," he said, is a long time."