During his first and only term, he undertook several large scale projects designed to build a new economy to replace the lost coal mining industry.
He convinced Houston Astros owner John McMullen (engineer) to serve as developer of a civic arena for Scranton.
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.
Evie Rafalko McNulty (born 1959) is, herself, a multi term Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Recorder of Deeds and a member of the Democratic National Committee.
[6][7][8] In 2015, Rafalko-McNulty was reported to have been snubbed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf when seeking the position as his Northeast Regional Director.
[9] McNulty died from effects of cancer and heart disease on March 2, 2016, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the city where he had lived his entire life.