Walsh first female mayor

LYNN – Judith Flanagan Kennedy might be the first woman elected mayor in the city of Lynn, but, technically, Deborah Smith Walsh was the first woman to serve as mayor.In August 1997, Walsh was vice president of the City Council and, by virtue of vacation timing, ended up mayor for short period of time.”Pat McManus was mayor and Salvy Migliaccio was council president,” Walsh said Wednesday.According to the City Charter, if the mayor is away from his office for three days or more, the council president becomes the de facto mayor. Likewise, if the council president is away from the office for three or more days, the job falls to the vice president, who was Walsh.”Pat was in China and Salvy was in Italy,” she said. “The reason it’s in the charter that way is only for emergency measures. I had some fun with it – I brought my parents in.”