Cambridge City Hall has been undergoing a massive facelift for the last five months, as the base of the Romanesque building has been covered in scaffolding and city officials have conducted business amidst constant construction.

But when all the windows in the City Council chamber are replaced and the outside limestone edifices scrubbed anew, there is one fixture in the building that will remain the same.

Cambridge resident William C. Jones, 80, with his trademark tweed hat, grey jacket and well-chiseled chin, has been roaming the chambers of City Hall for the last four decades, attending City Council meetings as if it was a weekly religious duty.

"I'm here every morning at 9 a.m.," says Jones, who spends a majority of his time during the week in City Hall. "I've been here a good many years."

Since 1941, when Jones first ran for the Cambridge School Committee, he has been a constant in city politics. He ran for City Council every other year for the last several decades without fail, although he has now officially retired his long-standing candidacy.

Jones himself only went to high school for two years followed by two years of night school, but his education has not stopped him from being involved in local government and trying to represent Cambridge.

"I grew up the hard way," Jones said of his education. "The closest I got to college was walking through Harvard Yard."

While Jones has never been elected to public office, he is a city staple.