Popular mayor has made
public service his career
Tony LaMantia says he
will keep best interests of Jamesburg residents in mind
Tony LaMantia
JAMESBURG — It was a slight twist of events that led to a long-standing career in local politics for Mayor Tony LaMantia.
He and his parents moved up the New Jersey Turnpike to Jamesburg from Allentown located a couple of exits away in Monmouth County in 1970. LaMantia, who was a high school senior at the time, graduated and within a year was married.
After his 1971 marriage to his wife, Darlene, LaMantia would walk down a number of potential career paths before deciding to run for a seat on the Jamesburg Borough Council in 1998, and later being first appointed and then elected as the borough’s mayor.
"I worked as a sales representative for Goodyear Tire Co.," LaMantia said. "I went from working in the warehouses to becoming a salesman for the Essex County region."
LaMantia’s perseverance to build a career soon led him to carpentry. He left his sales position for Goodyear and joined a carpenter’s union based in Milltown.
"I worked for the carpenter’s union on and off for a few years," LaMantia said. "Then I found a job in Monroe Township. I was on the road department for the Public Works Department."
While a Monroe employee, LaMantia sustained an injury that resulted in a permanent disability in 1990. LaMantia then decided to turn his experience into a positive one by reaching out to the community, while his wife continued to work as a records clerk for the Monroe Township Police department.
"Instead of sitting home, I decided to get more involved in the community," LaMantia said. "I joined the Board of Education at first and was on that board for four-and-a-half years. In my second year, I became board president."
Prior to his injury, LaMantia was already an active member of his community. He served as a volunteer for both the first aid squad and fire department. While he can no longer be a firefighter, LaMantia is still actively involved with the department.
"I’m a life member of the fire company," LaMantia said. "Since I was hurt, I can’t do the actual physical work of fighting fires. I attend meetings now and help out with paperwork."
In addition to his time on the school board and his continued involvement with the first aid squad, LaMantia said he still wanted to do more for the people of Jamesburg.
Coaching became yet another activity that he decided to add to his growing list of community endeavors after he became disabled. When his children, ToniAnn and Scott, were young, LaMantia served as both a volunteer basketball and baseball coach.
"I used to coach my kids when they were young," LaMantia said of his daughter, who is now 25, and his son, who is 28. "I couldn’t coach baseball because of my injury, but I started coaching basketball to the local kids."
Despite keeping himself busy, LaMantia was still searching for more responsibilities within the borough.
"I was able to do a lot of the work for the Board of Education at home," LaMantia said. "I had the time to run for council."
LaMantia said that during his days as a school board member, he was approached by a number of residents who suggested he run for council. He decided that he could find the time to serve on the governing body in addition to his other community activities. In 1998, he ran for council as a Democrat and was elected to a three-year term.
"I thought I’d give it a try," he said.
It was during this initial term that LaMantia was appointed mayor. As council president in 2000, he immediately took over as head of the governing body when former Mayor Joseph Dipierro stepped down from office in September of that year. LaMantia was appointed by the council two months later to serve as mayor through 2001 in Dipierro’s absence.
One of the reasons Dipierro, who had served as mayor since first being elected in 1995, decided to leave office, LaMantia said, was to spend more time with his children.
"His two daughters moved down south," LaMantia said. "He and his wife decided they wanted to be near their children."
LaMantia chose to continue as mayor, running successfully this November to serve the remaining two years of Dipierro’s unexpired term.
The election reflected LaMantia’s popularity, as he ran unopposed and was even praised by some Republicans — who ran candidates unsuccessfully for the three council seats that were up this year.
"We felt Tony is doing a good job," former Republican council candidate Gregory Newton said prior to the election. "As a group, we were overall pretty satisfied with Tony. Not everything has to come down to politics."
Though the council was split between Democrats and Republicans when he initially served on the council, the entire council will be Democrat during his first elected term as mayor. However, the one-party rule, LaMantia said, will have no bearing on how he runs the borough.
"After election time, what the council does is strictly for Jamesburg," LaMantia said. "When I’m on the council, I don’t look at party lines. I’m a Democrat, but when it comes to the council, we do what benefits the borough most. I’m looking out for the best interests of Jamesburg."

