News & Events

Pirates’ Eye On…Kathi F. Fiamingo ’76/J.D. ’79
Seton Hall > News & Events 

Thursday, January 15, 2009
by: Isabel Bauer

Would you take a part-time job of great responsibility for $750 a year? Kathi Fiamingo did. She took Seton Hall's emphasis on public service to heart and serves her hometown of Kenilworth, N.J. as the borough's first female mayor. 
 
Fiamingo, a lawyer, is passionate about taxation law -- an uncommon interest. She started her freshman year at Seton Hall with the dream of becoming a biochemist and finding the cure for cancer. After her first few chemistry classes she quickly realized her mind and heart were not in it. The complexity of organic and inorganic chemistry didn't come easy to her.
 
At that time she was working at a municipal court as a clerk and, with a lawyer already in the family (her uncle), she thought “What the heck, I'll become a lawyer.” She says her story is “not exactly inspiring,” when in fact it is. She was honest enough with herself to admit her year-long dream of becoming a biochemist wasn't realistic.
 
In her third year as a law student she assisted an attorney in the process of writing “how to” books for other lawyers on estate tax and inheritance law. “It was both complicated and fascinating,” she says. The job turned into an associates position which she held for 11 years. “From there, I opened my own practice” which later expanded with the joining of her current partners. While including commercial law, taxation law remains the mainstay of her practice.
 
Seton Hall profited from her expertise in the field as well. As an adjunct professor for the Stillman School of Business, Fiamingo taught estate and pension planning to graduate students. “I really enjoyed my teaching experience,” she says.
 
In 2007, she was elected Kenilworth's mayor. “I had never considered running for political office.” She had been actively involved in public service and local politics for more than a decade; first, for the board of education and, later, for borough council. “But it turns out I love politics on all levels.”
 
She has taken on big challenges, such as creating a budget that meets the borough's needs while staying affordable for residents, by encouraging volunteerism. “Thank goodness for all the wonderful volunteers, without whom a lot of services and programs would not be possible.” As for 2009, Fiamingo and her council members are hoping to break ground on a new public safety building.
 
One of the University's long-time political science professors, Mary Boutilier, Ph.D., influenced the young Fiamingo greatly. Despite them not being in sync politically, Boutilier's courses, although delayed, had a great influence on Fiamingo's desire to become involved in local politics.
 
Her family ties to the University speak for themselves. Three of her six siblings also graduated from Seton Hall. As for what she took away from her time at Seton Hall, she says “knowledge, of course, and a sense of purpose.”                

For more information please contact:
Isabel Bauer
(973) 378-2644
bauerisa@shu.edu