James N. Mathias Jr.

James N. Mathias, Jr
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Member of the Maryland Senate from the 38th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 13, 2011
Preceded by	J. Lowell Stoltzfus
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the 38B district
In office 2006–2010
Preceded by	Bennett Bozman
Succeeded by	Mike McDermott
Personal details
Born	(1951-09-02) September 2, 1951 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Kathleen (Petry) Mathias
Children	Lauren and Trevor
Residence(s)	Ocean City, Maryland

Jim Mathias (born September 2, 1951) is an American politician from Ocean City, Maryland who serves in the Maryland State Senate. He was formerly a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2006 to 2010.

Background

The former mayor of Ocean City, Maryland, was born on September 2, 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. During his childhood, he lived in Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Carroll County, Maryland. He attended high school at Calvert Hall College in Towson, graduating in 1969. In 1974, Jim Mathias graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.

Mathias first came to Ocean City as a child, with his parents for summer vacations and it was then that he first fell in love with Ocean City, Maryland. His first Ocean City summer job was at Ponzetti’s Pizza on the Boardwalk in 1972. Jim and his father established a business in downtown Ocean City and built an amusement and arcade operation.

In 1978 he married Kathleen A. Petry(Deceased) and they have two children: Lauren, 32, and Trevor, 24.

Community affiliations

Jim has been active in the Ocean City community. He served as Chairman of the Worcester County Ambulance Service Committee and was Chairman of the Ocean City Humane Society Commission. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus #9053, St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Parish, and the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Company Engine 703. From 2002 to 2006 Jim represented the Coastal Bays Watershed, Ocean City and Worcester County, on the State of Maryland Critical Area Commission. In 2004 he served as State Chairman for WalkAmerica for the March of Dimes. Jim was the President of the Lower Eastern Shore Mayors Association in 2004 and was the Honored Chairperson for the Light the Night Walk and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2004.

Political career

Mathias began his political career in Ocean City in 1987 when he was appointed to the Ocean City Board of Zoning Appeals, where he served until 1990. In October 1990, he was elected as an Ocean City Councilman and was re-elected to that post in 1994. In October 1996, Mathias was elected Mayor of Ocean City, Maryland. He was re-elected in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004.

Legislative Notes

• voted against in-state tuition for illegal immigrants in 2007
• voted for the Tax Reform Act of 2007
• voted for the Maryland Gang Prosecution Act of 2007 (HB713), subjecting gang members to up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $100,000
• voted for Jessica’s Law (HB 930), eliminating parole for the most violent child sexual predators and creating a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in state prison.
• voted for Public Safety – Statewide DNA Database System – Crimes of Violence and Burglary – Post conviction (HB 370), helping to give police officers and prosecutors greater resources to solve crimes and eliminating a backlog of 24,000 unanalyzed DNA samples, leading to 192 arrests.
• voted for Vehicle Laws – Repeated Drunk and Drugged Driving Offenses – Suspension of License (HB 293), strengthening Maryland’s drunk driving laws by imposing a mandatory one year license suspension for a person convicted of drunk driving more than once in five years.
• voted for HB 102, creating the House Emergency Medical Services System Workgroup, leading to Maryland’s budgeting of $52 million to fund three new Medevac helicopters to replace the State’s aging fleet.