DYNAMIC DUO: Talk about politics making for strange bedfellows.
That might be true, figuratively and somewhat literally, for the
team of leaders in Lewis Run — Mayor Al Montecalvo and Borough
Council President Frank Langianese.

We conclude today our report on a Wall Street Journal article
Monday written to coincide with this weeks’ general election.

The story was about the length of time the two men have spent
together with even well-known  Pennsylvania political analyst Terry
Madonna weighing in on their tenure: “They may be the
longest-running team in the country.”

The story records not just their long political history but
their common background: “Not only did the two men grow up next to
each other, they went to the same grade school and high school,
were members of the Rangers — a gang of kids who held meetings in
neighborhood shanties to discuss girls and sports — and played
high-school football for the Ramblers.”

“They enlisted to serve in World War II, came home, married and
started families, which heightened their interest in things like
sidewalks and sewers and local government. Al Montecalvo, who
worked at the electric company, ran in 1952. Frank Langianese, who
worked at a now-gone company that made silicon for computer chips,
ran in 1954. They have held office ever since, although they did
trade positions early in their political careers. The mayor was at
first a councilman and the councilman a mayor.

“ ‘Al was a better mayor,’ says Mr. Langianese. ‘He’s a better
dresser and more polished. Your hair can be a mess and he says how
nice you look. I can be stubborn. I call a spade a spade.’

“Every morning, the two men meet at 10 at the borough building,
their metal desks facing each other, reviewing printouts of how
much water and sewage went through their lines. Tina Hallock, the
borough administrator, is in another corner doing payroll. The
mayor and council president earn $35 a month.

“They are fiscally conservative. Their matching desks cost $17
each and the file cabinets $20. At the state borough association
meeting, they share one hotel room. If the room has one bed, Mr.
Langianese is stuck on the rollaway. ‘I pull rank,’ says Mayor
Montecalvo.”