Published: September 06, 2008 11:17 pm      

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Disgruntled or disenfranchised?

Lockport Common Council President John Lombardi dropped a few bombshells this week about the dealings of the Niagara County Republican Party and the actions of two party leaders in particular, Chairman Henry Wojtaszek and state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane.

Wojtaszek responded by saying Lombardi lipped off because he wanted a job with the party and the chairman wouldn’t and couldn’t give him one.

Lombardi had a few things of his own to say about Wojtaszek, the chairman’s involvement in the AES Corp. tax break agreement with the county and the legal work his law firm, Harris Beach, does for the county.

“When they hand out jobs and appointments, all the tax breaks to dubious projects, collect and circulate campaign contributions from those same companies and all the legal work goes to the party chairman’s law firm, then how can this region ever recover?” Lombardi said.

Wojtaszek had a few choice words of his own for Lombardi’s new ally, sheriff’s deputy Brian Grear, who is himself no fan of Wojtaszek or Maziarz.

Wojtaszek again questioned Grear’s integrity for failing to join in on a search for a missing girl years ago and challenged the sheriff’s deputy to release his personnel file from the sheriff’s department to prove he’s the guy he keeps telling people he is.

“He has shown his true colors,” Wojtaszek said.

Grear maintains that Wojtaszek and Maziarz continue to knock his record and his character because, well, that’s all they’ve got. Grear says others in the county feel exactly the way Lombardi does and the time to end the reign of fear perpetuated by Maziarz and Wojtaszek has come.

“He can run on his record and I’m proud to run on my record,” Grear said.

Hobel’s take

Town of Wheatfield resident Don Hobel will attempt to defeat powerful incumbent state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, in a Conservative Party primary this week. While Hobel understands that he faces an uphill battle in trying to knock off one of the most powerful men in local politics, the 79-year-old retiree thinks it’s important to keep trying and to stay involved.

If more people followed his lead, Hobel suggested that local government might work differently and perhaps better.

“It is frustrating,” Hobel said of the voter apathy in the county. “But, on the other hand, somebody’s got to do it. If you let them run unchecked forever, who knows where it would go.

“They can complain all they want over the back fence about taxes, but if they don’t stand up at the county Legislature meetings it’s not going to change,” he added.

Never shy about voicing his opinions, Hobel made it clear that he wished the local media would do more investigative work and highlight some of the concerns he discusses at public meetings week after week.

“Everybody isn’t computer literate,” he said. “To me, you’ve still got to rely on the print media.”