Forster Believes He Will Win Dem Vote for Chairman

Russ Quarentello (left) business manager for IBEW with Nick Forster at a recent meeting of Forster’s supporters.

Current county chairman, lawyer Jeremy Schnurr predicts a close race between him and Forster for Democratic county chairman.

Will it be close or a landslide?

During the primary last week, committee member races were decided. Committee members are elected members of a party who in turn elect the party’s chairman. Or as he is often called: the party boss.

Three candidates are running for chairman this year for the Niagara County Democratic Party. They are: Nick Forster, a senior investigator for the New York State Racing and Wagering Board; Jeremy Schnurr, a lawyer specializing in workers compensation cases; and Gary Parenti, an entrepreneur and political consultant.

Parenti at first appeared to have launched a strong campaign, but successful challenges to more than 100 of his committee members’ petitions knocked him out of the running. It is believed that out of approximately 300 committee members, Parenti has but 10 committed to him.

This leaves a race between Schnurr, the present chairman, and Forster who is a former chairman.

Forster may be unique among county chairmen if he wins election. Forster was chairman from the mid 90’s until he “retired” in 2001 and may be the first person in the state party to make a comeback after 10 years.

Curiously, many are longing for such a day. Since the time of his departure, the balance of political power in Niagara County has shifted enormously.

During the Forster era, the number of elected Democrats closely represented actual voting demographics being almost equal in number.

When Forster retired as party boss in 2001, the county legislature had 11 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Today, there are 12 Republicans and 3 Democrats.

“We are going to rebuild the party,” Forster said during an interview at his home in Niagara Falls, “and we will restore the balance of power.”

Forster attributes some of the decline of the Democratic Party in Niagara County to the political talent of State Sen. George Maziarz who he says is the true boss of the Republican Party in the country. But he also points to poor decisions made by Democratic leaders.

Today, most elected officials in the county, including state senators and state assembly members, mayors and supervisors, even in Democratic districts, are Republicans.

Forster contends he has the chairmanship locked up. Pointing to support from all three Democratic legislators, Dennis Virtuoso, Owen Steed and Jason Zona; Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster; Niagara Falls Party Chairman David Houghton; Pendleton Chairman Jim Sacco; Lewiston Chairwoman Diane Roberts; Town of Niagara Chairwoman Geraldine Carpenter; North Tonawanda Chairman Mark Houghton; and prominent committee members such as Dyster campaign manager Craig Touma; former county coroner and state committeeman James Joyce, former party leaders Ida Massaro, Frank Soda and Mickey Rimman; School Board member and Assembly candidate Robert Restaino; former council candidate Alicia Laible; former councilman of Niagara Falls and publisher, Bruce Battaglia; former councilman of Niagara Falls and journalist Bill Gallagher; former supervisor of Lewiston, Fred Newland; former County Legislator, Sean O’Connor; former Chairman of the County Legislature, John Tylec; Town of Niagara Council members Rob Clark and Mark Carpenter and several dozen more who Forster recently gathered at an event where many were interviewed by this publication.

Forster added he has the support of 43 unions in Niagara County and that only one, Laborers Local 91, is not supporting him.
“People like to get on board early,” Forster said in predicting victory. “The ship is ready to sail.”

Forster said he has more than 200 committee members committed and said he believes Schnurr has about 50.

“Building bridges is our first priority.” he said. “It is important that one political party does not have absolute authority. That’s what we have in Niagara County now; one-party rule for the last 10 years. They can spend without being challenged and that’s why Niagara County has the highest taxes in America.”

Forster says he will sponsor candidates who will cut spending, cut out “fat cats,” and work to offer tax relief.

“We are not going to do what the Niagara County IDA did, which was to give local tax dollars without guarantees of local hires,” he said.

The rules for electing a county chairman require that within 20 days of the primary, the current county chairman, in this case Jeremy Schnurr, must give notice to committee members and hold a meeting to elect the next chairman.

Schnurr told the Reporter he would hold the reorganization meeting between Sept. 24th and Sept. 29th. He contested Forster’s opinion that the election of Forster was a foregone conclusion.

“It looks close, but I am confident,” he said. “I think my support is almost exactly the same as his. The numbers are very close.”
Schnurr thinks support for him and Forster seems to break down by geographic lines.

“Nick is supported in Niagara Falls, Lewiston and the Town of Niagara. My support is throughout the rest of the county.”
Schnurr was elected chairman by the party’s executive committee last January, after the mid-term retirement of Chairman Dan Rivera.

Schnurr spoke of his goals, if elected by the entire county committee for a full term.

“First, to bring unity back to the party and, secondly, to have success in elections countywide,” he said. “The second part involves finding new candidates, raising funds to help them, and actively working to help them and that’s what I’m doing now.”
He agreed with Forster as to the reason the Democratic Party has so dramatically declined in its numbers of representatives in the county.
“A lot of that, I think, can be attributed to Sen. Maziarz.”

Schnurr has lived in North Tonawanda since 1993. He has been a lawyer for 30 years. He is 56 years old.

“I want to represent the entire party and all the Democrats, union, non-union, small business owners, farmers, and Democrats of every stripe. I recognize man and woman, union and non-union, people who work for others, as well as people who own their own business. The Democratic Party is a big tent.”

Schnurr said one of his goals is to cut wasteful spending, adding that the number one highest taxed county designation for Niagara County has a lot to do with high property taxes in proportion to real estate values which are low. He said he hopes to see a resurgence in property values as demand increases through greater employment.

If the race is as close as Schnurr says, then Parenti might emerge as pivotal. When contacted by the Reporter, Parenti declined to comment on which candidate he would support.

“I am weighing options,” he said.

Forster, when contacted subsequent to Schnurr’s comments, disagreed vehemently with Schnurr’s assessment of the race.
Referring to a recent campaign for Family Court judge, where Schnurr lost to Kathleen M. Wojtaszek-Gariano, Forster said, “This race is about as close as his race with Wojtaszek-Gariano. He got beat 5 to 1. That’s how close this race is. If he runs, he’s going to get crushed. He does not have one union supporting him or one elected official. He does not even have the chairman of his party in his own city.”

Because of weighted voting where various committee members votes count for more depending on the number of people they represent in their district, the voting is not secret but by open ballot.

Forster said he is looking forward to the election.

“You know what the saying is, ‘call the roll,' and let's see who has the most votes.