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On Sept. 28, 2000, the Niagara County Republican Committee got a facelift. It had all of the makings of a coup d'etat. Henry Wojtaszek, the fresh-faced North Tonawanda city attorney with the quick smile and cover boy looks, was elected chairman of the Niagara County Republican Committee, ousting grizzled GOP veteran John Long Sr.
At 35, Wojtaszek infuses youth into the GOP. As a Republican city attorney, he has worked with a Democratic mayor in Ron Dawson and a Republican council, followed by a Republican mayor in Mary Kabasakalian and a Democratic council. Wojtaszek even put in four years with the U.S. Navy, giving him valuable inroads with veterans.
But there are those who say the most important credential on Wojtaszek's resume is his ties to fellow North Tonawandan Sen. George Maziarz, the perceived GOP power broker of Niagara County. A number of area Republicans privately have said Wojtaszek was Maziarz's handpicked candidate, put in power simply because he wouldn't pose a threat to "King George's" fiefdom. Long had made every indication he would run for reelection as chairman. And then, all of a sudden, the power structure shifted.
"Henry brings youth, vitality and a new direction to the committee," Maziarz said. "He has great organizational skills, and he's got the ability to bring people together.
"The Democrats better look out, because this guy is working overtime."
But what are Wojtaszek's plans for the county Republican committee? And do they mirror Maziarz's own agenda?
Wojtaszek was born and raised in North Tonawanda. He graduated from Buffalo State College and attended law school at the University of Dayton. He returned to North Tonawanda in 1991 after four years in the Navy and ran for city attorney. He was elected city attorney in 1997. He became the vice chairman of the North Tonawanda Republican Committee in 1993 and was elected chairman the following year. He said it wasn't until last September that someone planted the county bug in his ear.
"I had no desire to run for anything," Wojtaszek said. "I knew I was coming up for reelection in 2001 as city attorney. I had no desire to run for any county-wide posts. We had a reorganizational meeting in North Tonawanda. One of the officers of the NT committee asked me why don't I run for vice chairman of the county. I said no thanks. Then maybe three or four people suggested I give it a try. It didn't take that much convincing, so I agreed to do it."
That's when Wojtaszek says he got word that Long was considering stepping down.
"I called John Long and I asked him," Wojtaszek said. "I asked if he was looking for someone to succeed him and said I'd really like to run. He said, 'Well, I was planning on running. Let me know if you're going to run.' The next two days, he and I talked a little bit. On that Sunday, we had a meeting with about six different county officials, and he agreed not to run anymore."
Wojtaszek installed Wheatfield resident Jim Heuer as his new vice chairman. In his first eight weeks as chairman, Wojtaszek has set up a series of six executive committee meetings for next year. He said the transition from Long to himself was "extremely smooth" and that he and Long meet once a week to discuss the committee's future.
He maintains he has no further political ambitions in the foreseeable future and that he is perfectly content serving as NT city attorney. He will run this year for another four-year term.
Now, Wojtaszek says, his focus is to begin building bridges between the county's rank-and-file Republicans and combat the "inferiority complex" that he says Niagara County suffers from. He says his style is to get people involved, identify tasks that need to be addressed and spread the work around. He says taxes need to be lowered and the county must take part in as many federal and state programs as possible to improve the infrastructure.
Wojtaszek expects his fair share of clashes--even with Maziarz.
"I definitely anticipate that situation, and I do believe I can do that," Wojtaszek said. "I respect Sen. Maziarz a great deal, and I expect the reason we do get along so well is because we do agree on quite a few issues and we want to see the same things happen in the county. But I'm sure there are going to be times we disagree with each other, and I'll have to take a different view than he's taken.
"The same thing happened when I was elected city attorney in 1997, and I can say proudly that I don't think it's ever been in question from the day I took office that I was going to be anyone else's puppet."
Maziarz agreed clashes would be inevitable and said his reputation as county boss is overblown. He said he is confident Wojtaszek will be able to work with the party's movers-and-shakers.
"I think he has to work out compromises," Maziarz said. "He has worked with Democratic councils and Democratic mayors, and he has shown his ability to compromise. He has to bring people together, and I think he can do it."
While Wojtaszek has shown signs of being able to work well with others, he's not immune to playing party politics. Last January, Wojtaszek refused to work with the Democratic council-selected assistant city attorney, a Democrat by the name of Jeff Mis. Mis served as NT city attorney before losing the post to Wojtaszek in 1997. Despite the council's decision, Wojtaszek locked Mis out of the office, stating he would refuse to sign Mis' timecards and insisting he had no work for the council's appointee. The situation was resolved after a few weeks, but not before Wojtaszek was condemned for playing politics with the taxpayers' dollars. Wojtaszek said his primary concern now as GOP chairman is finding the right, results-oriented people to run for office, and then raising the money it takes to get them elected.
"I think people see that we're serious about making a difference," Wojtaszek said. "The job is to find the best candidates I can to do the jobs Niagara County needs done, and I'm confident I'll be able to do that."