CHAIRMAN WARTHLING TOOK OVER A TROUBLED LACKAWANNA DEMOCRATIC PARTY...HAS CREATED A POWERFUL ONE...HIGGINS, SCHROEDER, POLANSKI, KOZUB, THE LIST GOES ON AND ON

Already a highly successful businessman and community activist, Fran Warthling took over as chairman of the Lackawanna Democratic Party at a time when Steel City Dems were at a fairly low ebb. The city's Mayor Kuriak was a Democrat in name only who was crusading to make the post of Lackawanna chief executive a part time position so he could take a full time job in the Republican Giambra Administration. Meanwhile, the most Democratic city around was being represented in Congress by a Republican while no one really knew how the community's emerging Yemeni population would vote.

First elected chairman in 2003 in a 26-26 vote in which he only prevailed due to weighted voting, the CEO of Diamond Cutters and Curley's immediately went to work.

"We elected a good Democrat and a very competent and resourceful executive, Norm Polanski the Mayor of Lackawanna," he recalls. "And, the result is that the city has undergone an economic development revival, including the use of wind energy. We were able to give Democratic Congessman Brian Higgins 85% of the vote, which, since he only won by about 3,000 votes, could be considered his margin of victory. We also elected Danny Kozub our Erie County Legislator and Mark Schroeder to the post of NYS Assemblymember. On top of all that, just recently we elected our first Yemeni City Coluncilman in Lackawanna, Mr. Abdul Noman. It's a record of achievement of which I'm proud."

A member of both the Erie County Democratic Party Executive Committee and the County Water Authority, Warthling was known for many years as both an astute businessman and a dedicated community activist, long before he became a highly respected political figure.

"I started Diamond Cutters when I was a teenager with my brother and we've worked together to make it a highly successful buisness in which we make our own high quality diamonds and then sell them to the WNY community," Warthling points out. "I have also always taken an active interest in what's going on in the city as a member of the Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Lackawanna Planning Board, among other associations. Besides that, I'm very active in real estate in the city, buying homes, getting them fixed up, and then selling them to families as a way of helping to improve neighborhoods."

Successful entrepreneur, community activist, civic minded political leader, Fran Warthling is also a devoted family man, having been married to his wife, Judy, for over 20 years while raising two sons. This year among his primary preoccupations will be the re-election of NYS Senator Bill Stachowski, whom he credits for making funding available for the construction of a new community center in the Steel City.

"I do as much as I do because I love all of it and I hate being bored," he explains. "I love politics. I love business. And, most of all, I love serving the people of the City of Lackawanna."