Workers Worried About Jobs

Abraham Azain 
January 10, 1997 
Abraham J. Azain Of Lee Park Towers, Hanover Township, Died Friday At The 
Wilkes-barre General Hospital.

Sunday, January 12, 1997 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1B 





Democrats register anger at Stankovic &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the three years Dottie Stankovic has been county register of wills,
she's ticked off so many people that some important Democratic Party honchos
now doubt very seriously that they'll be able to put up with her for another
four years in the courthouseAlmost from the very start of her first term in
office in 1994, Stankovic began to anger and annoy just about everybody in
sight, from her office staffers right on up to the top brass in the county
Democratic Party. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Word has it that among those stung by Stankovic early on were Jack Manley
and Steve Serafin, both office carryovers from the Helen O'Connor days, and
Pat Soltis, an office staffer Stankovic hired as her chief deputy soon after
taking office. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Manley and Serafin are said to be so at odds with Stankovic that they'll
definitely be against her at primary election time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Soltis is the sister-in-law of Joe Mazur of Plymouth, the chairman of the
Fourth District, which is the biggest Democratic district in the county. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Soltis, who got her job through Mazur, is in a terminal snit because she's
become something of an office ornament ever since her principal duties were
taken over by Stankovic's close political crony, Alice Palischak. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Not only is Soltis peeved at the treatment she's getting from Stankovic,
Mazur is too. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In fact, Mazur was contacted during the week and made it clear in a
telephone conversation that right now he's not backing Stankovic for the
Democratic Party's endorsement for another term, despite Stankovic's claim
that she has had no problems with Mazur and would expect him to support her. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There is no way Stankovic -- or anybody else for that matter -- can win any
Democratic nomination in the May 20 primary without carrying the Fourth
District, where the Democratic registration of something around 16,000 is
mainly in towns like Nanticoke, Plymouth, and Swoyersville. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Stankovic certainly knows all too well the critical importance of the
Fourth in any election -- especially a Democratic primary -- so it's not
surprising that she'd claim Mazur as one of her backers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mazur's position in all of this is that he will fully support whomever the
51-member county Democratic Executive Committee endorses when it meets some
time around March 20, meaning that if Stankovic is endorsed, he'll back her. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the meantime, though, Mazur wants to meet with party leaders, most
particularly county Chairman Jimmy Bach. He's also sure to have a sitdown with
Ray Musto and Stanley Jarolin, both of whom are for Stankovic all the way. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There are rumblings about her," Mazur says of Stankovic, "so something has
to be done." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 While he won't commit to any of the candidates -- Stankovic, Ellen Mondlak,
or Loretta Chmura -- just yet, Mazur does say "Mondlak is the frontrunner"
right now and yes, the Mondlak campaign people have contacted him for his
help. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When you talk to Mazur about Stankovic and this race generally, it comes
through that he wants, and will work for, party unity. But he'd rather not
have to deal with her to achieve it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Aside from what he sees as Stankovic's shabby treatment of his
sister-in-law, Mazur hints that Stankovic is something of an ingrate who
turned her back on him after he twisted a lot of arms and called in a bunch of
political chits to help her get the Democratic Executive Committee's
endorsement in the primary election of 1993. It was in that primary that she
won the Democratic nomination for register of wills and then was elected to
the office the following November. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Seemingly in the same anti-Stankovic boat with Mazur is another of the
Democratic Party's top players, county Chairman Bach. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Just as with the Mazur family, Stankovic has dealt the Bach family a zinger
-- she fired Bach's stepdaughter from her staff. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Naturally, Bach's not at all happy about that, but he says he has "let it
pass" and really hasn't made up his mind yet who he'll be for. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Add to the names Mazur and Bach yet another name: Joe Joyce. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It seems Stankovic was "unappreciative" of some financial help that both
Joyce and Bach arranged for her in her 1993 campaigns and neither of them
likes it, especially moneyman Joyce, who is for Mondlak this time out. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 None of this, though, seems to faze Stankovic. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 She is totally certain in her own mind that everything she does, mainly
making people in her office do their jobs, is for the good of the taxpayers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I have no time for political games," she says. "My job is to keep my
people working and earning the money the taxpayers are paying them." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nothing wrong with that, if that's what she's doing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Trouble is, the politicians don't much like it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Bill Griffith &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Democrats Register Anger At Stankovic 
In The Three Years Dottie Stankovic Has Been County Register Of Wills, She's 
Ticked Off So Many People That Some Important Democratic Party Honchos Now 
Doubt Very Seriously That They'll Be Able To Put Up With Her For Another Four 
Years In The Courthouse.

Democrats Register Anger At Stankovic In The Three Years Dottie Stankovic Has Been County Register Of Wills, She's Ticked Off So Many People That Some Important Democratic Party Honchos Now Doubt Very Seriously That They'll Be Able To Put Up With Her For Another Four Years In The Courthouse.