[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S6302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                     RETIREMENT OF GEORGE K. ARTHUR

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Madam President, yesterday's Buffalo News reported the 
forthcoming retirement of Buffalo, NY, Common Council President George 
K. Arthur, after four decades of public service. Mr. Arthur, who has 
been Common Council President since 1983, is a distinguished public 
servant who has given much to the people of Buffalo. I know I speak for 
the people of Buffalo in offering George Arthur great thanks and 
congratulations. He will indeed be missed.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the article 
from the Buffalo News be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:
                  [From the Buffalo News, May 8, 1995]

           Political Leaders Praise Arthur's Enduring Legacy

                         (By Anthony Cardinale)

       Geroge K. Arthur will leave a legacy of lasting achievement 
     as Common Council president when he steps down on Dec. 31, 
     several political observers said Sunday.
       Never mind the decade of Common Council friction with then-
     Mayor James D. Griffin, who reserved his most stinging 
     invective for the Council president and took particular 
     delight in defeating Arthur's challenge for the mayor's 
     office 10 years ago.
       Arthur's proudest hour as a politician was when he beat the 
     Democratic incumbent for the Democratic Party's endorsement 
     in 1985, these observers agreed. And he would have ousted 
     Griffin from City Hall, they added, if it weren't for the 
     votes siphoned off by Nicholas Costantino as an independent 
     candidate.
       Arthur, 62, who announced over the weekend that he won't 
     seek re-election, was first elected to the former Erie County 
     Board of Supervisors in 1963. He was elected Ellicott 
     District Council member in 1969, then Council member at 
     large, and he has been Council president since 1983.
       ``I believe it's probably the longest political career of 
     anybody in our area,'' said Vincent J. Sorrentino, Erie 
     County Democratic chairman.
       ``He was part of the emergence of the black community into 
     the mainstream of the political process in our community--he 
     and (Council President) Delmar Mitchell a little before 
     him,'' said Joseph F. Crangel, Sorrentino's predecessor at 
     the party helm.
       ``His leadership was instrumental in helping much of the 
     rebirth of Buffalo,'' said Arthur O. Eve, deputy Assembly 
     speaker, who pointed to measures to improve Buffalo's housing 
     stock and quality of life.
       Accolades for Arthur even came from Council Member Alfred 
     T. Coppola of the Delaware District, who has often clashed 
     with him--and who now wants to succeed him as Council 
     president.
       ``We've disagreed on various projects, but we've also 
     agreed on some,'' said Coppola, who has asked Sorrentino for 
     his backing.
       ``George has always been a unique person,'' Coppola went 
     on. ``He's always been a gentleman. There were times when 
     George pulled us together. He'd say, `Let's sit around a 
     breakfast table and let it all hang out on a Saturday 
     morning.' Those were terrific meetings.''
       Arthur's ability to bring together dissenting parties was 
     the common theme Sunday of those who have worked with him 
     over the years.
       ``George did an excellent job in helping to forge together 
     a very diverse group of men and women into a fairly cohesive 
     body,'' Eve said. ``That takes a lot of talent, patience and 
     compassion,.''
       Eve said he will work to help Council Majority Leader James 
     W. Pitts become the next Council president.
       ``We certainly will miss (Arthur) as the Council 
     president,'' Eve said, ``but I'm in hopes that Jim Pitts will 
     emerge as his replacement and the tradition that George 
     Arthur started will continue and hopefully will grow.''
       Sorrentino, who reportedly supports Pitts, also credited 
     Arthur as a consensus builder.
       ``He had a great quality of being able to bring consensus 
     into very hostile situations --especially during the Griffin 
     years,'' he said. ``His leadership will be missed at these 
     difficult times.''
       Sorrentino said he recently had breakfast with Arthur and 
     learned then that he had all but decided to retire after this 
     year.
       ``And I said, `if you do, we certainly expect you to play a 
     role in the campaign.' While he'd be retiring as president of 
     the Common Council, he's not retiring from politics.''
       All four observers rejected the notion that Arthur had 
     slowed down in recent years, no longer the civil rights 
     firebrand who once joined the plaintiffs in the school 
     desegregation suit and supported two other discrimination 
     suits against the city's fire and police force.
       ``Very often with age comes wisdom-- you're more prudent 
     how you express things,'' said Crangle. ``You put things in 
     more perspective and focus than you did when you first 
     started out.''
       Crangle said he greatly admires Arthur for standing up 
     against Griffin.
       ``He was one of the towering strengths of the Democratic 
     Party in City Hall,'' he said. ``He did not get intimidated; 
     he didn't in any way yield. And many times it was very 
     lonely.''
       Coppola said that was when Arthur's ``professionalism'' 
     shined brightest.
       ``There were moments when George was the acting mayor in 
     some of the tougher years when Jimmy Griffin was really 
     playing hardball,'' Coppola said. ``And George never took 
     advantage of the situation, especially when the mayor was out 
     of town.''
       The former mayor was asked Sunday for his comment on 
     Arthur's decision to retire.
       ``I wish him luck,'' Griffin said. ``I wish him and his 
     family the best.''
     

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