Local woman challenges for Fayette County prothonotary position
A South Union Township woman is challenging the longtime Fayette County prothonotary for the Democratic nomination to the position, in the hopes of ushering in a change at the courthouse. Debra L. “Deb” Bortz is hoping to become the first woman to hold the position of prothonotary in Fayette County. She and current Prothonotary Lance Winterhalter will face off in the May 20 primary. No Republicans are running for the position.
The prothonotary is in charge of keeping the civil records for the court. Six employees work in the office.
“I’m retired now and I’m really bored, and I really don’t like the way things are running in the courthouse,” Bortz said. “It’s time for a big change.”
During her campaign, Bortz, 52, of 235 Hague Lane, Uniontown, has pledged to correspond online with other counties to acquire updated information and to create a Web site that explains the office to the public by detailing and explaining the civil matters and actions that are being taken.
Winterhalter, 55, of Vanderbilt is completing his third four-year term in the position. He said he has updated his office during his tenure and wants to “continue to upgrade the office, as well as provide the public with easy access to information and services.”
He was appointed in 1990 when Ed Brady retired due to health reasons. Winterhalter won election in 1991 and then was re-elected in 1995 and 1999.
Bortz, who previously ran for a seat on the Laurel Highlands school board, said she doesn’t think the taxpayers are getting their dollar’s worth.
“I feel I’m an effective, efficient and dedicated worker, and I plan to be a full-time prothonotary,” she said. “We need a woman in there.”
A 1969 graduate of Uniontown Area High School, Bortz attended Penn State Fayette, the Polly Associates real estate school, HACCP sanitation program for the U.S. Agriculture and the malt graphic instruction for numeric keyboarding. She was office manager for the Ren-Lau Coal CO. and the Shelley Trucking Co. from 1986 to 1994. She and her husband are former business owners. They sold the Blue Moon Caf? in 1999.
Bortz said her experience in office procedures and other qualifications make her the right candidate for the position.
“I feel qualified for this job. I have dealt with the public and feel I have the experience,” she said. “A full-time elected official needs to be in the prothonotary’s office also with his full-time staff on a daily basis to assist county residents when visiting the office for business.”
Bortz is a member of St. Therese Church in Uniontown, where she is a Eucharistic minister, and she also belongs to the AMVETS 103 Ladies Auxiliary, Uniontown Woman’s Democratic Club and ladies auxiliary of the Catholic War Veterans.
She is married to George Bortz III, and they have five children and one granddaughter.
Winterhalter was a former emergency management coordinator and chief deputy sheriff before becoming prothonotary.
“I believe my experience of 23 years in the courthouse qualifies me for the position,” he said.
During his time in office, Winterhalter said, he computerized the office and obtained a $12,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission to duplicate naturalization papers and put them on microfilm. He said he plans to purchase a microfilm machine to scan all other civil records, which date back to the 1700s.
“I would like to have everything duplicated and put in another location, hopefully in the near future,” Winterhalter said. “I want to continue to be the prothonotary for the people of Fayette County.”
A 1966 graduate of Connellsville High School, Winterhalter attended training for civil and criminal procedures at Dickinson Law School. He is married to the former Mary Jane Lamanna, and the couple have two sons.