Carl J. Calabrese has been involved in government and politics in Western New York for the past 25 years.  As an elected high-ranking Republican Party official, Calabrese has had the opportunity to work and forge relationships with government officials at the local, state and federal levels of government.

     Calabrese began his elected career as a Councilman in the Town of Tonawanda from 1986–1993.  Following that office, he served as the Town Supervisor from 1993-2000. During his tenure in town government, Calabrese was faced with a number of issues – waterfront development, nuclear waste clean-up, economic development, environmental issues – which lead to strong working relationships and personal friendships with a large array of local, state and federal officials which last to this day.  Calabrese was a recognized leader in the field of government and was elected to serve as President of the Association of Erie County Governments in 1996, an organization he remained active in throughout his government service.

     From 2000–2005, Calabrese served as Deputy County Executive in Erie County. In this capacity he was an active participant in a wide range of county issues that involved coordination with state and federal officials and organizations. He has extensive experience at the federal level in the area of homeland security. Calabrese was the only public official in New York State to serve on a special homeland security task force established by the National Association of Counties and has been an active lobbyist at the state level in the area of Medicaid reform, emergency communications and government reform and reorganization. As Chief Operating Officer for the county, Calabrese worked daily with the Commissioners and Directors of Erie County government.

     Besides his involvement in government, Calabrese has always been active in community service activities serving on the Greater Niagara Frontier Council of the Boy Scouts, the Workforce Investment Board and the Erie County Industrial Development Agency.  He has also served as an adjunct professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo since 2001, teaching undergraduate and graduate level courses in the fields of governance and public policy formulation in the School of Architecture and Planning.