NEW JERSEY STATE POLICEMEN ’ S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD
PATRICK COLLIGAN State President
MARC KOVAR Executive Vice President
Peter Andreyev 1st Vice President Henry Werner 2nd Vice President Michael Pellegrino 3rd Vice President Mark Aurigemma 4th Vice President Eugene Dello 5th Vice President Richard Kott 6th Vice President Frederick Ludd , Sr . 7th Vice President Luke Sciallo 8th Vice President Frank P . Cipully 9th Vice President John Cernek 10th Vice President Ed Carattini , Jr . 11th Vice President Michael Freeman 12th Vice President
Michael Kaniuk Financial Secretary Margaret Hammond Recording Secretary John Monsees Treasurer
Bryan Flammia Trustee Robert Ormezzano Trustee Terrance Benson , Sr . Trustee Rodney Furby Trustee
Charles Schwartz Trustee Patrick Moran Trustee Joseph A . Macones Trustee
Sean Plasket Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Tardio Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Heller Sergeant-at-Arms Keith Curry Sergeant-at-Arms Christopher Ricciotti Sergeant-at-Arms
John Granahan Sergeant-at-Arms Andrew Pacucci Sergeant-at-Arms Joseph Nigro Sergeant-at-Arms
4 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ OCTOBER DECEMBER 2016 2017
Patrick Colligan
The President ’ s Message
Yes , Virginia , there is a Task Force Report
Remembering Bobby Smith and matters related to PFRS
If you ’ ve never read the 1897 New York Sun editorial written to 8-year old Virginia O ’ Hanlon , go ahead and Google that now . Virginia wanted to know if Santa Claus was real , and her father suggested she write the Sun and ask . The now-famous editorial speaks of the “ Miracle of Christmas ” and , regardless of your religious beliefs , there is a reason that it endures 120 years later . It ’ s a great read . Spoiler alert : They tell Virginia there is a Santa Claus .
So let ’ s move on to a more modern miracle , the Sept . 26 , 2017 Interest Arbitration Task Force Report released by one half of the Task Force . The second spoiler alert : Governor Christie ’ s half . That day , the half of the Task Force that the governor appointed released a report that says the 2-percent arbitration cap is actually much better than sliced bread and went on to try to “ prove ” that point in a 25-page report . The report is fascinating , merely because nobody seems to have written it . I can only guess that on the morning of Sept . 26 , now State Senator-Elect Declan O ’ Scanlon awoke to find that Santa Claus left an early Christmas present for the governor ’ s appointees on the Task Force .
Wait , we say . We have the power of OPRA . We will see who wrote that report . On Governor Christie ’ s very first day in office , he said , “ Today , a new era of accountability and transparency is here .” So I submit the OPRA requests to the Governor ’ s Office , the State Legislature , the Department of Community Affairs ( DCA ) and PERC . I sit patiently and wait for the mailman . And I wait . And wait some more .
Later , the responses come . They are all a unanimous “ more time , please .” I can imagine that four members and all their staffers have to compile a load of data for such a comprehensive report . I ’ ll wait . I ’ m sure they will play by the rules because “ accountability ” and “ transparency ” will rule the day . And so I wait . And wait some more . I even had some time to finally read that Mastro report about Bridgegate .
Now , let me make an important point about OPRA . If something is “ deliberative ,” it does not have to be released . A “ draft ” report is certainly deliberative . I ’ m OK with that . But is the fact that it is being written some huge state secret ? If we are discussing battle plans for North Korea or a new offensive in Afghanistan , we need to keep that secret . But how about the fact that somebody , somewhere is writing a 25-page report without one half of the Task Force ? Should all references of that be omitted , too ? It ’ s like having a basketball game without another team .
Finally , the responses come . Hundreds of pages . I sift through them page by page , agency by agency . Everybody is included in the final report . Thanks , folks ; had that already . The League of Municipalities seemingly shattered its copy-paper budget making duplications of that hot item . Everybody is also included in all the emails about arranging a Sept . 26 meeting of the entire Task Force . ( Novel idea .) I already had those , too . So I search , and I search , for some reference , any reference , to the writing of this “ draft .”
I found it . I found a reference about the draft . In a Sept . 2 email from PERC Chair P . Kelly Hatfield ’ s iPhone to Declan O ’ Scanlon ’ s private email account , she wrote : “ Draft finished in his hands now .” Granted , it doesn ’ t have quite the same ring as “ Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee ,” but it ’ s pretty damn important that one half of the Task Force wasn ’ t invited to the draft-writing party . Silly stuff , really . It ’ s only a law . No biggie .
So yes , Virginia , somehow , miraculously , there is a Task Force Report . Luckily , Virginia never asked about the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy . We also have a Senator-elect in Declan O ’ Scanlon who purports to “ fight for sound , fact-based policy .” ( That ’ s what it says on his website , anyway .) I , for one , won ’ t miss any of this on the morning of Jan . 17 , 2018 .
So Dr . Hatfield , Senator-Elect O ’ Scanlon , governor ’ s office and DCA , I ’ m back at the mailbox waiting for transparency , accountability and just a tiny speck of honesty . If you released what I actually wanted , you would all be ashamed of how you perverted the process . Its legitimacy is laughable . It ’ s yet another disgusting , disgraceful footnote to the worst governor in New Jersey history . I ’ ll wait at the mailbox , but I will not be holding my breath .
The governor ’ s appointees want you to believe that the Task Force report is legitimate . But read that New York Sun editorial to little Virginia . She also really wanted to believe . The Sun answered : “ Yes , Virginia , there is a Santa Claus .” We know how that story ends , too . d