Valor Awards
PBA President Brother Pat Colligan, Executive Vice President
Brother Marc Kovar and my brothers and sisters:
Thank you for this award. I am truly honored and humbled to
be a part of such a great organization. This past year has been a
huge success for New Jersey State PBA on both labor and the fra-
ternal side.
First, on PBA Day in Trenton in front of the Assembly Law and
Public Safety Committee room packed with more than 300 of my
brothers and sisters, I testified on behalf of my Local about the bill
to protect law enforcement injured in the line of duty. I am very
proud to say that bill passed committee that day and went on to
pass the General Assembly and Senate and was sent to the gover-
nor’s desk. To my surprise, he signed the bill into law.
In preparation for this year’s all-important election, the Mon-
mouth County Conference sat down with Bergen County Confer-
ence Chair Charlie Schwartz and his E-board. They outlined the
roadmap to success in this year’s election. Our County Conference
Chair Mike Tardio took the roadmap and ran with it. We had a
great team working right up to Election Day and, in the end, we
were victorious across the board.
On to the fraternal side, the members of Monmouth Coun-
ty Conference wanted to raise money for the Survivor & Welfare
Fund. We set out to do so by hosting a pig roast. Not just any pig
roast, but a Pension Pig Roast in honor of our beloved pension pig,
Pat Colligan. It has been a huge success two years running.
I would like to thank and recognize Mike Deroian, our Local
314 retired State Delegate and state executive board member, for
always being there to help me out with questions and for being a
true friend along my path as State Delegate.
Lastly, on to the PBA Hockey team. I went to Pat and Marc and
asked for permission to start the team, and we haven’t looked back.
Our team is made up of police officers, corrections officers, sher-
iff ’s officers and even a member of NYNJ Waterfront Commission.
Our mission has been to give back to the community we serve.
This award is a true honor that I feel is due to teams I am part
of. I could never accomplish my goals without my team members
from my Local, the Monmouth County Conference, the hockey
team and the State PBA.
Thank you. d
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