Standing up
for Local 50
Local 50 State Delegate Mike
Tardio (right) leads the protest
of members against Lake Como
Mayor Brian Wilton at a fundraiser
on July 12 in Red Bank for his
campaign for Monmouth
County
Freeholder.
PBA members protest in Monmouth County against
Lake Como mayor running for freeholder
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
n PHOTOS BY JIM CONNOLLY
Local 50 in Monmouth County took on this political challenge
the old-fashioned way. Members lined the sidewalk in front of Red
Bank’s Downtown Restaurant armed with protest signs calling out
an elected official who messed with their own a little more than
a year ago. Their show of solidarity greeted said elected official as
he arrived a fundraiser to further his career and detoured some of
his supporters attending the event. All the while, residents drove
by honking their horns and shouting out, “Thank you.”
“Just like the way we used to protest back in the ‘70s,” declared
Retired Local 50 member Rich Lizzano. “I love what we’re doing
here. This man has to understand that there are consequences for
his actions against us.”
This man is Lake Como Mayor Brian Wilton, who is running for
Monmouth County Freeholder. His actions led to the disbanding
of the Lake Como Police Department in April 2016, a 10-officer
department that was then part of the eight-town Local 50. It’s
down to seven, including Belmar, where the municipal adminis-
tration offered to provide police services to Lake Como but did
not offer jobs to its officers.
The protest triggered when NJ State PBA President Pat Colligan
found out that Wilton had put together this fundraiser on July 12
to ask labor organizations to contribute to his campaign. Colligan
notified Local 50 State Delegate Mike Tardio about the event, and
within a few days members mobilized to protest. About 80 per-
cent stood on the line together for more than two hours.
“We cannot let someone do what he did use it as a platform
to boost his political career,” Tardio asserted. “When Pat called
about the event and suggested the protest, we said absolutely. We
jumped on it. This guy wants to be a freeholder, and we’re not go-
32
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ JULY 2017
Local 50 members stand with protest signs in front of the Downtown
Restaurant in Red Bank as Lake Como Mayor Brian Wilton arrives at his fund-
raiser.
ing to let that happen.”
In addition to action that has left five officers still out of work,
the PBA also took issue with the way it went down. Colligan and
Tardio met with Wilton around January of 2016 to propose a plan
to gradually reduce the Lake Como force through attrition and
absorbing officers into openings in Belmar. Lake Como officers
could cover nights and weekends until they had retired or found
other jobs.
“Then when the last Lake Como officer leaves, he turns out the
lights,” Colligan explained. “That would have been the responsi-
ble way to do it. Now, Wilton is running for freeholder and put-