NJ Cops July18 | Page 36

MORE THAN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35 What do you challenge? They needed to have all this informa- tion when sitting at the negotiating table.” Carry on a tradition After 24 years as the PBA Collective Bargaining Coordinator and about to turn 75, George says it’s time to bring in some new blood, somebody with new ideas to keep the spreadsheets alive, address some of the soft spots and shake things up. He has al- ways advocated that creative energy is critical to maximizing bargaining ef- forts, and very few people have had more energy than George. Freeman comes close. When George decided to retire and the PBA decided to offer the position to Freeman, Ko- var suggested he spend some time tailing George to see if he could keep up. O’Brien At the end of the June state meeting, members gave had already seen George a standing ovation recognizing that, as Cernek enough to know. says, “He has an endless wealth of knowledge when it “Sometimes, comes to the way the PBA does business.” when you leave a job, you worry 36 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JULY 2018 about what they are going to do,” George continues. “I don’t have that worry. I know Mike Freeman will carry on a tradition established two decades ago.” George has always been all about the people. He says his col- lective efforts have succeeded because of leaders like Wieners, Kovar, Cernek and Freeman. Because of every member who has worked on the collective bargaining committee. Because of the staff at the PBA office, especially accountant Mary Ann Drost, who has put so much into inputting data into the spreadsheets. And because of Dorothy, whom George says should get an honorary badge for all the time he was out on the road assisting Locals. Little did any of the town managers know how much of Dorothy was sitting across the table when they faced George. “If they saw her at the table, the other side better be prepared,” he extols. “She would knock them for a loop.” Retirement will include being active with Local 600, going to Mass every day and getting to the gym to “get my body back in shape.” George submits that he might go back to school and continue his voracious reading to quench his addictive thirst for knowledge. He’s not getting misty over moving on, like he did at the June 26 PBA state meeting at Caesars in Atlantic City when the mem- bers rose to give him a prolonged standing ovation. This was yet another confirmation of how much George O’Brien has meant to the PBA, how much he has done to improve the lives of so many members and their ability to provide for their families. Af- ter 50 years of service to the PBA and to law enforcement, the id- iom that comes to mind to best measure what he has achieved would be this: There will never be another Michael Jordan, and there will never be another George O’Brien.