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32 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ NOVEMBER 2017
Members of the Monmouth County Conference work their phone bank on Election Day
Michalski might be underestimating by maybe 900 percent , which is what Monmouth County Conference Chair Mike Tardio put into leading the charge . Michalski , the county conference cochair , credited Tardio with organizing the phone banks and making sure they were staffed with members from Locals across the county every Wednesday night since the end of August to the tune of 4,000 calls per night .
This type of influence doesn ’ t take place without the engagement of hundreds of members , but the PBA political action hall of fame gained another member on Election Day 2017 . That ’ s the appropriate praise for Tardio , who only left the Election Day foray in the early afternoon to celebrate his son Chase ’ s sixth birthday . ( Word is that Chase might have asked for a new governor for his birthday .)
Tardio was at Gopal ’ s Election Night gathering in Long Branch . During his victory speech , the newly elected senator recognized the role that Tardio and the Monmouth County Conference played in his historic achievement .
“ Mike has put together an incredible organization , not just financially but with bodies consistently phone banking and knocking on doors ,” Gopal extolled . “ It shows why the PBA endorsement means a lot , why it ’ s one of the most coveted . When they are with you , they are with you .”
The Monmouth whirlwind extended beyond county boundaries . A group from Union County Corrections Local 199 led by State Delegate Joe Krech provided dialing hands during the Election Day first shift that began shortly after 8 a . m . And the group also found time to make some calls in District 3 for Senator Steve Sweeney and help him extend a narrow margin to an 18-point victory .
With members spread out at tables working burner phones , the constantly moving operation under the direction of Tardio , Michalski and Monmouth County Sheriff ’ s Office Local 314 State Delegate Mike Schulze and shrapnel from the breakfast and lunch buffet strewn about , the phone bank headquarters nearly rivaled the White House Situation room . State PBA First President Pete Andreyev even sat down to work an afternoon calling shift , joining Howell 228 member Matthew Cuzzo , who put his bank manager skills from a previous life to work on the phones .
Freehold Local 209 member Sam Hernandez jumped in when callers connected with Spanish-only speakers on the other end of the line . He also rang up a 97-year-old man , who admitted he was too old to get out and vote but wanted to spend some time hearing about the candidates . The conversation ended with a resounding message .
“ We all want to see a different light in the shade of darkness that has been put on the unions in the state of New Jersey ,” Hernandez commented . “ We can make a change . When I got up this morning , that was my mentality .”
Many of the calls were like the one that Shrewsbury Local 308 member Jessica Boyd related . “ She ’ s voting Democrat ,” Boyd announced . Schulze followed the cheer in the room by adding , “ Any one vote can put us over the edge .”
The part-locker room , part-tactical operation mentality broke momentarily when Michalski took a little bit of good-natured busting for the television commercial he made advocating for Gopal . The spot appeared on MSNBC and went viral on Facebook . And though he admitted , “ a lot of people are digging on me ,” the commercial fallout was more evidence of the PBA impact on Victory 2017 .
“ The response I got from people was extremely positive ,” Michalski added . “ People told me , ‘ If you ’ re supporting Vin , then I ’ m supporting Vin .’”
Gopal made a visit to the Freehold VFW around 3 p . m . on Election Day . Shortly thereafter , Downey and Houghtaling also stopped by . In years past , these might have been cameos . But not now .
“ You won ’ t see me two years from now ,” Gopal asserted while sitting amongst the callers . “ You will see me all the time .”
The Monmouth contingent didn ’ t need to be reminded about the “ Win with Vin ” golden rules : To make sure Chapter 78 never happens again ; that law enforcement officers , firefighters and teachers should never have to quibble over a 2-percent raise ( or more ). But members were happy to hear it again as reminder of the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow .
And when all was said and won , Tardio finally exhaled with a force that could have blown out Chase ’ s birthday candles .
“ I really feel like we had an impact and definitely feel like it was appreciated ,” he proclaimed . “ We believe in the PBA leadership and the process and I don ’ t believe these politicians are going to forget what we did . It shows the membership that it was worth the struggle .” d
knocking on doors , I was feeling like a new father at a nursery ,” Colligan emoted . “ You can ’ t ignore our membership now .”
Further return on investment came on Election Day , and it continues to roll in . Perhaps one of the most definitive statements on the strides the PBA has made with its political influence came in the form of Colligan being selected No . 18 on the InsiderNJ 100 Power list . He is the top-ranked public service union leader on a list that features Governor-elect Murphy at No . 2 , incoming New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy at No . 10 , and the state ’ s most influential politicians , political party leaders , political consultants , high-powered attorneys and media members . Additionally , PolitickerNJ . com ranked Colligan 38th on its top 100 power list .
If there ’ s any doubt about whether the PBA has a direct pipeline to Trenton , consider that at 1:21 p . m . on Election Day , Colligan received a text message from Murphy congratulating him on Connor going into the Coast Guard . “ GOD BLESS THAT LAD ,” the Governor-elect wrote .
In applying his boundless intensity that is at the core of the PBA ’ s political surge , Kovar celebrated Victory 2017 for about eight hours . The next morning , he was back on the phones calling legislators to set meetings and talk about the agenda when the new administration and legislature takes over in January . He emphasizes that now is the time to rev up the political action even more .
“ I really believe our members were a big part of pushing these candidates over the top ,” Kovar asserted . “ I think this puts us at the 20-yard line , and now we have to push the ball into the end zone . We can ’ t just sit back and let these elected officials relax . There is still a lot of hard work ahead .”
And based on Nov . 7 , 2017 , better days appear to be ahead .