The President ’ s Message
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 Kelly Polack Sergeant-at-Arms
4 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2016 2017
Remembering Bobby Smith and matters related to PFRS
Election Day and
Patrick Colligan
Election Night
My Election Days usually begin the moment the polls open if I haven ’ t already voted by mail . This year was much different . I woke up on Election Day in beautiful Staten Island . My son , Connor , was taking his oath and joining the Coast Guard in Brooklyn at 10 a . m . We had the opportunity to join him for what I called his “ last supper ” on Monday night , and I didn ’ t want to miss the chance . The oath was taken , and I was off on the “ thank-you ” tour .
First stop was the Bergen County Conference phone bank . Someone sent me pictures when the calling began , and it was a packed house . I know there is nothing fun about sitting in a call center , and I certainly know it doesn ’ t pay nearly as much as sitting behind a utility truck making some real cash . But , as usual , our Bergen County team did not disappoint . What a great crew and what an amazing amount of work that got done .
Second stop was the Monmouth County phone bank . The place was packed with volunteers there , too . A box filled with completed call sheets was on one side of the room ; cold pizza , warm water and snacks lined the other side of the room . Thousands of calls had been placed before I arrived around 2 p . m . My timing was perfect . Assemblywoman Joann Downey and Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling had just stopped by , also to express their thanks . I had just missed Vin Gopal , who was running an incredible race for Senate . I know these candidates were shocked by law enforcement officers volunteering on Election Day .
Personally , I know what to expect now , but I still have trouble believing how many of you have stepped up and shared our vision . I saw North Plainfield Local 85 State Delegate Rich Dowd . I thanked him and told him I didn ’ t know he lived in the Monmouth area . He said , “ I don ’ t . I live in Piscataway .” Wow . I was impressed once again by how far he had come . I hope I thanked all of you that I saw .
Heading to the Cape May / Atlantic County phone bank wasn ’ t in the cards that day . It was where Executive Vice President Marc Kovar visited , and another phone bank I received photos from . Unfortunately , the PBA helicopter was grounded because of the strong winds and rain or I might have made it there .
No , we really don ’ t have a PBA helicopter , but a large contingent of members from State Corrections Local 105 didn ’ t need a helicopter to knock on doors throughout the day , and especially late in the day . Local 105 President Brian Renshaw might have been an imposing sight on front stoops , but his members got some voters out to the polls in the waning minutes before they closed .
By the end of the day , all but two PBA-endorsed candidates put one in the win column . I was lucky to be there for the gem of the night , the official announcement that Gopal had beaten incumbent Senator Jennifer Beck . Vin was down in the polls until the day before the election . Even then , he was only up by 1 percent . It was well within the margin of error . It was the race that the entire state was watching . Monmouth County Conference members spent 11 consecutive Wednesday nights leading up to Election Day working phone banks and knocking on doors . That is the stuff that makes a difference .
If you voted , thank you . If you voted for our endorsed candidates , even better . If you chose to sit home and do nothing , then I ’ m not sure what it will take to get you to at least mail in a ballot . We ’ ve lost too much , and we were poised to have the attack continue for four more years . Many of you talked about a sanctuary state but none of you could tell me what it meant . Even a week after the election , I was still reading the comments . Let ’ s move on and start learning our lessons . We need to stick together . We need to be united . We still have a lot of work to do . We are still going to need to stop bad legislation and work on good legislation .
But I ’ m much happier with the opportunity to have civil discussion than with no discussion at all . I ’ m looking forward to having a seat at the table instead of being on the menu . d