Marc Kovar
Executive Vice President
Vote for Bruce Polkowitz
and help the PBA make history
This is literally history-making. Hopefully, 100 years from now,
people will still be talking about how the New Jersey State PBA
had the foresight to do this. Other labor unions across the coun-
try will be doing this, too. And it will keep the state legislature
from going in there and stealing our money.
The challenge at hand is the new PFRS, the system that will be
run by members for members, since Governor Murphy signed
the law in July to make the pension system for police and fire in-
dependent of state control. This is now the lynchpin for all PBA
members, from those who are brand-new on the job to those
who are well into retirement.
Like you and me, 99.99 percent of the people in the system
are not independently wealthy and need that pension to be fully
funded when they retire. So what we hope will be the stability
they will enjoy 100 years from now hinges on setting up the new
system by February 2019. And the success of that system hinges
on what has happened during the past few weeks and what we
need all members to address during the next few weeks.
We are in the process of putting the trustees in place to repre-
sent the State PBA on the new PFRS Trustee Board. This 12-per-
son board will set up the management structure of the new sys-
tem and serve on subcommittees for investing, actuarial reviews,
legislative matters and other operations relating to an efficient
running of the system that will lead the pension to full funding.
State Corrections Local 105 State Delegate Ray Heck has al-
ready secured the police-elected trustee position because his
impeccable credentials generated enough support that no other
law enforcement member of the system wound up challenging
him in an election. The State PBA committee we formed to re-
view trustee candidates led us to choosing James Kompany of
Roselle Park Local 27 as the member we are appointing to the
board as a trustee, per the way the new board is structured (each
public safety labor union gets to appoint a member, and three
members are elected – one from police, one from fire and one
representing all retirees).
But the final member of the team is where we need to focus.
Bruce Polkowitz is the State PBA-endorsed and Local 600-en-
dorsed candidate for PFRS Trustee representing retired mem-
bers. There are many reasons to vote for Bruce when the election
for retiree trustee begins on Dec. 5. But I’m going to give you the
most important: If retired members want their COLA back, we
need Bruce Polkowitz to put us over the top.
No mucking around this time. We looked at several retired
members who sent in resumes to be considered for this en-
dorsement. We needed to find somebody who had the experi-
ence and expertise to dig into the details and complexity of the
new pension system, and Bruce is our man.
We could rest this decision on Bruce’s service as State Delegate
for Edison Local 75 and president of the Edison SOA. We could
cite Bruce’s work at a high level of police department manage-
ment and serving as mayor of Franklin Township from 2012 to
2014. But here’s what made the greatest impact on me:
When Bruce decided to pursue this position, his first act was
to read every page of SB5, the bill that created the new PFRS. Ev-
ery freakin’ page. By the time the new board starts working, I’m
guessing Bruce will have every freakin’ detail of this law memo-
rized.
As you will read beginning on page 32, Bruce is the type of
go-getter we need. In the early 1990s, he led the effort to create
the PBA’s first legal defense plan. He knows the law. He knows
finance. And he knows politics. Like Ray and James, he checks
all the boxes we need in trustees representing members on the
new PFRS board.
What’s more, Bruce is a no-nonsense guy. He is not going to
sit there and go along with the flow. This new trustee board is
going to have a lot more say, and with his business, financial,
government and union backgrounds, he will speak with author-
ity because of everything he has done. That is what we need to
get COLA back, get the pension to full funding and keep the
state from trying to steal our money with nonsensical talk about
a blended pension with other public labor unions. Bruce will not
allow that.
We are very fortunate to have had consummate represen-
tation on the PFRS board. Middlesex County Corrections Lo-
cal Officers Local 152 State Delegate Mike Kaniuk and Charlie
Schwartz, who just took a promotion from being Saddle River
Boro Local 348 State Delegate to sergeant, set a high standard
for pension trustees. We will forever be appreciative of all their
hard work.
We must build on the high standards Mike and Charlie estab-
lished, and a big step forward is getting Bruce Polkowitz elected.
All Locals must talk to their retired members about voting for
Bruce. Get it out on your social media. Bring it up at your meet-
ings. If we don’t make this happen, we might have to wait 100
years to get COLA back, get the pension fully funded and might
not make history with the new PFRS.
On another note, I once again had the honor and privilege of
accompanying Congressman Bill Pascrell as he made the rounds
in Passaic, Essex, Hudson and Bergen counties, stopping at se-
nior centers, diners and polling places to help get the vote out
on Election Day. The opportunity to get my boots on the ground
also allowed me to gain perspective on one of the best things go-
ing in New Jersey politics, as Congressman Pascrell was elected
to his 11th term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Finally, on behalf of the entire NJ State PBA, I want to extend
our thoughts and prayers to the families of the victims of the
mass shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, as of
well as Memphis; Elgin, Illinois; El Dorado, Arkansas; and River-
side, California during those horrific two days at the end of Octo-
ber. Please continue your safe and steadfast work that guards all
our residents against the forces that bring such tragedies.
www.njcopsmagazine.com
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