Congressman Tom MacArthur( center) with Ocean County Conference leaders at the Election Day phone bank that helped assure his re-election.
POLITICAL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41
ton, Stanhope, Byram, Vernon, Hopatcong, the Sussex County Sheriff’ s Officers and the Sussex County Bureau of Corrections hosted a rally on Oct. 20 to get out votes for Gottheimer in a sector of the 5th District that has been staunchly Republican for decades.
Not only is the effort spreading, it’ s trickling down. When getting ready for the Gottheimer labor walk on Election Day, Pascack Valley Local 206 State Delegate Richard Liguori related that his members endorsed a candidate for mayor and two others for town council in 2015, worked to get them elected and how that helped get a new collective bargaining agreement done basically without much contention.
“ Getting involved in politics never used to be the norm,” Liguori commented.“ Now, it’ s either you sit back and watch it happen, or you make it happen.”
What’ s happening is not lost on Schwartz, whose members
Members of Sussex County Local 138 held a rally in October to generate support for Josh Gottheimer.
are starting to kid him about leaving at 20 and going to work in Washington, D. C.
“ Like anything else, winning is contagious,” he explained.“ When the members start to see we are actually making a difference and you’ re coming out on top in an uphill battle, it gets the message out.”
The message came loud and clear from the political dignitaries who attended to pay their respects to PBA members prior to their Election Day action. U. S. Senator Robert Menendez inspired by describing the pride he took in being the only elected official from Hudson County to vote for making public employee pension payments when he served in the state legislature and how much it meant to receive a PBA silver card.
Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco then submitted:“ Your feet on the street today are going to change the 5th District. It’ s going to change the way Congress works.”
And Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino, who won re-election by a landslide, added:“ I have to commend the State PBA for getting things like this together so we can let people know that cops have a voice, they will vote and, with boots on the ground, they will help get Josh elected. This is something that is long overdue – that we have our voices heard.”
Before introducing Gottheimer to give a pre-game speech, NJ State PBA President Pat Colligan confirmed those voices are being heard by asserting,“ I want to thank you all for being here today and putting us on the map.”
Then came the payoff from Gottheimer, about whom Pascrell noted,“ I want you to know that there are people in Congress willing to speak up on your behalf and Josh is going to be one of those guys.”
Gottheimer picked up on that thought. He revealed that he wants members of law enforcement to be part of his transition team and start working on a range of issues such as securing more grants to provide equipment and training.
“ Knowing these people have your back gives you an extra boost of confidence,” said Gottheimer, who added he will be wearing his PBA lapel pin all the way to Congress.
And so when Election Day ended, everybody went home to take a breather. But only a short one, according to Schwartz.
“ I feel like we have a well-oiled machine and when you have the backing of State PBA, it makes everything work easier,” he said.“ We have to keep it going, and if we can go county to county to show them how, we will do that. I am confident that what we are doing is catching on, and I would like to thank Joe Macones and Keith Curry for their efforts in getting members from Passaic and Sussex counties, respectively, to come and help out. Now we have to keep it going. It’ s not rocket science. It just takes hard work.” d
42 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ NOVEMBER 2016