The President’ s Message
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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 Keith Bennett 6th Vice-President Richard Kott 7th Vice-President Frederick Ludd, Sr. 8th Vice-President Luke Sciallo 9th Vice-President Frank P. Cipully 10th Vice-President John Cernek 11th Vice-President Ed Carattini, Jr. 12th Vice-President
Michael Kaniuk Financial Secretary Margaret Hammond Recording Secretary John Monsees Treasurer
Michael Freeman Trustee Bryan Flammia Trustee Robert Ormezzano Trustee Terrance Benson, Sr. Trustee Rodney Furby Trustee Charles Schwartz Trustee Patrick Moran Trustee
Joseph A. Macones Sergeant-at-Arms 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 Glenn Pagano Sergeant-at-Arms
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ OCTOBER 2016
Remembering Bobby Smith and matters related to PFRS
Patrick Colligan
On Sept. 16, those of us who were at the PBA Convention in Phoenix had the extraordinary honor of hearing Louisiana State Trooper Bobby Smith tell the story of his incredible, and truly unbelievable, journey through life. His story had what I know will be a profound and lasting impact on many of our lives that day.
On Oct. 2, we woke up to the surreal news that Bobby Smith had passed away through the night. I can’ t even begin to adequately tell his story on these pages. If you weren’ t at the convention and want to learn about his inspiring story please see page 52 or visit www. visionsofcourage. com. We lost another true hero on Oct. 2, a blind man who taught more than 1 million people since
1986 how to see.
If you follow New Jersey politics, even a little bit, you witnessed one hell of a ride in the first days of October. If you weren’ t happy with the political landscape at any one moment in those days, you only had to wait about 15 minutes for the score to change. The score changed often. It forced us, for many reasons, to endorse a gubernatorial candidate much quicker than we had anticipated. I will explain the landscape and how quickly it moved at our Oct. 18 state meeting. We also have the great honor of introducing our endorsed candidate, Ambassador Phil Murphy, at that meeting.
Later in the pages of this issue you will hear more about the plan to split PFRS from the state as a stand-alone system run as a public labor management plan. I will say that after almost two years of research, I haven’ t found one single reason not to do it, but many reasons to do it.
The plan will have zero impact on the other systems. We will still contract with the Division to cut checks and administer parts of the plan so nobody gets laid off. Standing alone, our plan will be ranked in the top 150 pension plans in the country, and we will still be able to purchase investments at the best possible rates.
The NJ State pension investments lost almost 1 percent this past year. When compared nationally, you should know that took a lot of work. Quite simply that should not have happened. Standing alone would also give us greater control to restore COLA much quicker than Chapter 78 would ever allow and eventually return us to the days of a single tier. Most importantly, the new plan would still be considered a“ public” plan, and we would maintain the constitutional right to a pension.
The bill has been drafted and as expected is already at 47 pages. I think most would agree that the state isn’ t very good at running a pension. Nothing will ever protect us from a downturn in the market, but at least we can make sure their hands are out of our wallets.
Also in this issue, you will read about Kevin Lyons, the NJ State PBA-endorsed candidate for Retiree Representative to the PFRS Trustee Board. His background and knowledge about pension issues speaks for itself. He is not one of the many candidates that suddenly jumped into this race because the mood struck him. Many of those candidates truly have no concept of what that PFRS Board does as evidenced by their campaign materials. Kevin has been involved in union issues for decades and will bring that knowledge and passion to the PFRS Board. If you are a retiree who cares about your pension, make sure you vote. And I hope you will vote for Kevin Lyons.
Finally, we find ourselves again in another tragic period of law enforcement officers being injured and killed. As I said at the beginning of the month, there will be no street protests or politicians calling for justice; just officers and families mourning the loss of another hero. The answer to this insanity will not happen overnight, but the tide will change again. I pray it is much sooner than later.
Stay safe! d