Local 600 is ‘on the move’
June brings executive board elections to Local 600, and Executive Vice-President Nate Horowitz
is expected to keep his number-two role. Not just because he’s running unopposed; Horowitz has
been a crucial member of the Local for more than a decade and aided in expanding membership
from about 400 when he joined in 2004 to a roster pushing 4,000 members today. This membership
has Horowitz to thank for continuing to fight the good fight working to secure his retired brethren
the legislative support and benefits they have earned.
Horowitz’s law enforcement career began in Seaside Heights in 1970, and
ended there in 1995 when he retired as chief of the department. But as he reflects,
that parting position isn’t how he chooses to remember his distinguished career:
“Being promoted to chief was a natural progression, but I was at my happiest
when I was a detective and a lieutenant. Once I got into administrative stuff I
wasn’t that happy. But the pay was good,” Horowitz joked.
Twenty years ago, the chief took advantage of a five-year buyout offer, and
NATE
Horowitz was quick to say “adios.” He spent the next decade working as a private
HOROWITZ investigator, until a chance meeting with former Seaside Heights colleague and
then-Local 600 President Pete Rossi lured Horowitz back into the PBA fold.
“He said ‘how come you’re not a member of Local 600?’” recalled Horowitz. “I said I didn’t know
what he was talking about.”
Such was the general consensus of Local 600 awareness 10 years ago.
Rossi succeeded in recruiting Horowitz, and designated him as Local 600’s representative for
the Ocean County PBA Conference in 2004, a position that drove him to action recruiting as many
new members as he could talk to.
“I found out there were a lot of guys in Ocean County who didn’t know we existed,” Horowitz
confirmed. “I used to go to meetings there and bring a stack of applications for the delegates to give
to their retiring members. We had a good response from that.”
Rossi, who passed away in 2014, eventually convinced Horowitz to run for Local 600 Trustee,
which he won, beginning another course of ascension mirroring his active duty career. He now
resides as the Local’s Executive Vice-President, a title he has held since 2013.
In addition to his job as Local 600 President Tom Lombardi’s right-hand man, Horowitz serves
on the Local’s Judiciary Committee, where he ensures the membership’s compliance with the
Local’s bylaws and standards of conduct. Although it rarely occurs, Horowitz asserts that
“sometimes people do things they’re not supposed to do and they have to be brought to task for
that.”
Contrary to his sometimes-unpleasant responsibility to be judge, jury and excommunicator of
members from the Local, his other role serving on the Country Representatives Committee allows
him to make up for those losses and then some. Serving as liaison between Local 600 and active
county reps, Horowitz emphasizes the benefits the retired Local provides to its members, and
listens to the questions and requests of potential Local 600 members.
“My pitch is this: Come into our Local and you have strength in numbers,” he begins. “You get
benefits including supplemental health benefits, and most of all the camaraderie of more than
4,000 retired members.”
In fact, if you are a retired PBA member – or even one about to retire – there’s a good chance
you’ve heard from Horowitz, at least once.
“A lot of times when I’m in the (Local 600) office, I’ll go through the state database and randomly
check guys,” he said. “And if I see they’re retired and not members of Local 600, I’ll send out an
application.”
So check your mail. It could change your life.
“We’re expanding tremendously which is fantastic,” Horowitz attests. “We have a really great
rapport with the active Union and State PBA President Pat Colligan. We’re on the move, and we
express interest in (active members’) programs, and we hope they’re interested in ours.” d
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JUNE 2015