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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MARCH 2014
THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
During the past several weeks, I, along
with many amongst our ranks, have experienced unexplained flu-like symptoms,
including severe nausea, stomach aches and
an overall feeling of discomfort. The symptoms first started on Jan. 9 and sharply
intensified on Jan. 15. Like many others, I
Anthony F. sought medical attention to find out exactWieners ly what was causing the overall sick feeling.
To my surprise, I learned from my health
care provider that the illness is confined mainly to New Jersey public employees.
Suddenly it all started to make sense. My symptoms started when I was watching the governor's two-hour “Bridgegate” press conference on Jan. 9. Gov. Christie stood in front
of the cameras and made a passionate apology for the
wrongdoings of his senior staff, and he adamantly denied
having any knowledge of the lane closures at the George
Washington Bridge. He, after all, was the victim here. In the
days following the press conference, close allies and friends
of the governor came to his defense, all stating they could
never imagine Chris Christie lying, believing the events
were all orchestrated by others. As public employees, I'd like
to remind all the disbelievers that during the ChristieCorzine election in 2009, then-candidate Christie repeatedly lied to PBA members and others, vowing that he would
never reduce our pensions or alter our benefits. If I recall, he
referred to our pension and benefits as a "SACRED TRUST."
We know from the history since 2009 that Chris Christie will
say or do anything to get elected.
Some of the same close allies and friends claim that the
governor is a victim of a partisan fishing expedition. If so, we
should all sit patiently on the dock and await the return of
the fishing fleet. Early reports from the fleet are that they
have already netted a few flesh-eating piranhas from New
Jersey's political waters, and rumor has it that there's a very
good possibility of bagging the big catch. If, in fact, the
investigation proves the governor purposely lied and mislead the residents of the state of New Jersey for his own
interest, I whole-heartedly agree with the Newark Star
Ledger: Chris Christie must resign or be impeached. After
all, being governor of this great state is a Sacred Trust. Time
will tell as the investigations continue……
During his “State of the State” and recent budget address,
it became very apparent that the governor clearly needed
a distraction from the ongoing investigations at the George
Washington Bridge, in Hoboken and the Hurricane Relief
scandal, not to mention plunging poll and approval ratings.
New Jersey's hardworking public employees became that
very distraction. The governor suggested more pension
reform is needed. We all clearly remember the pension fight
in 2011, when the governor conducted his invitation-only
road show of town hall meetings where he touted that our
pensions were “unsustainable” and that urgent and immediate reform was needed to maintain a healthy pension system.
On Oct. 16, 2012, at one of the governor’s dog-and-pony
shows, he proclaimed that the pension reforms of 2011 were
a huge success that delivered much needed relief to New
Jersey’s taxpayers. The governor announced at that meeting
that in 2012, municipal pension bills were reduced by $116
million and in 2011 municipalities saved $264 million,
largely due to increased pension contributions from
employees. In a statement, Gov. Christie noted, “Our willingness to make tough choices and achieve progress on
meaningful reforms in a bi-partisan way is continuing to
deliver millions in long term, sustainable property tax relief
for our middle-class families.” Correct me if I’m wrong: Wasn’t the reason to increase our pension contribution and
eliminate COLA because, as the governor put it, the pensions are unsustainable? The governor talks about property tax relief for middle-class families, funded by whom?
Middle-class public employees? Every single penny realized
from the increased contribution and the elimination of
COLA should have stayed in the pension system and not be
part of the governor’s shell game.
As reported earlier, we have been meeting with legislators
who have been in our corner from the start, and we have
begun efforts to re-engage with certain other key legislators
who, in the past, have voted against our position. We are
hearing from both groups that they have no interest in further pension reforms as public employees have already
seen quite a cost increase. In fact, key legislators who
pushed Chapter 78 like Senate President Sweeney and
Assembly Majority Leader Greenwald have passionately
stated that pension reform is over and have even gone so far
as to use the governor’s own speeches and statements to
contradict his current claim that the pension system is still
somehow broken three years after he told everyone that he
saved it!
The governor must be getting the message because he is
now threatening to use an Executive Order to force further
so-called reforms regardless of what the legislature decides.
We are currently analyzing what authority the governor can
use to cut pensions without legisla ѥٔ