24
NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JULY 2014
T H E LO C A L
600
P
A
G
E
For Retired Police
and Corrections
Officers
The benefits of
Local 600
Retired Police & Corrections Officers are eligible to join Local 600,
which is located at the NJ State
PBA office in Woodbridge. Annual
dues are $50 and benefits of
membership include:
• Maintaining dual membership in your current Local
and Local 600
• Five Safety Cards per year
• Access to the “Members
Only” section of the
NJSPBA Local 600 website,
which includes optional
benefits such as financial
planning, Aflac Insurance
and information about dental
and vision insurance plans,
life insurance plans and purchasing memorial property
• Monthly delivery of New
Jersey COPS magazine, the
official publication of the NJ
State PBA
• A monthly State PBA Watch
List which updates legislation
affecting current and retired
PBA/PFRS members
• A list of job openings for
retired officers
• Survivors Bulletin
• Annual newsletter
• Monthly luncheon meeting:
Second Tuesday of each
month. Log on to www.njspba600.org for location
and time
A call to arms: President Colligan wants YOU
The transition
“It was actually one of my first goals to see
to a new NJ State
Lombardi and Toma. We only had a chance to
PBA leadership is
having an impact
meet with them briefly, but we told them, ‘you
on the nearlyhave our full support; you are going to be
4,000 members
of the Retired
relevant; you are going to be part of the team.’”
Officers’ Local
600.
PAT COLLIGAN
“(State PBA
President Pat Colligan) seems very interested in us and I can only see good things coming,” expressed Local 600 President Tom Lombardi. “I want our membership to know that
the Retired Local 600 is truly part of the state group and we’re going to have a great rapport
with this administration.”
On only his second day in office, Colligan took time to meet with Lombardi and Local
600 State Delegate Jim Toma.
“It was actually one of my first goals to see Lombardi and Toma,” Colligan noted. “We
only had a chance to meet with them briefly, but we told them, ‘you have our full support; you are going to be relevant; you are going to be part of the team.’”
Lombardi and Colligan are eager to sit together and, among other issues, work together on reclaiming the Cost-Of-Living Adjustment (COLA) benefit.
“Our thing is to get COLA back,” emphasized Lombardi. “It’s something I’m going to
continue to fight for.”
Some of the other items on deck for Local 600 include a new scholarship fund (with
15 scholarships about to be issued), as well as moving forward with one of Lombardi’s
nearest and dearest charities, New Jersey’s Mission of Honor (an organization that searches funeral parlors to identify and inter orphaned remains of American veterans for burial in a military cemetery in Wrightstown).
“They aim to give these forgotten heroes a proper funeral,” explained Lombardi. “That’s
a passion of mine, being a disabled vet myself. We try to make sure they’re taken care of.”
As for the relationship between Colligan and Local 600, the ties are already wound
tightly.
“I’ve known Pat for a
while,” said Lombardi, not“I’ve known Pat for a while.
ing the relationship they
He’s a no nonsense guy. When he developed while Colligan
shakes your hand and looks you in worked with Local 600 as
State PBA Pension and Benthe eye, that’s what you get.
efits Coordinator. “He’s a no
And if he’s unhappy, he’ll tell you.” nonsense guy. When he
shakes your hand and looks
TOM LOMBARDI
you in the eye, that’s what
you get. And if he’s unhappy,
he’ll tell you.”
Colligan said he plans to continue attending Local 600’s meetings so long as they don’t
conflict with state business, as well as meeting with Lombardi and Toma personally prior
to each one. This relationship will accentuate the deep bond between the PBA’s active and
retired members, which is bound to be mutually beneficial.
“For Pat and (Executive Vice-President) Marc (Kovar), they have the support of Local
600 110 percent,” Lombardi declared. “That’s the deal I made with (Former State President)
Tony (Wieners) and that’s the same deal I’ve made with Pat.”
And Lombardi has a message directly for the active members as well:
“When you guys have events or go to rallies, send the information to me and we’ll send
it to all of our 3,800 members,” he offered. “We have guys down at the Shore, guys up north
and guys statewide. And they’re all happy to help out.”
Colligan certainly appreciates the possibilities of this arrangement:
“Many of these retired officers have a lot of free time and I think they can help us,” he
said. “We welcome the retired members. It’s a whole army that is under-utilized.”d