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4 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JULY 2014 The President’s Message NEW JERSEY STATE POLICEMEN’S BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE BOARD PATRICK COLLIGAN State President MARC KOVAR Executive Vice-President Mark Butler 1st Vice-President Peter Andreyev 2nd Vice-President Jerry Tolomeo 3rd Vice-President Andy Haase 4th Vice-President Henry Werner 5th Vice-President Kenneth Burkert 6th Vice-President Michael Pellegrino 7th Vice-President Domenic Cappella 8th Vice-President Mark Aurigemma 9th Vice-President Michael Kaniuk 10th Vice-President Manuel Corte 11th Vice-President Michael Messenger 12th Vice-President Wayne K. Hall Financial Secretary George Miller Recording Secretary John Monsees Treasurer Eugene Dello Trustee James Crilly Trustee Keith Bennett Trustee Richard Kott Trustee Richard Brown Trustee Bruce Chester Trustee Margaret Hammond Trustee Frederick Ludd Sergeant-at-Arms Luke Sciallo Sergeant-at-Arms Frank Cipully Sergeant-at-Arms John Cernek Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Hibbitt Sergeant-at-Arms Michael McLaughlin Sergeant-at-Arms Rich Geib Sergeant-at-Arms On a recent Friday afternoon, I shut off the lights in my office and headed home for the weekend. I had been the Pension Coordinator for almost a year. It was a great opportunity to help our members with the next daunting step in their careers. The position was personally rewarding and an amazing learning experience. I am still grateful for the opportunity that Tony and Keith gave me one year ago. But on the very next Sunday afternoon, I received the news that you all know by now and that took me completely by surprise; effective July 1, 2014, Patrick I would be the next President of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association. Colligan I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Tony and Keith for seven years of incredibly dedicated service to our organization. When you hear the phrase “Blood, Sweat and Tears,” it personifies their work here on our behalf. Whether you agreed or disagreed with how they did it, they did it with a passion and dedication that will be hard to duplicate. Nothing has come easy to any labor organization these past five years, but they never once gave up or felt that they weren’t doing the right thing for every single one of you. I have had the privilege to work closely with them during the years, and they are two men who can look proudly in the mirror every day and know they gave their very best. I was proud to work with them and serve on their Executive Board. I am truly honored that they gave me the opportunity to lead this organization into the next phase. I am even prouder to call them my friends. Our great friend in labor, past FMBA President Bill Lavin proudly proclaimed on more than one occasion: “We don’t owe an apology to anybody for what we make.” I believe in that phrase so much that I hope one day it will be attributed to me! With few exceptions, we were here before our Local, County and State officials were elected and we will be here long after they are gone. Sometimes we benefit from the decisions they make, but more often than not we are left reeling in their wake wondering what the hell they were thinking. Despite the good or the bad, we continue to provide safety and outstanding service to the residents of this state. Our profession has come a long way in the past 30 or 40 years. We are more professional, better trained and much bettereducated. We are saddled with regulations, mandates and guidelines that were unheard of a few decades ago. We are doing much more with much less and many of us with a lot less people to do it. The last time I looked we are still doing it on weekends, holidays, midnights, anniversaries and birthdays. Sadly, in the past four-anda-half years we have been doing it with a knife at our throats not knowing what’s next. Sick time? Benefits? Hybrid Pensions? I hear all of you every single day and at every single seminar I presented during the past year. The day I need to apologize for a competitive salary, comprehensive benefits or a sound pension is the day that I will resign from this presidency. An apology for defending you and what you earn every day on every shift will never come out of my mouth. I chose Marc Kovar as my Executive Vice President. Marc is one of the most passionate union members I have ever met. He is fiercely loyal to the PBA and has served the residents in the City of Passaic for more than 20 years. Until his appointment, he was chairman of our Collective Bargaining Committee. His involvement with the Collective Bargaining Committee has given him the unique perspective of where the attacks are coming from and how to fight back. He has a great business sense and will be a great asset to our organization. He has been involved in many other committees and sits on the National Board of NAPO (National Association of Police Organizations). Marc and I hit the track before the starting gate opened on July 1. With Rob Nixon, we developed a comprehensive Political Action Plan that we are already diving into. Appointments with Senate and Assembly leadership and union leaders from public sector labor organizations are already on our calendars. We