Power Statements
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
President Colligan makes PolitickerNJ “Power
List 2015,” goes toe-to-toe with Christie
PolitickerNJ.com released its
annual “Power List” ranking for
2015 with NJ State PBA President
Pat Colligan ranked No. 41.
According to PolitickerNJ:
“Only the gutsy Colligan dared
buttonhole President Barack
Obama when the prez landed in
KEITH
SEAN
Camden and told him he was
FURLONG
DARCY
being misled to believe ‘PR spin’
that the Camden Metro Police
Department is a success in battling violent crime that besets the
waterfront south state city.”
The PolitickerNJ recognition became possible because of the
Election Day effort from NJ State PBA members on behalf of
endorsed candidates. This past election cycle, PBA members
chose who they wanted to support throughout the state and
achieved a 100-percent success rate wherever they participated,
from Cape May to Bergen County.
Showing that the NJSPBA’s defense of its 33,000 membership
has no basis in partisanship, Colligan once again called out Presidential Candidate Chris Christie, this time for making offensive
“pig” remarks and lying about his record as governor.
“The Chris Christie the people in New Hampshire saw today is
the same one our members have been dealing with the past six
years,” Colligan said. “This is a man who has proven time and
again he will say and do whatever it takes to claw his way to the
next political position. Six years ago, in his first campaign for governor, he sent a letter to rank-and-file officers throughout New
Jersey promising that he would never harm their pensions. That
was a lie.”
This is the transcript from the press conference at a “Law
Enforcement For Christie” event in New Hampshire:
REPORTER: “The head of the police PBA union in New Jersey
has been pretty vocal, as I’m sure you’ve heard in the past couple
of weeks…”
CHRISTIE: “Yeah, well listen, Matt…”
REPORTER: “Well let’s just ask, ‘Why?’”
CHRISTIE: “It’s because he’s a pension pig. That’s all it’s about
and you know that. He’s a pension pig. That’s what it’s always been
about. It’s about feeding at the trough as much as he possibly can.
Rank-and-file law enforcement men and women have voted for
me in overwhelming numbers in both my elections in New Jersey.
And they’ll vote for me again as governor because they know that
in the things that matter the most to them, I stand up with them.
The fact is, I’ve also been the person who’s tried to repair their
pension system after years of neglect and mismanagement and
broken promises. Right now, the Police and Fire System in New
Jersey, since we made the reforms, is approaching over 70 percent
fully-funded, which would allow them to return to giving themselves cost-of-living adjustments, if that’s what they choose to do.
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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ DECEMBER 2015
That would not have happened if not for the reforms that we
made in 2011. Listen, never be fooled that union leaders necessarily represent the points of view of their members, and that’s
particularly true in New Jersey, when those guys spend more time
in Trenton and in the statehouse than most legislators. The last
time that guy strapped on a gun and tried to defend somebody
was quite a long time ago. If he wants to be a politician, that’s fine.
He’ll be treated like a politician.”
Colligan hit back, saying:
“The sad fact is that Chris Christie has been representing himself as a qualified lawman to the people of New Hampshire when
the reality is that he was simply one of the biggest money
bundlers for George W. Bush before he was appointed to be U.S.
Attorney. Now he thinks that putting together a press event,
attacking me and lying again about his broken promises on our
pensions will somehow convince police officers across the country that he has their best interests at heart. He does not. During
the past six years, the policies implemented in Trenton have driven thousands of officers to retire, led to hundreds of officers being
laid off and left thousands of officers in danger in understaffed
and underfunded departments throughout New Jersey.
“Unlike the governor, I was on duty today in New Jersey and,
like most days, I was wearing a badge and a gun. Also unlike the
governor, I will work a full career, never miss a pension payment
and never fail in my oath to preserve and prote