‘hoorah’ guy. I just do the job. I’m just trying to help people – whether
it’s the citizens or my members, I’m there.”
As a long-time State Delegate, Corte also has some tips and tricks
for others in his position. Though it really comes down to one thing:
Making a good first impression.
“One of the things I realized right away was at the Local level, my
members don’t need me a lot, but you have to be there for them,” he
declares. “Whether it’s information about the Legal Protection Plan
or even if it’s just to purchase a PBA shirt, they’ll only ask one time,
and it’s my only opportunity to present myself as an effective Delegate.”
Sometimes, unfortunately, that encounter between Delegate and
member could be one of unexpected finality; a situation Corte
knows all too well.
“I had two suicides while I was a Delegate; that’s the hardest part
of our job,” he notes. “The most recent one happened three years
ago. I spoke with him the day before and there were no signs. That’s
something that will always stay with me. Could I have done more? A
lot of times you can’t. Those were the darkest days of my time as a
Delegate.”
Always learning from experiences, no matter how tragic, Corte
took the opportunity to begin participating in the annual Out of
Darkness suicide awareness walk.
“It’s what we need to do – talk about it and discuss it,” he pleads,
adding that he tries to support organizations like Cop2Cop as much
as he can, and in true Corte-fashion, always gets hands-on
wh enever possible. “I also went down to Transitions Recovery in
Florida. I’ve sent people down there and wanted to see what they
went through.”
Speaking of hands-on, one of the achievements Corte is most
proud of is his Local’s involvement in Habitat for Humanity, when
members donate one day a year to put everything aside and work
with supervisors and administration to help build a house for those
in need in the community.
“We started doing this eight years ago, and we’ve done some good
work,” Manne acknowledges. “I hope that’s my legacy.”
Maybe 50 percent of it, at least.d
Manuel Corte (right) holds the official 50/50 bucket along with Rahway
Local 31 State Delegate Robert Zarzycki..
www.njcopsmagazine.com
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