4
NEW JERSEY COPS
■
FEBRUARY 2015
The President’s Message
Jeb & Newt…
not so ‘Perfect Together’
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
Manuel Corte 10th Vice-President
Mark Messinger 11th Vice-President
Eugene Dello 12th Vice-President
Michael Kaniuk 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
Rich Geib Sergeant-at-Arms
Ed Carattini Jr. Sergeant-at-Arms
Michael Freeman Sergeant-at-Arms
Bryan Flannia Sergeant-at-Arms
Robert Ormezzano Sergeant-at-Arms
Joseph Biamonte Sergeant-at-Arms
Terrance Benson Sergeant-at-Arms
Let me start this month’s message by letting you all know that
this is not an “I told you so” article, but rather a “let’s think smart”
article for the future of us all.
Somebody a lot smarter than me once said: “Those who
cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” No need
to get nervous; the governor has reached his term limit here, and
I won’t make a prediction about his future in politics. I suspect he
Patrick
is taking care of that all on his own.
Colligan
What I want to do is remind everybody of those days before the
2009 election, when a majority of Law Enforcement supported
(and later voted) for the current governor. Overall, we are a very
odd group of voters. As Tony Wieners used to say, we are conservatives with Democratic needs, and I’m not sure there is a better description for us. So we were given
this candidate back in 2009 from “Law Enforcement,” and with a “sacred trust”
letter to us all if he wins. The rest, as they say…is history.
So now we are looking at a Presidential election in 2016. It’s already down to just
a few viable options on the Republican side, and only one option on the
Democratic side. My ears are open. I hear what you are all saying and who you
seem to like so far, and it doesn’t seem to be the one candidate on the Democratic
side.
I had the privilege to meet Brother Timothy Condon from one of our North
Jersey Locals at the Collective Bargaining Seminar in Atlantic City during the first
week of February. We started to chat about politics. He was kind enough to hand
me a 2011 Op-Ed piece from the Los Angeles Times. Written by Jeb Bush and Newt
Gingrich, it was titled: “Better off Bankrupt.” It’s a Google search away, so take a
peek at the whole thing. But let me give you a couple of the tidbits that Jeb and
Newt seem to agree on:
…This approach begins with a new chapter in the federal Bankruptcy Code that
provides for voluntary bankruptcy by states, a proven option already available to all
cities and towns across America.
….As with municipal bankruptcy, a new bankruptcy law would allow states in
default or in danger of default to reorganize their finances free from their union contractual obligations. In such reorganization, a state could propose to terminate some,
all or none of its government employee union contracts and establish new compensation rates, work rules, etc. The new law could also allow states an opportunity to
reform their bloated, broken and underfunded pension systems for current and
future workers. The lucrative pay and benefits packages that government employee
unions have received…..
Now, doesn’t that sound like a great idea? What I have discovered over time is that
people tend to be a lot more honest than before they become candidates for something. Maybe Gov. Scott Walker from Wisconsin sounds more palatable to you in
2016? I sure hope not!
So thank you Brother Condon. We have to vote smart in 2016, and I hope that
Op-Ed might shed some light on one of your early bets in that race. Time will tell,
and a single candidate will emerge loaded with promises. I’m just going to remind
you once more what that smart guy once said: “Those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it,” because I don’t want to be there, saying, “I told
you so.” d