R
VOTE FO L
E
MICHA K
KANIU
2015 PFRS Trustee Election
‘You want your
guy there’
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Vince Foti came to the NJ State PBA Board of Delegates meeting in
Atlantic City on June 23 to deliver a special message.
Most members know Vince Foti, CPA: longtime municipal leader;
one of the most knowledgeable people in New Jersey in financial matters related to collective bargaining; a chairman of the Police and Fire
Retirement Services (PFRS) Board; consultant and confidant to PBA
leaders for more than 25 years. If you know Vince Foti, when he
speaks…you should listen.
“When salary issues like credible salaries come up before the PFRS
Board, you want your guy there,” he told the delegates packing the
Circus Maximus Theater at Caesar’s on this morning. “Send a message
that you are 30,000-plus members strong and vote Mike Kaniuk to be
PFRS Trustee.”
Balloting in the PFRS Trustee Election continues through July 24.
Kaniuk, the Middlesex County Corrections Officers Local 152 State
Delegate, is the NJ State PBA-endorsed candidate in this election. Voting for him takes about as long as it does to sneeze.
“It took me all of 35 seconds on the phone to vote,” Executive VicePresident Marc Kovar announced at the meeting. “There is no more
important election than this one. Get the ballots out, and if you can’t
get to all your members, find somebody on another shift you trust and
get them to deliver the ballots. If you don’t vote, the only one you will
be hurting is yourself.”
Kaniuk has been traversing the state the past several weeks to
attend Local meetings and talk about his candidacy. His visits reveal
much about why he is the right person to represent law enforcement
on the PFRS Board.
He says he has spent much of the time educating members about
how the PFRS Board works and the importance of the issues presented. He says that with everybody he meets, he listens to their stories
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about their interest in pension issues and that is making representing
fellow members personal.
And he says he has been delivering his message.
“I have had the opportunity to explain what’s going on, what I’m
about, how long I have been on the job and how long I have been a
PBA guy,” Kaniuk revealed. “I’ve also been able to confirm that that
they can count on me not taking anybody’s stuff; that I’m not
planning on sitting there quietly and that I will not rubber stamp anything.”
Kaniuk added that members are telling him they are voting for him,
and that he has been meeting a lot of new members whom he has
been able to talk with about the severity of the pension situation. His
platform remains true to the core of the membership: He talks about
how he has been around for a long time, seen a lot of “things” relating
to the pension system and how it’s important to get more involved.
Members are seeing the side of Kaniuk who thrives on representing
both rank-and-file members, as well as the needs of supervisors and
all law enforcement officers. That is why he has added the duties of
Local 152 President to serving as State Delegate for the past 18 years
and NJ State PBA Financial Secretary.
“I’m definitely being greeted with open minds,” Kaniuk says of his
meetings with members. “After we talk, they tell me they never
thought about it this way or that way. I’m trying to let them know that
there are only two cops on this board and that it’s important to have
somebody who understands and represents their interests.”
Clearly, this is personal for Kaniuk. You want to know how personal?
A few weeks ago, he was visiting his mother in the hospital where he
met a fellow PBA member. The officer told him he recognized Kaniuk
from all his campaign materials that have been circulating. And he left
Kaniuk with a message.
“He told me he was going to vote for me,” Kaniuk said.
Every other member should do likewise. d