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Good News COVER STORY Year One of the Pat Colligan-Marc Kovar leadership has given some great stories and great hope to the NJ State PBA n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL A year of making headlines – a year to the day, in fact, since Pat Colligan and Marc Kovar accepted leadership of the NJ State PBA – summited with an unforeseen headliner at the state meeting in June. State Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto keynoted the PBA confab in Atlantic City with poignant assertions such as, “We give you credit for holding the people representing you accountable,” and, “In the new state budget, we are fully funding your pension because it’s right for the state of New Jersey.” President Colligan began the meeting by contending that there was going to be a lot less drama than a year ago when, well, we all know what happened a year ago. But the truth is, the furor, the fervor and the dramatic enthusiasm had never been more palpable, at least not in recent PBA adventures. RETIRED MEMBERS TAKE THE LEAD ON PAC DONATIONS PBA a perfect fit for new Salem County Corrections Local Union-Hudson prison regionalization defeated Kaniuk will put the ‘trust’ in PFRS Trustee PBA creates plan to remember wounded officers Local 187A PERC vote confirms PBA is a superior option COLLIGAN AND KOVAR EAGER TO TAKE UNION INTO THE NEXT ERA Year One of Colligan-Kovar provided so much determination that members feel, “We’ve been re-energized as an organization” as East Orange Local 16 State Delegate Elaine Settle commented following the June state meeting. Appraisals from members and others on the first anniversary of the Colligan-Kovar era confirmed that all the work, all the accomplishments and all the sweat has resulted in an incredibly upwardly mobile position for the state’s largest law enforcement labor union. “I think the members were at a breaking point regardless of who was sitting here because they were so affected by the governor and so financially impacted,” President Colligan reasons. “They wanted to see a fight, and as much as they were getting, they wanted even more. We wanted everybody to know that if we get slapped, we will slap back. We’re not taking any unfair criticism from the media, the public and especially the politicians. And I think Marc and I feel very good that after our first year, the membership knows what direction we’re heading in.” Heading into Year Two, a look at the lines that spawned the headlines that made the first year so memorable offers a bridge to a future that promises to be equally exciting and upwardly mobile. If not more so. What a difference a year makes On June 24, 2014, Pat Colligan was introduced as the new Executive Vice President of the NJ State PBA at a state meeting he had to pass up because his daughter was graduating from high school that day. Six days later, when Tony Wieners officially retired, he became President and named Marc Kovar as his Executive Vice President. To say, they had a lot to learn, well, here’s how they said it: “It was like being handed the keys to Macy’s, and all of the sudden you have to deal with payroll, personnel and budgeting,” Colligan says. “We were not businessmen. We were two cops from the detective bureau. We had to learn the business real fast. And it was not a small business.” Kovar recalls those first days as if they were yesterday. “Thank God for the office staff here, because everybody in the office really guided us by the hand,” he explained. “We didn’t even know how to put the alarm on in the building. Some days, I feel like we have been here for 10 years, but that first month I’m not sure we knew what we were doing.” And, oh by the way… CONTINUED ON PAGE 31 www.njcopsmagazine.com n JULY 2015 29