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.
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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…
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