The President’s Message
Wow! What a Ride!
The 1st Year in Review
NEW JERSEY STATE
POLICEMEN’S BENEVOLENT
ASSOCIATION
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Author Hunter S. Thompson is the writer of my favorite quote of all
time: He certainly had his share of personal issues but once wrote:
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
Michael Pellegrino 6th Vice-President
Domenic Cappella 7th Vice-President
Mark Aurigemma 8th Vice-President
Manuel Corte 9th Vice-President
Mark Messinger 10th Vice-President
Eugene Dello 11th Vice-President
James Crilly 12th Vice-President
Michael Kaniuk Financial Secretary
George Miller Recording Secretary
John Monsees Treasurer
Keith Bennett Trustee
Richard Kott Trustee
Richard Brown Trustee
Bruce Chester Trustee
Margaret Hammond Trustee
Frederick Ludd Trustee
Luke Sciallo Trustee
Frank Cipully Trustee
John Cernek 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
Rodney Furby Sergeant-at-Arms
4
NEW JERSEY COPS
■
JULY 2015
Patrick
Colligan
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside
in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly
proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
Now that certainly would have described some of my trips to Key
West during the past years, but I never would have thought that quote
would cover an entire year of my life.
You all know the story by now. I was supposed to be in a quiet corner of the NJ State
PBA office, answering your pension questions and doing the pension seminar road
show. I enjoyed the work and would have been happy to finish out my career there.
Things happen in life that we aren’t always expecting. Needless to say, I wasn’t
expecting to be sitting at the president’s desk. But I’m certainly glad it happened that
way.
“Wow! What a ride!” certainly sums up our first year. It seems like Marc and I just hit
the ground a few weeks ago. We started in July of 2014, and we were immediately hit
with two tragic line-of-duty deaths and a governor that was intent on disrespecting a
slain teacher’s life and the honorable work of teachers, firefighters and law
enforcement officers that constructed a playground in Long Beach Island in her honor.
For the record, we kept him off the playground that day. We also made a pledge to our
membership to meet every single legislator in six months.
We knew how important it was to reconnect in Trenton after some very
disappointing years from many of our legislators. We soon realized it would take more
like a year and we are only about a dozen short as of today, but we will be done very
soon. Our governor has kept us busy by doing everything but making good decisions
for our state. The pension debacle has compounded; he is pushing police
consolidation as the miracle cure for New Jersey policing and commissioned the pension roadmap that led nowhere good for those of us in PFRS. I’ve only scratched the
surface of our first year, but I know much more will be covered in this issue.
For those that believed in us and showed up for us this past year when we needed
you, I offer you a very sincere “THANK YOU!” For those who haven’t yet, we still need
your help. Trenton Day 2 is in the works, and we have one hell of a big election coming
up this November.
For the kind words everywhere we go, trust me…it really is appreciated. Our successes have certainly outweighed our disappointments, and I’m sure year two will also be
full of curve balls, speed bumps and a lot of great successes too.
God-willing, I will be sitting at the same desk next year, reflecting on year two and
thinking “Wow! What a ride!” d