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Superior Officers Association

Police Department of Nassau County, New York

 

Police Department County of Nassau, New York

Superior Officers Association Police Department of Nassau County, New York -  

Superior Officers Association Police Department of Nassau County, New York

 
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Brian Hoesl,  First Vice President
E-mail: Nassoa@aol.com

Superior Officers Association Police Department of Nassau County, New York

                  

 SOA Elections

 At the May 6th open meeting we held nominations for the entire SOA Board of Governor’s.  The Executive Board was unopposed so Gary, Jim, George Tony and myself have all been re-elected to another 3-year term.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the membership for their continued support and pledge to you that we will do our utmost to live up to your expectations.  We do have contested Trustee elections in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th precincts so for members in those commands you should have received ballots by the time you are reading this.  We ask you to take the time to return your ballot so that your voice will be heard.

 

Legislation Update

 To say there has been some turmoil in Albany over the last few months would be an understatement, but I am happy to report that things are slowly returning to normal.  With the passage of the budget we are finally starting to see movement on our bills and hopefully I will be able to report to you soon that some of our bills are headed to the Governor’s desk.  It is difficult for me to predict how Governor Paterson will view our agenda except to say that many of the bills that we will be sending him he did approve when he was a member of the NYS Senate.  Unfortunately, however, he is wearing a different hat now.  The predictions are that the state budget will show a year-end deficit and because of this I am sure that any bill with a high fiscal note will be a tough sell.

 

We are remaining optimistic that we will be able to salvage something from this abbreviated session and have already made some accommodations on bills that were previously vetoed to respond to the objections raised by prior administrations.  In addition to the bills that I have previously discussed in this column we have just introduced legislation in an attempt to get credit for individuals who were members of the NYS Retirement System prior to their police service.  I will keep you updated as to the progress of these bills as they are still very fresh and need some fine-tuning.

 

 PBA Elections

 I would like to take this opportunity to wish Gary DelaRaba all the best in his retirement.  For those of us who have been around for a while there was no need for you to point out the many things that you and the PBA Board have accomplished through collective bargaining while you were in office.  It was because of your contracts that the SOA was able to incorporate many of those benefits into our own agreements.  I have been actively involved in police unions for 29 years and I will say publicly that you will always stand out in my mind as one of the most successful police labor leaders that I have encountered.  That is not to say that I never disagreed with you on issues but no one can ever question your dedication to your members.

 

I would also like to congratulate Jim Carver, Pete Paterson and Bob Rettinger on their recent election to, and elevation in, the PBA Executive Board.  I know all of these guys to be personable and hard working union leaders and hope we continue to enjoy a working relationship with them.

 

But while on the topic…

I will be the first one to tell you when you have done a good job but I cannot sit silent when something is just plain wrong.  I hate to resurrect the topic but the PBA newsletter coverage of  “Lockergate” was just so over the top that I have to say I found it embarrassing.  I guess it comes from the theory “just throw everything at them and see what sticks”.  I really am not sure what happened in the 5th Pct, but I think there may have been opportunities to diffuse the situation on both sides that were not followed through on.  But the newsletter coverage was no more than a character assassination of Frank Kirby in print.  I worked with Frank in the 3rd and while he could be a tough boss he was never one that I found would not compromise.  Unfortunately compromise takes two parties who are willing to put aside their personal differences and look for ways to get the job done.  That did not happen there and the constant criticism of him in print insured that it never would.  If the PBA feels the need to take action because of alleged contract grievances I perfectly understand but the rhetoric that accompanies it does nothing to foster a good working environment. 

 The rhetoric continues in the most recent issue of the PBA newsletter and now it is the SOA Executive Board that is being blasted by the 2nd Pct Trustee, Ken Cortes.  This article has to do with our attendance at a “last day” party for a retiring 2nd Pct Sergeant.   We were scheduled to hold a Pct meeting with the 3rd & 2nd Pct Supervisors on the same date as this party so we were asked if we could hold our meeting at the same place as the “last day” party.  That was our mistake, but the persons who made that decision did it with the best of intentions.  I don’t know about you but every “last day” party I have attended in recent years the retiree usually picks up at least part of the tab.  This was our understanding going there and our intention was to pay for the supervisors that attended because of the Pct meetings so the honoree would not get stuck with the tab for members we invited.  That was it; we were not trying to exclude anyone.  I do not know of a time when any union, PBA or SOA, pays for someone’s last day party.  Unlike Kenny, I stayed for about three hours and during that time I never saw a dollar on that bar.  I assume everyone was on a tab.  I know we bought drinks for a lot of the cops there. If someone was paying for their drinks I never saw it but I cannot say whether it did or did not happen.  If there was a problem and Kenny had mentioned it to me before he left we would have corrected the situation.   What irritates me about this is that, after reading Kenny’s column, it is hard to believe he is talking about the same incident that I was present at.  In my opinion the purpose of his column is nothing more than to stir up the members and show them and the PBA Board that he is able to criticize the “bosses”.  I say this because Kenny was told the day after this incident what our understanding of the party was.  I guess he felt we were lying to him, because to me, it would seem to be a reasonable explanation of a misunderstanding on our part.  I also related this incident to their Executive Board.  You would think that it would end there but I guess that would be asking too much.

 So what do we do about this?  Should we start a section of the Gold Shield entitled “Bad Cops” and every time a P.O. violates the rules or screws up we list his name to publicly criticize him?   Ridiculous, isn’t it?  But don’t you sometimes get the feeling that is what they do?  I will agree with one thing I read in the “Lockergate” coverage, not saying whether it did or did not happen, but someone commented that the C.O of their Pct. never thanked the cops for the job that they do.  Well, I do agree that everyone likes to get thanked once and awhile.  But let me ask you this, when is the last time you ever saw someone thank a supervisor in the PBA newsletter?  Can’t say a recent example comes to mind.  I spend 15 years as a uniformed sergeant in the 3rd and 5th Precincts before being elected to this position.  There was not a day that went by that some supervisor, myself included, was not taking care of something for a cop, and I do not think I have to explain that to all of you.  So just remember, the next time you hear the words “Sarge, can you do me a favor”, remember how you will be thanked for it! 

  

As always, any questions on any of the above items please call me at the office or email me at nassoa@aol.com

 

 Winter 2008 article ...........

Albany Report

 

January, as always, marks the opening of another Legislative session in Albany.  We are presently preparing the program for our committee. Our priority legislation will be the Heart Bill, the Discipline Bill and a bill to increase the cap for Tier II members to the full 75% currently enjoyed by Tier I members.  These bills are in addition to a host of other pending legislation, which cover everything from increasing retiree pensions to better reflect the cost of living to mandating soft body armor replacement.  In addition to lobbying for the bills that we introduce we will also spend a considerable amount of time lobbying against bills that we believe are obstacles to effective law enforcement or attempts to diminish your benefits.   As always, nothing will be easy but we will make every effort this year to achieve our goals.    

 

PEC Breakfast & the NYS Retirement System

 While in Albany I am constantly attending functions as your SOA representative.  Just this past week I attended the annual PEC breakfast in the Empire State Plaza.  The New York State Public Employees Conference hosts this breakfast for the members of the NYS Legislature.  We have been members of PEC for the last 3 years and our President, Gary Learned, serves on the Board of Directors. PEC represents nearly 1.5 million public employees in New York State and is a powerful lobbying voice in Albany.  Under the leadership of its president, retired NYC Corrections Captain Peter Meringolo, this organization has become a major force in Albany politics. This year, once again, both the Majority & Minority leaders of the Senate and Assembly addressed us.  In addition to numerous members of both houses our new state Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli, also attended and spoke to the Conference.  He seemed to have nothing but good news to report about our pension system, from total assets of $150 Billion to the overall health of our plan, currently funded at 104%, one of the highest ratings in the country.  One reason our fund, with over 1 million members, remains so fiscally strong is the fact that our system has a sole administrator and is therefore isolated from much of the politics that plagues other states when administrations raid their fund to cover deficits.  Comptroller DiNapoli publicly pledged to us that our funds would be safe from any governmental interference and those of us who know Tom from his many years as a NYS Assemblyman know that he is a man of his word.  Hopefully his pledge to assist us with signing into law a functional Heart Bill will come to fruition in the near future.   I do not think the Governor could have appointed a better advocate for public employees to the Comptroller’s office than Tom DiNapoli.  We wish him continued success in his new position.

 

New Dental Insurance Plan from Healthplex

By now you should all be aware that a new dental plan from Healthplex is in effect.  The deadline to switch coverage from the fully comprehensive plan to the reimbursement plan (or vice-versa) has been extended to February 15.  If you wish to switch make sure you contact P&A prior to that date.   What some of you might not be aware of is the improvement in the reimbursement plan that permits you to use one of Healthplex’s PPO dentists (Preferred Provider Organization) to receive discounted dental care.  How this works is that if you use one of the PPO dentists listed on Healthplex’s website, of which there are several hundred on the Island, you will be charged at a discounted rate.  According to Healthplex you need only to inform your dentist that you are a Healthplex subscriber and that you are entitled to their discounted rates.  There are no additional forms to prepare and you would just submit your claims as usual to receive reimbursement.  This should lower your out-of-pocket expenses somewhat.  To find a list of PPO dentists go to their website  ( www.healthplex.com ) and check the box “find a dentist”.  Then, on the next screen, click the box that says “if you are NOT ENROLLED in a plan administered by Healthplex”.  You will then pick Option 3 (PPO Plan), enter your zip code and you will be presented with your choice of dentists.  Hopefully it will add some improvement to our current plan.  In addition there is supposed to be a slight increase in the rate of reimbursement if you use an out of network dentist.

 

Contract Negotiations

 With the recent issuance of the DAI arbitration award we will soon start our contract negotiations.  We have spent a great deal of time preparing for the upcoming session but fully recognize that there will be some tough negotiations ahead.  All we can pledge to you is that we will do our best to address the concerns of all of our members and attempt to bring back to you an acceptable award.

 

As always, any questions please call me at the office or email me at nassoa@aol.com



  HELPFUL LINKS FOR UP-TO-DATE
LEGISLATION

 http://www.senate.state.ny.us/

  http://assembly.state.ny.us/ 

  http://sobb.com/states/newyork/nylinks.html

 http://www.state.ny.us/

Superior Officers Association Police Department of Nassau County, New York

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