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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 (
) 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/
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