When I was first promoted to Sergeant in January of 2016, I was excited to enter a new rank and eager to join another labor union hard at work for its members. Immediately, to my surprise I discovered that our organization had no website or any centralized form of communication with the membership. There was no online place to view our contract, the bylaws, see a list of our health & welfare benefits or even so much as to just download a simple change of address form. As time passed, I learned that the two main forms of communication with the members seemed to be attending General Membership meetings or through group text messages sent via personal cell phones. Honestly, I was shocked. An organization comprised of nearly 200 members, with an annual income well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in membership money and 9 paid executive board members operating in such an antiquated fashion, without something so basic used by nearly every business in industry. It was hard to believe.
Since that time and coincidentally just weeks before the elections for every SBA Board position, a letter was sent to our homes with a link to a "new" website. A website originally purchased in 2009 under the tenure of then SBA President Mark O'Neil and has remarkably remained dormant for 8 years.! A website with little pertinent information for its own members and more material about the Port Authority than about our union itself. Even as we attempt to begin setting our footprint on the political landscape, there were no links to social media of any type. No Facebook, no Twitter, nothing interactive to show any of our new friends vying for political office that we are an active and engaged labor union that are standing right behind them. Having worked on numerous political campaigns myself, I know that these are the most important mediums that campaign managers use to determine our organizations potential worth and activity in the political arena.
On that note, I foresaw this as a problem and purchased this domain name myself in 2016. I opened a matching Facebook page and Twitter account as well. I secured web addresses similar to my own to prevent any duplication or confusion, and even purchased a few others that I thought had some value. I developed this site in just three weeks prior to this election on my own personal time. The cost for all my campaign material was just about the price of one RDOX.
I did all this to send our entire SBA membership one very important message before we elect our next Executive Board. Your vote in this election may be the most important choice you make in your career as a PAPD Sergeant. The people chosen to represent you for the next three years will have a significant imprint on the terms of your next contract. This new deal should span over 8 years retroactively and maybe for half a decade after that. For most of us that may cover the majority of time we will occupy this rank and possibly half of our police careers or more. The experience, knowledge and dedication it takes to be a good labor representative are qualities that take time to develop and cannot be fabricated. I am ready to do this job for you TODAY!!
Finally, a simple question to ponder....I created this all on my own time with a limited budget and resources. What could the Port Authority do if we are not prepared for them??
Please take the time to explore this site thoroughly. There is information here I think you should know before you vote. Please send me any questions you may have through the "contact" icon and I will answer them for all to see in the "Q & A" section on a daily basis.
Stay safe brothers and sisters and I'll see you in the coming weeks!