The following is a message from PBA/SOA Presidents Michael Bollard and John Rodriguez:
To our valued supporters,
As representatives of PBA Local #168, your Jackson Township police union, we would like to take a moment to clarify some intentionally misleading and inaccurate information being provided by the Hannum-Trombetta-Hannum campaign.
Firstly, despite the appearance of their advertisement suggesting some Police Union affiliation we have in no way endorsed this campaign.
Secondly, the Ad states that we received 10 new police officers last year. This is false, we were afforded the opportunity to hire 10 officers thanks to the receptive leadership of Mayor Reina and his administration, to include Councilman Burnstein and Council President Kuhn, but due to mismanagement by Chief Kunz only 4 officers were actually hired.
With the continued support of Mayor Reina, Councilman Burnstein, and Council President Kuhn, we were able to enact significant change in the PD to include the addition of Public Safety Director Candido, who has already taken action to ensure such mismanagement does not repeat itself. This is in addition to numerous positive changes Director Candido has enacted during his tenure so far, which also includes cost saving measures to the residents of Jackson Township as well as reinstituting PD statistics that ceased under Chief Kunz.
Lastly, this Ad truthfully states that the Traffic Safety Unit is understaffed with 3 persons assigned, and the value of this unit to the township can’t be overstated, but in full disclosure less than two weeks ago there were 4 sworn personnel assigned and former PBA president Henba was removed (without incident) as the unit’s supervisor and reassigned to patrol by Chief Kunz, bringing the unit down to 3 with no direct supervisor.
We hope this statement clarifies any misinformation being circulated. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you and our community, and best wishes in the upcoming holiday season.
Sincerely,
PBA/SOA Presidents Michael Bollard and John Rodriguez