Polkowitz has the vision to represent
retired members as PFRS trustee
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Following 25 years of service to Edison Township Local 75 and
SOA Local 75A – including stretches as State Delegate and SOA
president – Bruce Polkowitz is looking 25 years down the road for
PBA members.
As a member of Retired Members Local 600, Polkowitz has pur-
sued the opportunity to be the Retiree Trustee for the new PFRS
board focused on the vision that this new system is designed to
achieve.
“My goal is to have this generation fund generations to come,”
Polkowitz declares. “There is no other goal. And with that, we want
to make sure we’re solvent enough to slowly bring back COLA and
ensure that pensions are awarded appropriately.”
Polkowitz has spent a career looking out for the welfare of PBA
members on the job and in the union. Add in academic creden-
tials that include a master’s degree in human resources training
and development from Seton Hall and extensive municipal service
that includes serving as mayor of Franklin Township in Hunterdon
County, and Polkowitz has the credentials worthy of being the Lo-
cal 600-endorsed candidate for PFRS Trustee representing retired
members.
As the Local 75 State Delegate, Polkowitz led negotiations for col-
lective bargaining agreements that still bring reputable salary and
health benefits to members. He continued that record of success as
SOA president from 2008-2015.
And as Polkowitz worked his way up in the Edison Police Depart-
ment from patrol to road sergeant to lieutenant to captain in charge
of operations, he maintained his stature as a
supervisor working for the members. He also
maintained the professionalism that avoided
the maladies that have plagued the department in recent years.
“I feel his experience on the labor side, having negotiated so
many exceptional contracts and developing a relationship with
local officers, coupled with his public sector experience and his
communication skills, give him the entire package,” commented
Joe Kenney, the Local 75 State Delegate whose father worked with
Polkowitz in a patrol unit when they first came on.
His experience in the public sector includes being elected as
mayor in Franklin Township in 2012, where he worked with annual
budgets in excess of $3 million. Polkowitz was an elected member
of the Franklin Township Board of Education from 2004-2007 and
was president of the Edison Township Board of Education from
1995-2001, when he had accountability for a $150 million budget.
Reading through his résumés also reveals that Polkowitz was one
of the founders of the PBA Legal Protection Plan and one of the
core writers of the NJ Attorney General’s Guidelines for the Inter-
nal Affairs Divisions. As NJ State PBA President Pat Colligan noted,
Polkowitz checks all the boxes to be a top-level candidate for the
PFRS board subcommittees that will handle the crucial launch of
the new system.
“Because we have skin in the game, I believe we can improve this
board,” Polkowitz states. “It excites me that we have the opportu-
nity to create a fund with long-lasting endurance and ensure that
whatever we pay out to the people who manage our money is done
fairly and not exorbitantly.” d
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■ OCTOBER 2018 35