Article from The Chief
Patrick Cullen will ease into a third term as president of the New York State Supreme Court Officers Association after he and his slate of officers were nominated for the posts without opposition at the union’s executive-board meeting April 17.
Along with Mr. Cullen, Patrick O’Malley will continue as first vice president and Anthony Vazquez as second vice president of the union, which represents 2,200 active and retired members. All three will begin three-year terms July 1.
‘Honor to Represent Them’
“It’s an honor to represent my brothers and sisters in the union,” Mr. Cullen said a day after the nominating meeting, held at the Bronx County Hall of Justice.
PATRICK CULLEN: Show of faith by members.
He said there remained “a lot to accomplish,” particularly with regard to staffing.
Mr. Cullen and Dennis Quirk, the president of the New York State Court Officers Association, last year engaged in a protracted battle with the state Office of Court Administration and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore in their push for more uniformed personnel. The two union leaders said low staffing levels were contributing to an increase in incidents within the courts, although OCA officials disputed that claim.
A class of about 220 Court Officers will graduate in the coming weeks and be ready for deployment throughout the city June 14, “a direct result of our campaign for safer courts,” Mr. Cullen said. The graduating class is the largest in recent memory, he said.
‘Shine Light on Hiring’
The union, affiliated with the AFL-CIO and the International Longshoreman’s Association, represents court officers in New York City and Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange and Dutchess Counties.
“We want to continue to shine a light on the hiring practices,” he said. “We have an eye toward battling the anti-labor forces out there.”
Mr. Cullen was first elected SCOA president in 2013, following an investigation into allegations that union officers had been misusing union credit cards. The incumbent president at the time, Richard Krulish, citing personal reasons, did not run for election to a full term. Mr. Krulish, formerly a vice president of the union, had taken over from John Strandberg, who resigned in 2012.