Yesterday's election brought with it a mixed bag of results for the candidates that COBA endorsed for the various local races. At the top of the ticket, the Candidate whom we strongly supported for County Executive, former Sen. Jack Martins was defeated by Legislator Laura Curran. This was a hard fought race and I am extremely proud of the effort put in by many of our members and this Union's Board of Governors. We backed Jack Martins as the Law and Order Candidate along with every other Union in Nassau County. Our Union was a widely recognized player in this election effort, and even though our Candidate did not win, everyone who participated should feel proud of the way the members of this Union stepped up, got involved and worked hard for what they believe in.

Moving forward, the work of running this Union and fighting for the rights of our Members will continue and we will work closely with the new Administration come January to improve working conditions at the Nassau Jail and to fix the numerous problems that exist here.

I have spoken with Laura Curran and congratulated her on her victory. She could not have been more gracious, promising to help us turn around the problems at the jail. After the election calms down, we will sit down and plot a course for the future.

Jack Martins asked me to thank our entire membership for all the hard work they put in on this election, and he wishes us nothing but success in the future.

On a different note, 31 of the 36 Candidates that we supported won their respective races, including 18 of 19 seats in the County Legislature. All of the Judges we supported won except for County Court Judge Jerald Carter who lost his re-election bid. Judge Carter is an experienced, intelligent and fair Judge whose loss is a blow to the Judicial System in Nassau County.

The best news on the labor front that came out of yesterday's election is the fact that the Constitutional Convention Proposal was voted down in a huge landslide victory for every Public Employee in New York State. That issue has now been put to bed for another 20 years. All involved should be extremely proud of the job that was done in getting the word out to defeat that proposal.

Moving forward, change is rapidly coming upon us. Rest assured that COBA will be at the forefront of a smooth transition to a new County Administration and we are extremely hopeful that we will have a productive and fruitful relationship with the new County Executive.

Always Yours in Unionism;

Brian Sullivan, COBA President