Page 5 - November 2020

CHICAGO LODGE 7
Official Magazine
President’s Report
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE CHICAGO LODGE #7
EXECUTIVE BOARD
JOHN CATANZARA
President
Michael Mette
First Vice President
Daniel D. Gorman
Second Vice President
Fernando Flores
Third Vice President
Rob Noceda
Recording Secretary
Jim Jakstavich
Financial Secretary
Dennis McGuire
Treasurer
Dean Angelo Sr.
Immediate Past President
Sergeants-at-Arms
Nenad Markovich Frank Quinn III Daniel Sheehan
Trustees
Harold Brown John Capparelli Pablo Claudio Frank J. DiMaria David DiSanti Mark P. Donahue Patrick Duckhorn Tim Fitzpatrick Dan Goetz Ken Hauser Tom Lonergan Brock Merck Steve Olsen Monica Ortiz Dan Quaid Ron Shogren Daniel G. Trevino
Field Representative
Andrew Cantore
We have raised our voice
Election results might seem to put a muzzle on the Chicago FOP political voice. But this is the new Lodge 7, and we will not be muffled politically, contractually or in any other realm that can improve working conditions for our members.
Our voice underscores our virtue, and that was abundantly and boomingly clear during this election. The statement we made leading up to Election Day cannot be fully measured by vote counts and victories.
What we’re doing at the Lodge regarding our political action and endorsements is in its infancy. Did we expect to bat 1,000 with our endorsements? Not yet. But we started something that is going to be noticed in two years and three years more than people might anticipate. There’s no doubt that we put down some foundation for speaking out about how we are governed in the city, county and state.
Leading up to the election, I had been asked several times about why the Lodge endorsed so heavy for Republican candidates in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois. Democrats have a major advantage from the jump. They can win many of these races almost by default. But what the Dems are doing for the most part does not seem to be working out too well for our members.
And we’re not blindly supporting every Republican. We backed Democrat Robert Martwick for State Senate in the 10th District. He won by a few hundred votes, and there’s not a doubt in my mind that he doesn’t do that without our support.
People need to realize that we ignited a flame that will not be extinguished and reignited in two or three years. We have a united political effort among members that needs to move forward every day. There will be no break. We will keep strategizing and keep organizing to form more powerful political action. Remember, Rome was not built in a day, but it lasted for a couple of centuries.
Trust me that we will look back on the race for Cook County State’s Attorney as one of those build- ing blocks. Maybe we could have done better with a more dynamic candidate, but it also would have been nice if the state GOP had put a little more effort into that race. People chalked it up to an impossibility that we could take on the machine, but we helped push our candidate to nearly 40 percent of the vote.
Kim Foxx, the machine and the City has not heard the last from us. What Kim Foxx has done to this county, and will continue to do to this county, continues to be a nightmare.
So we have recalibrated our focus. The only way we’re going to change this is from the inside and work our way out. To save the city and the state, the asshats need a punch in the face. The Democrats have ruined my city and my state.
As always, mark my words. We did show during this election what we can do, and that came in the race for state representative in the 20th District. We backed Republican Brad Stephens against ma- chine-funded candidate Michelle Darbro. Illinois Speaker Mike Madigan put a fortune behind her, and even some Aldermen came out for her. I’m sure the speaker is not thrilled that Stephens won, but he must realize that we are not going to see eye-to-eye with him.
This was one of our flags in the sand. O’Brien was the other. We got a split. We have spoken.
Veteran’s way
To all the veterans out there, I salute you. We have devoted much of this issue to recognizing members who have served in the military and continue to serve. Between active and retired, we have members who have served all the way back to World War II. It’s hard to put into words what they have meant to the Department and the communities they have served.
Never having served myself, I always felt like I missed out on something in my life. But it has made me appreciate their sacrifices that much more. What I have learned more than ever in this position is that it’s the sacrifices family members make that often go overlooked. The families of our veterans also have served honorably, and I salute you, too.
We have made a concerted effort to promote a lot of the groups in the FOP who have been taken for granted for their contributions. I think the veterans are a perfect example of those who have not only served the city and its citizens, but many of them get deployed and serve their country. They serve above and beyond everybody else and that deserves to be recognized as often as possible.
I want to give a shout out to the Lodge 7 Recording Secretary Rob Noceda, who chairs our military committee. This is his passion, and the tribute you see in this issue is his baby. We are fortunate to have a couple of Marines on our board, and Rob is the Corps to the core. He took this tribute
JOHN CATANZARA
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2020 5