PATERSON — Mason Maher, the unsuccessful GOP candidate for Passaic County Sheriff in 2022, was defeated Friday in his bid for reelection as president of the union for Paterson’s ranking police officers.
Maher, who had held the Superior Officers Association leadership post for more than a decide, finished third in a three-man contest for union president won by Christopher Benevento, a lieutenant who works as a supervisor in the police patrol division.
“I wanted an opportunity to lead, I wanted an opportunity for my voice to be heard,” said Benevento, explaining why he ran for president.
Benevento finished with 52 votes, compared to 11 for Maher, who is also a lieutenant. The other candidate in the union contest, Sgt. David Tanis, received 34 votes.
“Maybe they wanted a change,” Benevento said when asked why he thought his colleagues elected him. “Maybe they wanted younger leadership.”
Maher became the second candidate from the Passaic County Republicans’ 2022 ticket to lose his Paterson police union leadership post after getting beat in the countywide election. Alex Cruz, who lost the county commissioner race two years ago, was ousted as Paterson’s PBA president last June after he served 12 years in that position.
Some members of the department said Paterson cops were not happy that their union leaders were running for political office in 2022 while their labor contracts were unsettled.
Maher, a Paterson police officer since 1993, said he was honored to lead the union for more than a decade, adding that he thought Benevento would do a good job as his successor.
"I will do everything I can to help the transition go smoothly," Maher said.
Benevento, who becomes president effective July 1, praised his predecessor.
“He did an outstanding job,” he said of Maher.
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Who is Christopher Benevento?
Benevento, who is 43, has been a Paterson cop since 2003. His father, Richard, had worked as a Paterson police officer for 28 years before he retired as a sergeant in 2002. Benevento said his mother has been a Paterson school teacher for more than three decades.
“I was proud to promote Chris Benevento to the rank of lieutenant (in 2021) and I am eager to work with him to make our city safer,” said Mayor Andre Sayegh.
Isa Abbassi, the state-appointed Officer in Charge of the Paterson police department, issued a brief statement when asked about Benevento getting the SOA presidency.
“I look forward to continuing my strong support of our members and union leadership as we work together to improve safety in our community and job satisfaction for our officers,” Abbassi said.
A state arbitrator recently issued an order settling Paterson’s SOA contract, which had expired in 2019. The arbitration order provides SOA members 2% annual raises, going back five years.
But the decision provides for limited retroactive pay, which cops said will prompt some long-serving ranking officers to stay on the job for an extra year so the pay hike could be incorporated into their pensions.
That contract will expire this summer. Benevento said his top goal as new president would be resolving the next labor contract “in a reasonable amount of time.”
Benevento is the target of a pending lawsuit filed by the family of a 23-year-old man who fatally shot himself with Benevento’s gun during a July 4 party at Benevento’s home.
The Passaic County prosecutor’s office had described the fatal shooting as an apparent suicide. But the family is contending that Xavier Cuevas-Soto fired the gun accidentally when he found it on a porch at the party.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson ranking cops have tapped a new union leader. Who is Christopher Benevento?
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