34. James Carver

When Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano made clear he was seeking $60 million in concessions from county employees to close a $176-million projected budget gap this year, of the five unions that represent county employees, only one had a leader who didn’t bother with the wait-and-see approach. Carver held the police line, vowed that his members have already given enough back and took the county to court after a wage freeze was imposed. And he did all of this while coordinating benefit funds for the families of two officers lost in the line of duty in a five-week span, including a highway patrolman killed in a crash and an elite Bureau of Special Operations officer hit by friendly fire.