Concannon Blasts Campaign Finance Board Over Online Candidate Profile

Joe Concannon, who is running against Councilman Mark Weprin on the Reform Line, said he did not believe the city’s Campaign Finance Board properly accommodated his entry into the race.

Concannon, a retired police captain, announced in August that he would run against Weprin after the councilman voted in favor of the Community Safety Act, which takes aim at the NYPD’s “stop and frisk” tactics.

He recently slammed the CFB on the grounds that it did not include his profile on the agency’s website or in its printed voter guide that is distributed throughout the five boroughs.

“We have asked a dozen times that the Campaign Finance Board puts our information on its electronic site,” said Concannon, who previously ran for state Senate on the Republican line against Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside. “They told us ‘no’ and that we’d missed the filing deadline. They told us the cutoff date was June 26, but I told them that petitions are not even due until July 15 for majority parties.”

Matt Sollars, a spokesman for the CFB, said Concannon’s name was included on both the website and in the print guide, but that there was no description of the candidate. He said Concannon registered with the CFB on Sept. 9.

“These are reasonable deadlines that are necessary for us to collect and produce a voter guide that is printed and mailed to every registered voter in New York City,” Sollars said. “Every candidate is afforded the opportunity to submit a statement.”

Concannon said the city’s Board of Elections certified him as an official candidate during the second week of August.

He said he believed the CFB should update his online profile.

“They told us there was nothing they could do about it,” he said. “I have an Internet security firm, so I’m not uninformed. We just want them to put up a photo and five to 10 sentences, which would take just a few minutes. All we’ve ever asked for is a fair chance.”