In the City Council district that encompasses the easternmost part of Queens, things have taken a “wild west” turn.
Supporters of Democrat Mark Weprin, looking to swap his Assemblymember’s badge for City Councilmember’s, are charging that “renegade” Democrat Bob Friedrich, running on the Republican line, has been rustling up support by abusing his position as President of the Glen Oaks Village co-op.
Democratic State Committee member Jack Friedman filed an official complaint with the New York City Campaign Finance Board on Friday, October 9, charging that Friedman “may have illegally accepted in-kind contributions from the co-op, a corporation.”
Candidates who accept matching funds from the city’s Campaign Financing System are barred from accepting any corporate contributions, and Friedman insists that Friedrich broke the rules.
The complaint charges that Friedrich had employees distribute a “President’s letter” to the co-op’s 10,000 residents, that was tantamount to a political advertisement, put Friedrich campaign signs in the co-op’s public spaces and banned competitor’s signs from the property.
Friedrich called the charge nonsense. “There were signs for the [three primary] candidates all over the place,” he told The Queens Courier. “There’s no ban,” he insisted.
He admitted sending out a letter after the primary. “The letter announced the primary result and urged people to vote in the general election. I don’t think there’s anybody here who doesn’t know I’ve been running,” he said.
“The letter acknowledged the fact and basically encouraged people to vote, no matter who they plan to vote for,” he reiterated.
Friedrich also challenged Weprin “to clean up your own house,” observing that Friedman was once Chief of Staff for Councilmember David Weprin – Mark’s brother – whose seat he is looking to fill.
Friedrich claimed an “almost identical” situation benefited Weprin.
“Mark Haken, President of Hilltop Village co-op, had his Board of Directors endorse Mark Weprin,” Friedrich charged, saying building porters delivered the endorsement announcement before the primary.
“The only difference is, the Glen Oaks letter… did not… ask residents to vote for any candidate, but to simply come out and vote,” Friedrich said.
He also suggested that Haken’s presidency of Friends of Cunningham Park, an organization that has received state funding from Weprin, could be considered “pay to play in reverse.”
Weprin called Friedrich’s accusations “desperate” and “sad.”
“I didn’t know about the Hilltop Village endorsement; they voted for it,” Weprin said. “As for funding park activities somehow being bad, I don’t know what to say.”
“Bob may have breached his fiduciary duties to the co-op and broken the law; as for the election, he has become irrelevant,” Weprin said, adding, “I’m more concerned about [Conservative candidate] Richard Burns at the moment.”
