By Tom Momberg
Joe Concannon, the Republican contender in the race for the eastern Queens City Council seat vacated by Mark Weprin, said he was eagerly waiting to see who his Democratic opponent will be following the primary election on Sept. 10.
Whoever that turned out to be, he said he knows the experience he can offer is unmatched by any of those six Democratic candidates in representing the district that covers Bayside Hills, Glen Oaks, Floral Park, Bellerose and parts of Queens Village.
“I understand, because I have been on the front lines of a lot of need in a lot of different communities across this city,” Concannon said in an interview with the TimesLedger Newspapers. “I have worked in every borough—and in every rat hole this city has developed—but if you want to talk about experience in solving problems in this city, those (candidates) have no idea the dimensions of problems there are and what can happen to families and individuals.”
Concannon said those needs are different in every corner of the city, and in each part of each neighborhood in the Council district he wants to represent. He said as a retired NYPD commander he can best recognize that range in issues.
The GOP candidate who is also a U.S. Air Force veteran and community activist, said one of the most disappointing parts of the election occurred at the very beginning, when the city chose not to hold a special election to fill the seat soon after Weprin left for an appointed position in the governor’s office in May.Though Weprin’s office has still been open for constituent services, Concannon said the communication from his office for those services before he left office, along with public offices around the city, has been lacking.
Concannon said there are two major concerns he would want to address if elected: “I think constituent services is top priority—it should be for any elected official … I’m also not happy with the 16 percent increase in crime in the 105th Precinct. I would want to work with the local commander and borough commander to see what they think their needs are.”
Concannon said the city has taken steps backward when it comes to crime prevention and policing, but that the resources are being put in place to improve the situation.
He said he believes strongly that “broken windows” policing is the best crime prevention work the NYPD can do—actively pursuing quality-of-life offenses such as public urination with tickets and/or jail time.
“This mayor doesn’t know how to manage. If he wanted to change NYPD so much, there is a whole board of commissioners—make it your own. There is a whole board of chiefs—make it your own.”
The GOP and Conservative Party-backed candidate, though retired from the NYPD, currently works with antivirus and Internet protection service Integra Security Systems. He said he used the knowledge he gained while working with the police on its central computer data system ComStat and with the FBI for 15 years to become entrepreneurial in a new security endeavor.
Concannon said he admires the police commissioner for his roll-out of the new policing model in Queens South that added more neighborhood police officers, data-driven models and more training, which he said is ideal for ensuring the safety of both officers and the people they work to protect.
Concannon is a Bellerose native and remains there today with his wife, with whom he has three children and two grandchildren. He has a master’s degree in public administration from CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
