BOE: Halloran Was Delinquent On Filings
By ROSS BARKAN
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Dan Halloran
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With Election Day less than a month away, Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) was in hot water with the New York State Board of Elections.
Until Tuesday, Halloran’s old campaign committee, the Committee to Elect Dan Halloran, had not filed five campaign finance reports from his 2009 City Council campaign, racking up more than $3,000 in fines that have yet to be paid. After a published report on Monday indicated Halloran was delinquent on the filings, he subsequently brought them up to date. One late filing from July 2010 was referred to the Albany County District Attorney, according to Thomas Connolly, a BOE spokesman.
Connolly said that even if all fines were paid and filings made, a referral to the Albany DA’s office is no longer within the jurisdiction of the BOE. The referral becomes “something for the DA to evaluate and potentially pursue,” Connolly said.
The BOE originally stated that Halloran missed five filing deadlines, dating back to January 2010, when Halloran was first sworn in after defeating Democrat Kevin Kim in November of the previous year. Election regulators had issued default judgments against Halloran for each absent filing. After a year, board judgments become subject to possible criminal penalties.
Halloran is currently locked in a Congressional race with Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing).
In a statement released by Halloran spokesman Kevin Ryan, the campaign said that the late filings were the result of his 2009 opponent, Kim, “misrepresenting” his filings by spending more money than he said he actually did, resulting in a bonus that should have been paid to the Halloran campaign. The potential bonus cannot be released until both campaign’s audits are complete. Kim’s audit is complete, but Halloran’s is not, according to the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
Once their audit is finalized, the Halloran campaign claimed Halloran will “receive the bonus and pay all remaining bills.” However, no bonus is guaranteed until the audit is actually completed, according to CFB spokesman Matt Sollars. Sollars did confirm Kim surpassed his spending threshold in the 2009 campaign.
“The state filings, which were the subject of the story, are merely post-election update notices while the campaign account remains open,” the Halloran statement read. “The only reason it remains open is to pay out the vendor bills from the bonus that is owed the Halloran campaign from the NYC Campaign Finance Board.”
An earlier statement from the Halloran campaign also blasted his Congressional opponent, Meng, for being several months late in releasing her personal financial disclosure statement. The statement also alleged that Meng has been unwilling to publicly debate Halloran.
“Dan Halloran’s arrogance is dumbfounding,” stated Meng spokesman Austin Finan. “We fully expect the district attorney’s office to follow through with criminal charges against Mr. Halloran and for the councilman to come clean and explain himself to the voters.”
Running in the new 6th Congressional District, which spans from the Cross Island Parkway to Middle Village, Meng won a Democratic primary in June and is favored to win the heavily Democratic district. The election will be held Nov. 6.
Reach Reporter Ross Barkan at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 127 or rbarkan@queenstribune.com.