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NYC Council sets the stage for another power struggle with Mayor Adams
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Nov 14, 2024
Modified Nov 15, 2024
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Michelle Bocanegra
Published Nov 14, 2024
Modified Nov 15, 2024
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The New York City Council is pushing ahead with a plan to place new ballot questions before voters, opening another front in its ongoing conflict with the mayor over city governance
City lawmakers voted this week to form another charter revision commission after Mayor Eric Adams’ ballot proposals to rein in some of the Council’s power won voters' approval earlier this month.
Speaker Adrienne Adams, the bill’s sponsor, would put nine appointees on the commission, and would have the authority to name its chair. The mayor, public advocate, comptroller and each borough president would also each get one appointee.
The commission assembled by the mayor earlier this year put forth two measures to alter aspects of the Council’s lawmaking process, including how it passes bills on public safety. The vote this week is another bureaucratic chess move in a yearslong conflict between the mayor and the city legislature.
“This commission will have the time and mandate to focus on the long-term well-being of the city, not just short-term political gains of any current officeholder,” Speaker Adams said before the Council's vote on Wednesday.
The speaker said she was not looking to replicate the “rushed” process undertaken by the mayor’s commission. The mayor’s historic indictment on federal corruption charges has made him more vulnerable to political opponents than past mayors.
Speaker Adams said the Council’s commission would engage the public and develop proposals intent on restoring confidence in municipal governance “through an open, transparent and inclusive process.”
Spokespeople for the mayor did not immediately comment.
This summer, the commission assembled by the mayor adopted five proposals to go before voters in the November election. Four of them passed. Residents voted to expand the sanitation department’s powers and change elements of the Council’s legislative process, imposing fiscal reporting requirements for each bill and creating a new timeline for public safety-related bills affecting the police, fire and correction departments, among other things.
Voters also favored additional requirements related to planning around the city’s infrastructure. The only ballot provision that failed to get voters’ approval was one that would have enshrined the role of the chief diversity officer in the charter, changed the municipal authority in charge of film permitting, and combined two archival agencies.
In late October, Mayor Adams was asked about the Council’s plan — which was first reported by Gothamist — and subsequent rumors that he was planning yet another commission to stave off the Council.
“You know, in those other places, in other countries, you don't have those checks and balances,” Mayor Adams said at the time. “So, if the speaker wants to do a commission, based on the law she could do that. If we want to do one, based on the law, we can do that.”
Tagged
new york city
Mayor Eric Adams
City Council
Politics
Michelle Bocanegra
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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