New bill aims to curb Adams control of local ballots
Two state lawmakers are introducing a bill to limit some of the power given to NYC Mayor Eric Adams. This bill has to do with local elections and the ballot proposals that New Yorkers can vote on. Now, Adams has the authority to bump such proposals off the ballot if he chooses, but if passed, this bill will no longer allow that. FOX 5 NY’s Morgan McKay takes a closer look at why the bill’s sponsors say this is so important.
NEW YORK – The power struggle between embattled NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council is a fight now making its way up to the state level.
Over the summer, the city council passed a bill that would allow them to block certain appointments made by the mayor – giving them the ability to have oversight hearings on more than 20 commissioner appointments at agencies like sanitation, children services and homeless services.
Commissioners of Police, Fire and City Schools would be exempt.
This bill was then set to go to voters this November as a ballot proposition – voters would make the ultimate decision on whether to diminish the mayor’s powers.
However, at the same time this bill was going through, the mayor quickly formed a charter revision commission. According to city law, the city council’s ballot proposals and the mayor’s can’t be on the ballot at the same time and the mayor’s proposals take precedence.
Council members have accused the mayor of doing this to block their oversight power amendment from going on the ballot. A claim that the mayor has denied.
The commission met for only 2 months and was made up of some of Adams’ closest allies.
They proposed 5 charter revisions that voters will see on their ballots in less than 2 weeks in November – ballot propositions 2-6.
A majority of council members and some advocacy groups are urging voters to vote against these proposals that would make a variety of changes that they say would weaken the balance of power.
“He invented five different propositions to put on the ballot, which I don’t think anybody’s even read, forget understood, but I don’t even get the sense he cares,” State Senator Liz Krueger said about Adams. “It’s just a way to bump out other proposals, effectively killing charter proposals that go through a democratic process.”
Senator Krueger and State Assemblyman Tony Simone are introducing a state bill that would do three things.
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What’s in the bill?
First, it would remove the mayor’s authority to bump amendments off the ballot.
Second, it would require that charter review commissions be formed at least 6 months in advance of proposing a proposition to go on the ballot to allow for lengthy public hearings.
And third, the bill would clarify a potential legal snaggle in the existing law – to allow for two opposite provisional changes to be on the ballot at the same time – even if they conflict with one another – and allow the bill to get the most votes to be the one that passes.
“Right now, the lawyers say it’s very confusing,” Krueger says. “So we put into this bill whoever gets the most votes, if people like version one and that gets the most votes, that’s the one that passes. If people like version two and they vote for that one, that’s the one that passes.”
City Council members have been highlighting the importance of have expanded “advice and consent” powers – in other words oversight of appointments – by pointing to the recent exodus from Adams’ administration following the mayor’s five count- indictment.
FILE – Voting booths are ready at the Ames Public Library on primary Election Day on June 7, 2022, in Ames, Iowa. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
More than 10 top level officials have resigned or been pushed out following raids on their homes by federal agents – including multiple commissioners appointed by Adams.
Council members say voters looking for an example of how their oversight powers have worked successfully need to look no further than the City Department of Investigations.
In 2019, voters approved a charter revision that gave the city council the power to approve two appointments made by the mayor – the Department of Investigations Commissioner and the Corporation Counsel.
When Adams’ indictment was unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, they announced that they had been working in partnership with the city’s office of investigations.
Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber even speaking at the SDNY press conference about her office’s investigation into the mayor.
“This is about good government, ” Assemblyman Simone said. “This is about empowering New Yorkers. This is about making sure that guardrails in our democracy, which we all know as of right now, with the national election, city state of elections, we need these guardrails.”
The earliest this state bill could be voted on would be next year when state lawmakers return to Albany for the start of session in January.
Lawmakers will be holding a press conference on Monday on the bill.
A spokesperson for Adams said,
“We believe that all New Yorkers should be able to weigh in on the laws that govern them. Through the Charter Revision Commission, a procedure codified in the city’s laws, we gave working-class New Yorkers from all walks of life the opportunity to share their vision for a safer, more affordable city. We are excited for millions of New Yorkers to flip their ballots and weigh in on these proposals this November. We will review any bill if and when it is introduced.”
