New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams plans to introduce a bill under which the City Council would launch its own charter revision commission to review and improve the city’s governing document in the latest move pointing to an ongoing a power struggle between the speaker and the mayor, the Daily News has learned.
The proposal, to be formally introduced Wednesday, stands in contrast to Mayor Adams’ controversial commission this past summer, according to a release. That plan goes before voters in early November.
The speaker said in a statement that it was important to set a new standard after the mayor’s commission “undermined norms of good governance.”
“I look forward to uniting all stakeholders and New Yorkers to advance a process that prioritizes strengthening our city rather than political gamesmanship,” Speaker Adams said in a statement. “The last several months have negatively impacted public trust in city government and it is essential for us to rebuild that critical bond with New Yorkers.”
The announcement marks another chapter in an ongoing tug-of-war between the mayor and the council have over the balance over power in City Hall.
In a challenge to the mayor’s ability to make appointments without council approval, Adams last Spring introduced a bill that would allow the council to expand its ability to block hires for top government posts.
Shortly after that, the mayor launched a Charter Revision Commission aiming at putting new ballot initiatives before voters. Many crticized that as an attempt at blocking the advice-and-consent legislation, which the mayor has denied. The mayor’s proposed changes meant the council’s new law would be delayed in getting on the ballot.
Louis Cholden-Brown, who served as former Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s top lawyer, said Speaker Adams’ latest move is an assertion of the council’s political power — but that it seems like a “blunt sword” to use for that purpose, since a charter revision is a broad, lengthy process.
“It potentially takes longer, is subject to more vagaries and idiosyncrasies, and may or may not, prove what the Council exactly wants,” Cholden-Brown said.
Afetr its formtion, Adams’ commission came under fire for its unusually tight timeline and for being populated with administration allies.
The charter is the city’s defining document, determining the powers and limits of the mayor and City Council. Changes to it are suggested by commissions and presented on the ballot to be approved or denied by voters.
The council’s panel would have up to 17 members, with a majority appointed by the speaker with the mayor, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and each of the borough presidents also appointing members, and meet for about a year, according to a copy of the bill obtained by The News. This commission’s decisions could appear on the 2025 ballot for voters to decide on.
The bill comes as Adams, who is up for re-election in the spring, was charged last month with bribery, wire fraud and secretly soliciting campaign contributions from foreign donors. He has peladed not gulity and is now working to restore confidence in his administration, with several embattled high-level officials leaving his administration in recent weeks.
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