For the second day running, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams railed against a new online form Mayor Eric Adams’ administration is requesting elected officials fill out in order to meet with city agency heads.
However, the speaker said she does not think the administration introduced the so-called “Elected Officials Agency Engagement Request” form as a move to “stick it” to the council.
The speaker’s Thursday comments, during an unrelated news conference, came after she urged her members to conduct “business as usual” and ignore the new form in a Wednesday email. City Hall wants elected officials — including state and federal representatives — to complete the form in order to access agency commissioners and executives for a slew of requests like district tours, attendance at task force meetings and to take part in interagency meetings.
The speaker said she was never officially notified of the form, although the online form does exist, but noted that such a policy would “gum up” the wheels of government. She added it would get in the way of council members’ “very intimate” personal relationships with agency heads, which allow them to effectively advocate on behalf of their constituents.
“I have encouraged my members to conduct business as usual, because it is the most effective way that we deal with our agencies, our commissioners,” the speaker said. “We intend to continue to do our work to the best of our abilities. The way that our day-to-day is handled, particularly in our district offices, is through the relationships that we have built over the years with our agencies.”
The form has also received a cold reception from numerous council members who said it would make it harder for them to effectively represent their districts.
The policy even drew the protests of NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban during a meeting introducing it last week, according to a report by the Daily News. Caban worried that the form could get in the way of elected officials being in daily contact with NYPD police and borough commanders, the report said.
Speaker Adams also suggested that the form amounts to an overreach by the mayor’s office.
“I have an issue with the executive branch of government issuing policy, so to speak, to any legislative branch of government, I think it’s inappropriate,” she said.
Since the policy came went into effect, the speaker said a couple of council members have told her they already ran into instances where their meeting requests were “bounced back” and they were told to fill out the form.
The mayor’s office insists the form “will allow city agencies to better coordinate their efforts and more efficiently use their time.” They said the mayor has used some version of the form for the past decade — when he was Brooklyn borough president and a state Senator.
Mayoral spokesperson Liz Garcia also said that several elected officials, including council members, are “already effectively using” the process since it was rolled out last Friday.
The speaker stressed she does not believe City Hall introduced the form simply to make life harder for council members.
“The intentions behind it were probably very noble,” the speaker said. “I dare say it has never been tested and it would not work with a 51-member body such as this.”
She added that she would not be open to testing the policy.
While the speaker denied that the form exacerbates already existing tensions between the council and the administration, it comes after many other recent instances where the two sides of City Hall have publicly butted heads. Those include a prolonged battle over the city’s budget, disagreements over how to handle the influx of nearly 190,000 migrants and a legal fight over a slew of laws expanding access to housing vouchers.
