Advice-and-consent: City Council submits legislation for ballot referendum on checking mayoral appointment power

The City Council on Thursday officially submitted its legislation to expand its approval power over mayoral appointments to the city Board of Elections — essentially daring the Adams Administration’s Charter Revision Commission to block the measure before an Aug. 5 deadline.

The action clears the way for the legislation to be created as a ballot referendum which New Yorkers will vote on, yes or no, in the Nov. 5 general election. But that could be upended if the Charter Revision Commission negates the legislation by passing its own ballot questions by Aug. 5.

If enacted by the voters, the “advice-and-consent” legislation would greatly widen the council’s power to approve or reject mayoral appointees to vital city agency leadership posts. The council passed the legislation last month by a 46-vote supermajority, but is fiercely opposed by Mayor Eric Adams, although he declined to veto it earlier this month.

“We are gathered here united as a legislative body to announce that today we are filing a ballot question with the Board of Elections for voters to decide in November’s general election on whether to expand advice and consent for 20 additional agency commissioners,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said, during a July 18 news conference.

Because the proposal would change the City Charter, it must be approved by New York City voters via a ballot referendum during an upcoming election.

The speaker argues the legislation is a good government measure aimed at increasing transparency and public input for mayoral appointments. It is also meant as a safeguard against individuals who “lack the qualifications” and “fall short of ethical standards” from being tapped to lead city agencies, she said.

“Our commissioners served the people it’s only right that the public have insights, transparency and protection for confirming the leaders of governmental agencies,” the speaker said.

The legislation grows the council’s current advice and consent power from just two agency heads, those for the Department of Investigation and the corporation counsel — who leads the Law Department, to 20 more. The expansion includes agencies like the Departments of Housing Preservation and Development, Health and Social Services.

Mayor Adams has said his opposition to the bill stems from a concern that putting more of his appointees through council approval could leave agencies rutterless for long periods and politicize the process. The council disputes both of those arguments.

If the Charter Revision Commission submits its own ballot questions by Aug. 5, it will prevent the advice-and-consent legislation from appearing on the ballot. That is due to a state law, which gives proposals advanced by a mayoral Charter Revision Commission predence on the ballot over those that come from the City Council.

Mayor Adams has said the commission was not formed solely to block the legislation from moving forward, insisting the panel was in the works for at least a month before he announced it in May.

Furthermore, Adams says he convened the commission in response to concerns from a group of community advocates, including newspaper publisher and education lobbyist Mona Davids, over the council’s handling of public safety and the financial impact of some of its bills.

The commission published a report last month on possible proposals to submit for the ballot. It included recommendations like instituting a process to assess the fiscal impact of council bills far earlier in the legislative process and inviting more community engagement specifically when crafting legislation around public safety.

The speaker contended the commission is unnecessarily “rushing” its work, as its term runs through next year, in order to preempt the council bill.

“The commission term runs until Election Day next year, and has no legitimate reason to rush its work and present new proposals for this election day unless, unless it simply is being used as a vehicle to disenfranchise voters,” Speaker Adams said.

Rather than responding to the council’s Thursday action, mayoral spokesperson Liz Garcia referred a reporter back to remarks the mayor made last week, in which he said he is no longer engaging in a “back-and-forth” with the council.

“I have discovered that this administration’s success has been overshadowed by all of these back-and-forth debates,” the mayor said. “I’m just not doing that anymore. You know, I’m giving you guys 8 days of coverage on a bill [that] the average New Yorker when I walk down the block, they’re stopping me in the subway station and saying ‘hey, Eric what are doing with the advice and consent bill?’”

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