City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is set to introduce legislation Thursday that would expand local lawmakers authority over the mayoral appointment of commissioners.

The proposed bill would specifically give the Council “advice and consent power” over 21 commissioners. 

What You Need To Know

  • City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is set to introduce legislation Thursday that would expand local lawmakers authority over the mayoral appointment of commissioners
  • The proposed bill would specifically give the Council “advice and consent power” over 21 commissioners.
  • The only way to stop the Council’s move would be for the mayor to create a Charter Revision Commission that could then block the bill from getting onto the ballot. Adams announced a new commission Tuesday night 
  • The mayor insists he should have the final say in who helps him lead the city

According to lawmakers, the bill is about transparency and ensuring the highest standard for those in city government. 

“It’s a good discussion for the public to know to whom their tax money is going to in order to run an agency,” Manhattan Councilmember Gale Brewer said.  

The issue is familiar to Brewer.

In 2019, she supported and helped push through the charter revision that now gives the City Council approval over the Corporation Counsel. 

Currently, the Council holds oversight of appointments at a handful of agencies like the Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Department of Investigation. 

The proposed bill would expand oversight power to some additional agencies like the Department of Homeless Services, but would stay away from the police and fire departments. 

“Advice and consent [are] not new. I don’t think they are bad appointments, I actually think a lot of the mayor’s appointments are very good,” Brewer said. “It makes you think as mayor that you really have to be very careful. It can’t be someone that doesn’t have the qualifications.”

But before such legislation could become law, it would have to precede voters as a ballot initiative. 

The only way to stop the Council’s move would be for the mayor to create a Charter Revision Commission that could then block the bill from getting onto the ballot, which is what Mayor Eric Adams announced late Tuesday. 

The new Charter Revision Commission will be headed by Carlo Scissura, the former CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. He is joined by 12 additional appointees, including former Staten Island Rep. Max Rose and the mayor’s former Chief of Staff Lorraine Grillo. 

City Hall and the mayor disputed the timing of the announcement. 

They argued they had been planning to create a commission since early May after meeting with mothers in Harlem who were concerned about public safety.

“We met with them at Borough Hall. They invited Councilman Yusef Salaam. They wanted him there also because it was around public safety. We met at Borough Hall, they asked us to do a commission and this is in response to their ask,” the mayor said on Wednesday at an unrelated event. 

In notes obtained and reviewed by NY1 of the May 2 meeting with Harlem community members, there are two instances in which community members called for a commission focused on public safety. 

In the end, the mayor insists he should have the final say in who helps him lead the city. 

“I don’t wanna have to sign off on who she wants as a chair. Her chairs are equivalent to my commissioners,” the mayor said. “It’s an imbalance if you’re saying that, ‘Eric, we’re going to pick your commissioners and hold you accountable.’ That’s just an imbalance.”