Mayor Eric Adams’ Charter Revision Commission will vote on its five ballot questions on Thursday, which would then go to city voters this November. 

The vote will mark an end to the fast work of the commission that was asked to recommend changes to the city’s governing document. 

What You Need To Know

  • There have been 10 Charter Revision Commissions called since 1998, nine of which have been called by a mayor and one by the City Council 

  • Commissions have largely been successful with some exceptions. Some of the more notable changes commissions made included establishing ranked-choice voting, changes to the staff at the Civilian Complaint Review Board and creating the office of racial equity 

  • Mayor Eric Adams' commission is set to finish its work once its votes to pass its five ballot questions on Thursday 

It’s almost a legal rite of passage for every mayor.

“Between 1998 and the present day, there have been 10 Charter Revision Commissions. Of those, commissions have been appointed by mayors. One of them was appointed by the City Council,” Anthony Crowell, dean and president of New York Law School, and professor of state and local government law, said.

“A Charter Revision Commission by law is to review the entire charter, but a mayor can certainly indicate areas where they would also like the commission to pay special attention,” Crowell added.  

Adams’ commission was asked to focus on public safety while also looking at other areas.  

But the commission’s timing was controversial as the Council was pushing to increase its oversight of mayoral appointments through a bill known as advice-and-consent at the same time.

City law allows any referendum pushed by the mayor to supplant all other ballot questions.

The maneuver, for some critics, was reminiscent of a commission called by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 1998. 

“There was a City Council proposal on the books that would have led to a referendum on Yankee Stadium that the mayor was opposed to. And to block that from moving convened a Charter Revision Commission on a very short timeline, stacked with close allies and confidantes,” Michael Sisitzky, assistant policy director for New York Civil Liberties Union, said.  

Adams’ commission has also been dogged by concerns over poor attendance and a short deadline. 

Sisitzky noted that commissions that have convened for longer periods of time have led to broader changes to city government.  

“In 2019, the City Council had created that operated over the course of a full year that solicited a lot of input over a variety of issues and made a number of changes including ranked-choice voting, including expanding the composition of the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board,” he said.

Experts in commissions generally agree that most commissions have been successful at getting their ballot questions approved by voters. 

Crowell, who served as counselor to former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, said that in the end it’s voters who will get the final say.

“Ultimately, the voter has not an insignificant amount of time to review any proposals put before them between the time they are filed with the city clerk and the time they are on the ballot in the November election,” he said.

Meanwhile, the City Council’s bill on advice-and-consent will now have to wait for a special election or the 2025 general election to appear on the ballot. 

“One thing we’ll want to watch for is ensuring we’re not stuck in a cycle of another commission that could displace that,” Sisitzky said.