By Michael V. Cusenza
It seems like it was just yesterday that Mayor Eric Adams and City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams were beaming and embracing at City Hall after arriving at an agreement on the $112.4 billion Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
But that was June.
On Tuesday, July 22, more than a dozen representatives of the City’s legislative body attended the final public meeting of the Charter Revision Commission at Queens Public Library’s Central branch in Jamaica.
Each Gotham lawmaker testified. As the Queens Daily Eagle noted, “The main argument from the councilmembers is that the existence of the commission’s [16 proposed changes to the City Charter] undermine their ability to put their own ballot measure in place this November. The proposal in question is known as the ‘advice-and-consent’ bill, and would essentially give the council the ability to weigh in on a number of mayoral appointees.”
According to the City Council, “Advice-and-consent is a well-established safeguard of democracy to ensure government prioritizes the public interest rather than those of individuals, which has long been used in many of the nation’s cities and state governments, making New York City an outlier. Advice-and-consent can strengthen the city’s government and representative democracy by ensuring that the appointments for agency commissioners are based on qualifications and the public’s interests, rather than political loyalty or other motivations.”
Stunningly, less than 24 hours after the Jamaica Library event, the commission released its final proposed changes to the charter, also known as NYC’s constitution. The CRC unanimously voted to approve ballot proposals for the upcoming November election.
“On behalf of 8.3 million New Yorkers, I want to thank the distinguished members of this Charter Revision Commission for volunteering their service to our city. This dedicated group of veteran civil servants, former elected officials, community activists, and religious and business leaders brought their vast experience and diverse voices to the table to ensure that our city is working as efficiently as possible for all its residents and delivering a city government that reflects the needs and aspirations of millions of working-class New Yorkers,” Mayor Adams said. “This commission carefully examined our city’s charter, heard from residents across all five boroughs, and approved thoughtful ballot proposals regarding cleaner streets, fiscal responsibility, public safety, capital planning, and minority- and women-owned business enterprises that their fellow New Yorkers will have the opportunity to vote on when they flip their ballots this November.”
Speaker Adams and an overwhelming amount of councilmembers were livid.
“There is no sound reason to short-circuit this process and submit one or more questions to the voters before that time, which would be hurried and underdeveloped. A rushed process would only undermine the Commission’s ability to successfully carry out its stated mission of reviewing the entire City Charter and put forward thoughtful proposals,” Adams said. “I urge the Commission to avoid this detrimental outcome that would risk significant harm to good governance and democracy in New York City.”
The council called out the CRC “for trying to block voters’ rights and undermine local democracy by rushing the development of new proposals that disenfranchise New Yorkers from voting on an existing advice-and-consent ballot question in November. The elected representatives of districts throughout the city had urged the Mayor’s Commission to instead use its full term to fulfill its responsibility, thoroughly reviewing the City Charter and developing proposals for the 2025 General Election with more extensive policy assessment and public engagement.”
Council spokesperson Julia Agos issued the following statement in response to the commission’s final report being released: “This Mayor’s sham Charter Revision Commission has done a disservice to New Yorkers by putting forward rushed proposals that block voters’ rights while undermining democracy and oversight of the Mayor’s administration. The lack of independence of the Mayor’s Commission has made a mockery of what should be a serious process, with their last hearing consisting of commissioners asking testifiers how many votes the Mayor received in the election and inaccurately claiming it was millions. This final report mirrors the commission’s rushed process with it issuing its final report less than 24 hours after this final hearing with hours of public testimony.
“The Mayor’s commission has put forward proposals that impact the Council without engaging us as the entity affected, different from the Council’s legislative process that the Mayor’s Commission has consistently attacked. It has engaged in a legislative process and failed to meet even the most basic requirements for openness and transparency that would be a fraction of the Council’s process. The Council urges this Commission and the Mayor’s Administration to avert this unnecessary and obvious disenfranchisement of voters. Let New Yorkers decide on the existing advice-and-consent ballot question this year instead of continuing with this undemocratic sham.”
“The Mayor’s Charter Revision Commission should undertake a serious and thorough review of the entire City Charter and adequately engage the public—not rush through the process in less than two months just to meet the Aug. 5 deadline to submit questions for this year’s General Election,” Councilman Jim Gennaro (D-Hillcrest) said. “Recent Charter Revision Commissions have taken their time over several months to promote reform by meaningfully engaging the public in the process, but Mayor Adams’ Commission has rushed to alter the City’s Charter in less than two months. The effect of the latter would be to block voters from deciding on an existing proposal to expand advice and consent.”
Councilman Shekar Krishnan (D-Jackson Heights) said, “I am proud to be the first Indian-American elected to the New York City Council and everyday I strive to ensure that the diverse communities of my district are heard and represented when reviewing legislation or negotiating the budget. That is why I am troubled by the commission’s efforts to undermine the will of the communities I represent by using its power to hastily submit ballot proposals and delay voters from deciding whether they want to expand the advice and consent process for commissioners of mayoral agencies.”
Councilman Lincoln Restler (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the Committee on Governmental Operations, State & Federal Legislation, added, “This Commission first met on May 29, 2024 – just over two months before final ballot language must be submitted. No other Charter Revision Commission in recent history has ever operated on such an accelerated timeline. Further, this Commission has conducted only twelve public hearings and forums – short of the 15 that were conducted in 2018 or the 30+ hearings conducted by the 1989 Commission. The initial round of hearings was also announced with little notice or publication, leading to sparsely attended sessions, and the last round of hearings is being held only two weeks before final ballot language is due. Public engagement is critical to the charter revision process, and it is clear that this hastily convened commission is not seeking real public feedback.”
