Mayor Adams and City Council at odds over ballot proposals

NEW YORK (PIX11) — The New York City Charter Revision Commission has released five ballot proposals, further dividing the mayor’s office and the City Council.

One of the proposals would require extra legislative steps for bills that impact public safety, which could dilute the City Council’s power.

The commission would also limit the City Council’s ability to get more say over mayoral appointments.

PIX11 political reporter Henry Rosoff joined a round table with The City reporter Katie Honan and analyst J.C. Polanco to discuss the response to the commission’s proposals.

Adams and candidates for the next mayoral election, including Scott Stringer , don’t want the City Council to have more power. On the other hand, the City Council is calling for more oversight of the mayor’s office.

“The mayor is defending this process. This came after a number of legislative defeats where the City Council got the better of proposed public safety measures. The timing is suspicious. That’s what the council is calling it,” said Rosoff.

“The council has been out there calling this a sham. What the council can and will do is to say that these are bad as it limits what they can do,” said Honan.

“City Council members are great people and mean a great deal in the communities they serve but they serve little districts, much smaller than the mayor’s purview. Many of them are getting elected in closed-party primaries with a few hundred votes, so they come with this ideology to the table that is often to the extreme of what is pragmatic,” said Polanco. “The mayor is dealing with folks that want to do things that make no sense for the city as a whole but for their small district.”

Watch the video player for the full interview.

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