BY KIM GILL
The City Council’s checks and balances power is now limited after New York City voters passed four election proposals Tuesday night, November 5th, 2024. The Councilmembers charge that voters were misled.
Propositions Two through Five on the city election ballots passed along with Proposition One on the statewide ballot on Election day. Members of the City Council warned their constituents about the proposals signaling that they were a power grab by Mayor Adams. They also believed these measures passed because the language written on the ballots confused voters.
City Council Speaker, Adrienne Adams said in a statement, “It’s unfortunate that Mayor Adams’ commission advanced anti-democratic proposals and inaccurately worded questions onto the ballot to mislead New Yorkers.”
Proposition One, which will amend the state’s constitution to protect all citizens against discrimination and enshrine legal abortion passed with over 4 million votes. Propositions Two through Five passed with over a million votes from the city. The latter three will restructure how the City Council operates. Critics of the proposals claim it will give the mayor excessive power.
Mayor Adams convened a Charter Commission to formulate the proposals back in July, which left little time for input.
“I’m just frustrated that the mayor took the opportunity and squandered a moment to bring the Council and the executive together to work with these important issues facing the residents of the city of New York,” said Councilmember Chris Banks of 42nd Council District.
Proposition Two will give the Department of Sanitation more authority to enforce regulations on garbage disposals and ticket street vendors. In East New York, residents already deal with illegal dumping and have been issued excessive tickets because of the fact. According to long-time resident Soheir Hasan, “The dumplings occur at least three times a week and I’ve received two sanitation tickets because of it,” she stated.
“To give this level of enforcement to the administration unchecked, I believe it’s something that’s going to come back to haunt a lot of our property owners and small businesses in the district,” says Councilmember Banks.
Critics are concerned that the other propositions will put City Hall at a standstill. Prop Three gives the mayor authority to submit a Fiscal Impact Statement to go over the budget of a proposed bill before a public hearing can take place. Critics fear this will disrupt the law-making process.
Proposition Four will give the mayor advanced notice on proposals involving public safety, so that he can give his input and hold hearings on the issue. Prop 5 will expand the city’s report on facilities that need expansion and maintenance. It will also require an additional report recording and updating that information every two years.
According to Councilmember Banks, “It’s a waste of taxpayers money and you’re putting extra strain on top of the city workforce to now take these poets that already exist or procedures or processes that relate to certain Council side.”
Proposals Two through Five will go into effect in January 2025.