The City Council is moving forward with a bill to repeal Mayor Eric Adams' policy of requiring people to fill out paperwork in order to meet with the head of the mayor's administrative department.
The bill, introduced Thursday, marks the latest phase in an ongoing power struggle between the two chambers.
Rep. Lincoln Ressler (D-Brooklyn), who is introducing a bill to repeal Adams' policy, argued that the bill would only politicize the operation of government.
“For elected officials to work with city agencies to solve neighborhood problems and address serious and urgent health and safety concerns, they must fill out paperwork so the mayor's political campaign can determine who he wants to help and why,” Ressler blasted during a City Council hearing Thursday.
Ressler said the bill would also clarify that the City Charter “gives agencies complete authority to advise and assist elected officials without prior approval.”
He added that 37 City Council members had signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, giving it a “veto-override supermajority.”
“I believe this is the first time in the history of the Legislature,” Ressler said during a legislative hearing of the State and Federal Government Operations Committee.
When City Hall introduced the requirement to fill out the form in April, councillors were outraged, calling it “bureaucratic nonsense”.
The Adams administration said the policy will help streamline requests and communications and improve the efficiency of city government.
A spokesman for the mayor's office argued Thursday that Ressler's bill is too broad and would block many written requests, including those made under the Freedom of Information Act.
“No one wants government to operate in a vacuum, which is why the 'Elected Officials Engagement Form' has been so successful in coordinating agency responses and establishing collaboration between agencies and representatives at all levels of government,” the official said.
According to city hall, nearly 450 requests have been submitted by council members and their staff so far, which equates to 1.5 requests per person per month.
But Ressler argued that the numbers don't reflect the number of times the 51 council members actually spoke with city agencies, meaning the form is meaningless.
“I'm hassling city agencies and needing information from city agencies 1.5 times every 15 minutes, which means no one is filling out this form and it's not working,” Resler said.
“What's clear is that some elected officials who are close to the administration are not required to submit forms, while other elected officials have been instructed to do so,” he added.
The two-page Google form asks council members 14 questions before speaking with city officials, including the purpose of the request, their office address and phone number.
At the time the application was announced, the mayor's office was at odds with the City Council over legislation and the city's budget.
Tiffany Raspberry, Adams' director of intergovernmental relations, said in written testimony to Thursday's hearing that the “Request for Elected Official Engagement” was simply about “efficiency” and not intended as a power grab, as some on the council have suggested.
Her absence follows her dramatic walkout from another City Council hearing in June on a bill that would increase council members' oversight of mayoral appointments.
“Maybe she's tired of us,” Ressler joked, calling Raspberry's claims of increased efficiency “disingenuous.”
“This form is simply a hindrance, and the claims about efficiency are disingenuous and false,” Ressler said.
