5 days ago
New Yorkers Can't Remove Mayors for Misconduct. That Could Change Soon.
After Mayor Eric Adams of New York City was indicted last year on federal corruption charges, he faced steady calls for his resignation or removal.
He did not resign. And Gov. Kathy Hochul, the only person in New York empowered to force a mayor to leave office, declined to begin removal proceedings.
Now a group of city officials want to create another legal option to kick a mayor out of office.
A Charter Revision Commission, created last year by the City Council, will recommend on Friday that voters be presented with a ballot question to decide whether the Council should be granted the power to begin removal proceedings.
Danielle Castaldi-Micca, the panel's executive director, said in an interview that the city had a 'pretty traumatic year' and there was 'frustration among the public about the existing means of removing the mayor.'
'There isn't a means of local control over this,' she said. 'What we're looking at is creating a means of local control, and there is a high bar because there should be a high bar.'
She said the process would only be used in 'extraordinary circumstances' when a mayor had been accused of wrongdoing.
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