Three days after his City Council hearing, Mayor Adams’ nominee to serve as Corporation Counsel has yet to provide a single instance, current or historical, in which he believes that the law department should support another city entity – such as the City Council or Public Advocate – rather than the mayor. While questioning nominee Randy Mastro, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams offered until Friday night, 72 hours after the hearing, to provide an example when Mastro was unable to provide one at the time. Video of the exchange is available here.
“After an 11 hour hearing, three days of waiting, and many months since the mayor’s appointment was first floated, we have not yet heard a single example of an instance when the Corporation Counsel – the lawyer for all of city government – would side with anyone other than the mayor who appointed him,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams on Friday. “From responses in the hearing and a lack of responses afterward, it seems clear that for whatever reason, the mayor nominated someone for this role willing to defend the executive in court at all costs, and at the expense of New Yorkers. We cannot have a Corporation Counsel who would stand by and provide legal defense for an administration’s efforts to flout the law. I urge the mayor to finally relent – to listen to not only his fellow elected officials, but the brave testimony we heard on Tuesday – and withdraw this nomination.”
The Public Advocate’s questioning regarding independence from the mayor comes as Mayor Adams is actively refusing to implement several city laws because of his personal and political opposition to the measures, including through legal action. During Tuesday's hearing, Public Advocate Williams pressed Mastro on whether these tactics were appropriate or defensible. Watch the exchange here.
In the months since Mastro was first mentioned for the role and the weeks since his formal nomination, the Public Advocate and others have highlighted extensive concerns with the appointment. Despite these vocal and well-founded concerns, Mayor Adams has continued to push forward the nomination without the support of sufficient partners in government.
The Public Advocate questioned the motivations of the mayor in pushing forward this particular appointment during the Council hearing, saying that “My most cynical concern is that this administration has a record of obfuscation – including around the costs and awarding of contracts, and seeming unpreparedness that has caused real harm at times. As Public Advocate I have to question whether the intended appointment of someone with a history of theatrics and ethically questionable practice of law is a symptom of the same problem.”
Read the Public Advocate’s opening statement at the hearing here, and watch his full exchange with Mastro here.
