Q&A
Regarding Mayor Eric Adams administration's respect for democratic governance
1:19:23
·
164 sec
Council Member Adams raises concerns about the Adams administration's respect for separation of powers and democratic governance.
- Adams cites examples of the administration disregarding duly passed laws by the council
- Mastro affirms that the executive branch's role is to implement duly enacted laws
- He emphasizes his commitment to being proactive in avoiding conflicts between branches and respecting the rule of law
Adrienne E. Adams
1:19:23
bud.
1:19:24
THANKLIDE.
1:19:25
MATTER SPEAKER WILL DO.
1:19:26
THANK YOU.
1:19:27
THIS IS MY FINAL LINE OF QUESTION MR.
1:19:29
MASTER WITH WHY I TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUES.
1:19:32
IN SPEAKING OF NORMS OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND SEPARATION OF POWERS, THIS administration has shown a unique lack of respect for the separation of powers between government branches and Democratic governance, taking some extraordinary action to disregard duly past laws by the council and the executive branch's obligation to implement the laws.
1:20:01
Most recently, the administration used the declaration of a state of emergency on the day before a law to ban solitary confinement was set to take effect simply to block it.
1:20:14
The mayor called a state of emergency, quote, a tool in his toolbox.
1:20:19
Incentuating that declaring a state of emergency is an is an instrument of the executive branch to be used in the legislative process.
1:20:30
Do you agree that the executive branch's role is to implement laws that are duly enacted.
Matthew W. Daus
1:20:36
Yes.
Adrienne E. Adams
1:20:41
Do you wanna explain that?
1:20:42
Explain your yes, please.
Randy Mastro
1:20:46
I I've answered this in writing to the council because a similar question was put to me in writing, and I said that best practice, best course.
1:20:57
If the council passes a law and I and I and I said this to a number of you when we met, best practice.
1:21:05
The council passes a law or overrides a barrel veto if the administration thinks that it is illegal, It's incumbent upon the administration to go to court to block that legislation and have it declared illegal.
1:21:18
It's not to wait.
1:21:20
It's not to wait to be sued.
1:21:22
It's not the way I will conduct myself as corporation counsel.
1:21:25
When there are issues like this, I want to be crystal clear.
1:21:29
I will be proactive in advance about trying to avoid the conflict as those issues are percolating, to see if there is common ground, and to try and bring the two sides of the hole together.
1:21:41
I am a communicator, and I will do that.
1:21:43
And I will do that in a way the court counsel have never done before because I will try to participate on the front end when conflicts are percolating up.
1:21:52
But if they are an impasse, and you pass the law or override Avito, that's the law.
1:21:58
And I will tell the administration that that at that point, the administration should be going to court, not ignoring the law.
1:22:06
End of story.