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Council Member Keith Powers opens the Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Elections meeting
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Council Member Keith Powers, chair of the Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Elections, opens the meeting and provides context for the day's agenda. He introduces committee members, acknowledges staff, and explains the purpose of the public hearing regarding Mark Landis' recommendation for appointment to the Board of Elections.
- Powers notes the unique situation of considering a Board of Elections appointment due to the timing of the primary election cycle.
- He emphasizes the rarity of the committee considering candidates for the Board of Elections and explains the usual process.
- The public hearing is opened pursuant to section 3-204 of the New York State Election Law and Rule 10.6 of the Rules of the Council.
Keith Powers
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Good morning, and welcome to the meeting of the committee on rules, privileges, elections.
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I'm council member Keith Powers, chair of the committee.
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Before we begin, I'd like to introduce the other members' committee who are present.
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We're joined by speaker Adrian Adams, council members Brannan, Farias, Ayala, Hudson, and Brewer.
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I also want to acknowledge and we'll be joined, I think, shortly by others.
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I'd also like to acknowledge the committee counsel, Jeff Campagna, and the committee staff that worked on the appointments that we hear today, chief ethics counsel, Pearl Moore, director of investigations, Francesca Della Vecchia, and deputy director of investigations, Alicia Vassel.
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Today, we'll be holding a public hearing regarding the New York County Democratic Committee's recommendation of Mark Landis for appointment to the board of elections.
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We will then vote on that matter and the candidates we heard at our April 1 meeting.
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By letter dated by a letter dated 03/28/2025 and pursuant to section three two zero four of the New York state election law, the secretary of the New York County Democratic Party filed with the clerk of the council's recommendation of Mark Landis for appointment as a commissioner of the New York City Board of Elections to serve the remainder of a four year term that expires on 12/31/2026.
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I wanna note for the record, is exceedingly rare this committee considers candidates represented by the Democratic Republican Party for membership of the board of elections, and New York City law provides that members of the council of each party have the power to appoint their candidates to the board without interference from members or of the other political party.
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That process takes at least thirty days.
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However, this situation is unique because of the timing of the primary election cycle in which members of the board elections will decide petition challenges.
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Because of that, we cannot leave a seat vacant until the democratic conference is able to act.
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Therefore, pursuant to section three dash two zero four of the New York state election law and rule 10.6 of the rules of the council, I'm now opening a public hearing on this recommendation.