Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was legally acting mayor last week while Mayor Adams went under anesthesia for an undisclosed medical issue — and Williams is now accusing the mayor of violating the City Charter by not informing him.
Adams revealed during his weekly press briefing on Wednesday that after feeling “a real pain” in his side, he underwent a series of tests last week, including one that required anesthesia — making Williams acting mayor during that time.
“Given the new disclosure of the mayor’s time under anesthesia last week, and his office’s failure to inform the public advocate of that fact at the time, it seems clear that this was a violation of the charter,” Williams said in a statement, also saying the mayor was “ignoring city regulations to suit his own purposes.”
The legal technicality under the City Charter meant that the title transferred to Williams while the mayor was under — although First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer took on most of the actual job duties, Adams said Monday.
“My executive order makes clear that if I can’t perform my duties, the first deputy will perform the duties and have the powers. That’s clear,” Adams said, referring to an executive order issued Sept. 26, the same day he was indicted, that authorized his top deputy to take over as mayor if he was temporarily unable to complete his job duties.
Williams said that simply designating certain duties to Torres-Springer “does not constitute the due diligence of a responsible leader, and it does not replace the charter’s language on the continuity of government.”
“Failing to communicate in this case is irresponsible at best and deceptive at worst,” Williams said.
The City Charter mandates that when a mayor has a “temporary inability to discharge the powers … by reason of sickness or otherwise,” the public advocate becomes acting mayor, similar to how the county’s vice president assumes the role of president if the president is temporarily unable to do the job.
It allows the mayor to delegate to a deputy mayor, however, so that the full job duties still remain in the mayor’s office.
But last week, Williams said the mayor’s office had not reached out to him.
“No,” the public advocate said Thursday. “I reached out to them just to make sure that we’re in communication.”
The city’s comptroller, who is next in line after the public advocate was also not notified, said Chloe Chik, Comptroller Brad Lander’s spokesperson.
“Everything we were required to do, we did. I spoke to the first deputy mayor, I spoke to the chief of staff, I spoke to those who needed to do what the executive order makes clear,” Adams said.
It’s unclear for what length of time Adams was under, but he said Tuesday that he took a step back from the limelight at the urging of his son, Jordan, after his doctor told him he’d have to undergo a series of tests.
Louis Cholden-Brown, an attorney and City Charter expert, expressed concern about the fact that the mayor’s office did not inform Williams about his status as acting mayor ahead of time.
“They should have told Jumaane, because if something went wrong, like the mayor ending up in a coma, it would be bad if they just called Jumaane and informed him then,” Cholden-Brown said.