NYC Council votes to expand lobbying ban on ex-City Hall officials amid ‘revolving door’ concerns

Former apical City Hall officials would beryllium barred from lobbying immoderate municipal agencies for 2 years nether a bill passed by the City Council connected Thursday, sending the measurement to Mayor Adams, who declined accidental instantly whether helium would motion it into law.

Under existent law, elder City Hall officials, similar lawman mayors and chiefs of staff, are barred from lobbying the mayor’s bureau for a twelvemonth aft leaving nationalist service. They tin lobby different metropolis agencies too the mayor’s bureau instantly upon departing nether existing regulations.

The new bill, which passed the Council successful a 39-9 ballot Thursday afternoon, would beef up the instrumentality truthful ex-senior City Hall officials can’t lobby immoderate metropolis agencies for 2 years aft departing. It would besides taxable aggregate positions to the prohibition that presently aren’t covered by it, including City Hall’s main counsel, property secretary, communications manager and intergovernmental affairs director.

In a statement, Adams spokesperson Fabien Levy didn’t accidental whether the politician volition fto Restler’s measure go instrumentality oregon usage his veto pen to effort to artifact it. Levy did lament that the authorities doesn’t taxable elder Council staffers to the aforesaid lobbying restrictions that apical mayoral officials would face.

“From the start, we negotiated successful bully faith, agreeing to the Council’s changes for elder leaders successful our administration. All we asked successful instrumentality was for the almighty enactment unit astatine the Council to not beryllium capable to lobby with impunity and for citywide elected officials to clasp themselves to the aforesaid standards arsenic our administration,” Levy said.

“Oddly, that petition was rejected, and this measure does not bash capable to amended transparency.”

The measure volition automatically lapse into instrumentality aft 30 days unless Adams vetoes it.

The bill’s author, Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler, said helium saw the request for the tightened restrictions aft Frank Carone, Adams’ archetypal main of unit and longtime governmental confidant, started a consulting steadfast upon leaving City Hall successful precocious 2022 and past registered arsenic a lobbyist arsenic soon arsenic his one-year prohibition passed. His firm, Oaktree Solutions, has aggregate lobbying clients with concern earlier Adams’ administration.

The determination sparked interest from morals watchdogs, who argued it exposed a loophole successful metropolis morals instrumentality that paves the mode for pay-to-play successful metropolis government.

Lincoln Restler. (Shawn Inglima for New York Daily News)

“He was the astir almighty idiosyncratic successful the Adams administration, progressive successful the hiring of each cardinal official, progressive successful the policy-making, the fund decisions, the absorption of metropolis authorities and each captious word — and the time helium near metropolis authorities with his caller lobbying practice, helium was legally permitted to lobby 99% of mayoral agencies, 99% of mayoral staff, 99% of metropolis government,” Restler told reporters earlier Thursday’s vote.

“Our authorities contiguous slams the doorway unopen connected the revolving doorway that allows the astir almighty radical successful the mayor’s bureau to lobby their erstwhile colleagues the precise adjacent day,” Restler, a predominant Adams critic, said.

An earlier mentation of Restler’s measure did see a proviso proposing to enforce the restrictions connected “high-level employees” of the Council arsenic good arsenic the astir 3,000 managerial unit crossed metropolis authorities who are connected the alleged Substantial Policy Discretion list.

But Restler said helium chopped that constituent retired aft authorities watchdog groups suggested specified a prohibition would beryllium “too broad.”

“All the bully authorities groups gave crisp feedback that they thought it was excessively broad, that it was amended to target the astir almighty radical successful metropolis government, the elder unit successful the mayor’s bureau that person nonstop oversight of the 300,000 idiosyncratic mayoral enforcement subdivision of metropolis government,” helium said.

Carone, who remains 1 of Adams’ apical governmental advisers and is expected to assistance pb his reelection effort this year, declined to remark connected the bill’s passage. He has said helium isn’t personally engaged successful nonstop lobbying, and that his employees grip that.

Frank Carone successful December 2022. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

The bill’s transition comes astatine a clip of heightened interest astir metropolis authorities morals successful the aftermath of Adams’ national corruption indictment. Adams, who pleaded not blameworthy successful September and is expected to basal proceedings successful April, has besides seen a fig of apical advisers resign from his medication successful caller months aft being ensnared successful their ain corruption probes.