Exclusive | NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams powerless charter panel stacked with Dem cronies making six-figure salaries: big waste of money

NYC Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and the rest of the legislative body’s far-left majority are on pace to burn through millions of dollars in taxpayer money funding a powerless panel stacked with political cronies whose Machiavellian mission is to weaken the mayor’s power — for their own gain, The Post has learned.The Council’s so-called “NYC Commission to Strengthen Local Democracy” – which is in the process of soliciting public input on ways to revise government operations that include diminishing a sitting mayor’s veto powers and boosting the Council’s say in high-level agency appointments – is all but obsolete.That’s because Mayor Eric Adams – who isn’t related to the speaker but is her political adversary — appointed his own Charter Revision Commission in December that is reviewing ways to tackle the city’s housing crisis and other possible rule charges.

Under city election rules, only proposals from the mayor’s commission can appear on the November ballot if both panels submit proposals.The speaker’s commission under its bylaws can technically wait another year to try putting referendum questions on the ballot, but it would again be at the mercy of the sitting mayor blocking it.However, that didn’t stop the speaker and Council from appointing a 17-member commission in January.The Council posted legal notices seeking to hire 16 execs, lawyers, publicists and other staffers to run the commission – including three earning up to $200,000 and six others making at least six figures, records show.The projected yearly salary ranges totaled $1,972,400 to $2,187,330 – well beyond the $250,000 Speaker Adams and the Council budgeted for the commission, records show.“It’s just a big waste of money,” said a Democratic councilmember who typically sides with the speaker.

“We’re in the middle of the budget season, and everyone knows this Charter Commission is not going anywhere, so why waste everyone’s time?”  “Th...