The commission appointed by Mayor Eric Adams to consider changes to the City Charter voted this week to advance its proposals to the November ballot — another escalation in the ongoing feud between the mayor and City Council as it seeks to reshape the balance of power at City Hall.

The mayor’s charter revision commission voted unanimously Thursday to adopt ballot proposals that touch on a range of projects, effectively tabling a Council measure to expand its power over mayoral appointments. One proposal from the commission, released days before its adoption, stood out: a measure to add procedural requirements for the Council to pass any public safety legislation affecting the police, fire or corrections departments.

The City Charter defines the roles, powers and limits of the mayor's office and the city legislature. And, like a constitutional amendment, only the voters can approve a change to the allocation of those powers. State law gives the mayor's commission the power to supersede Council proposals for what gets on the November ballot and it's deadline to do so is Aug. 5 under city election rules.

Councilmembers gathered with other elected officials and advocates Thursday, outside the Brooklyn Public Library where commissioners were scheduled to meet, to decry the process as rushed and undemocratic.

“It is a dangerous attempt to shift power away from the people represented by the City Council to one single individual,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said before the vote Thursday afternoon.

“Do you want a king?” she demanded. “No!” the crowd shouted back.

Councilmembers have repeatedly accused the mayor of assembling the commission to thwart their advice and consent legislation, which seeks to expand the legislative body’s authority over more than 20 additional mayoral appointments to head city agencies such as sanitation and parks.

The mayor and his team have denied trying to outflank the Council, saying the commission has been fully transparent with the public and has held public, if sparsely attended, proceedings over the last several weeks.

“Being rushed is introducing legislation in a week,” Mayor Adams told reporters on Tuesday in an apparent dig against the Council’s advice and consent legislation.

Lisa Zornberg, chief counsel to the mayor, cited “multiple charter revision commissions that took place in a shorter time than this one.”

“Mayor Bloomberg did one in 2002, the start to finish, 38 days,” she said. “There were three others between 1998 and 2001, all under 60 days or under 50 days.”

But Councilmembers have been adamant that recent historical precedent, including an advice and consent referendum for the city’s corporation counsel in 2019, suggests the new mayoral commission’s process is ad hoc and inadequate.

“This particular commission has had only 12 hearings and nobody knew about them,” said Councilmember Gale Brewer, citing a total of 700-plus attendees and more than 200 people who testified in person or over Zoom. “That is not how you change a charter.”

The mayor announced the formation of the charter commission in late May, after The New York Times reported that Speaker Adams was preparing to introduce her advice and consent legislation, which she formally did days later.

In the moments leading up to the commission’s unanimous vote on its public safety legislation proposal, Chair Carlo Scissura said members had received amended language that accounted for concerns from the Council and others.

“I have directed the staff to draft an amended proposal that would limit the requirements placed on the City Council while retaining the mayor’s and commissioners’ ability to hold public hearings on critical public safety legislation, as is permitted currently by state law,” Scissura said.

Still, commission members appeared confused about the change and raised questions.

“All it does is say when the Council is going to propose this legislation, it adds a 30-day period where there can be hearings,” Scissura said, referring to a proposed allowance for proceedings hosted by the mayor or affected agencies.

Max Rose, a former congressman appointed by Mayor Adams to the commission, pressed for clarity. “So it delays — for all intents and purposes — it delays legislation by 30 days —”

“I would respectfully disagree with the word delay,” Scissura said.