De Blasio Fires Embattled Investigations Commissioner

NEW YORK CITY HALL — Mayor Bill de Blasio fired the embattled commissioner of the Department of Investigation on Friday, an extraordinary step that removes one of his administration's persistent critics.

Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters said he was informed Friday that the mayor had fired him. The City Charter allows the mayor to oust the commissioner if he spells out the reasons for removal and allows the commissioner to make a public explanation.

Peters will issue such a response in writing by Wednesday, he said.

"For now, let me say that serving as DOI Commissioner has been the greatest professional honor of my life," Peters said in a statement. "DOI’s work over the past five years has exposed corruption and misconduct and forced serious systematic reforms in multiple agencies."

Peters' removal follows a critical report from an outside investigator that found he had abused his authority in taking the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation, which oversees the Department of Education, under his purview and then firing the office's head when she protested.

In a statement, de Blasio said he has nominated Margaret Garnett, the state's executive deputy attorney general for criminal justice, to replace Peters. She must be confirmed by the City Council.

The mayor said he regrets appointing Peters, who once reportedly served as his campaign treasurer. "This was a mistake," de Blasio said.

"The very top leadership at DOI repeatedly undermined the values critical to its mission," de Blasio said at a news conference. "It’s my job as mayor to make a change so that DOI can do its important work going forward."

Peters' nearly five-year tenure saw Department of Investigation publish several reports critical of the de Blasio administration. One last fall exposed the New York City Housing Authority's failure to inspect its apartments for lead paint. Another from 2016 faulted the city for clearing the way for developers turn a Lower East Side nursing home into luxury condos.

The mayor reportedly had been eyeing Peters' removal since this spring, around the time Peters fired the special commissioner of investigation. De Blasio's administration compiled a dossier on Peters with an April date alleging he had engaged in "threatening, coercive and abusive behavior," the New York Daily News reported in September.

Peters tapped James McGovern, a former federal prosecutor, to investigate whether he had overstepped his authority in taking over the Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation. McGovern produced a lengthy report last month that upheld the whistleblower complaints of the two staffers Peters fired and demoted and found the commissioner and his staff showed "a lack of concern for following the law."

De Blasio said the report "deeply troubled" him and his senior aides. He was particularly struck by the "denigrating approach" Peters took toward one of the whistleblowers and other employees, he said.

"It increasingly was clear to me that there was no way for him to continue in the role, but we had to have a suitable successor," the mayor said.

De Blasio said neither he nor any of his senior staff have any prior relationship with Garnett, who previously worked as a chief prosecutor in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office. He called her "exactly the kind of person that the agency needs right now."

But the mayor's unprecedented firing of Peters drew fire from some officials. Public Advocate Letitia James called it "reminiscent of Trump-like behavior," saying McGovern's report raised concerns but did not warrant Peters' removal.

James — who's also the incoming state attorney general — called for the City Council to hold an "executive session" with Peters so he could "testify about the status of his pending cases, their impacts on the de Blasio Administration, and what role they may have played" in his sacking.

"The City Council must and will make every effort to ensure that the next DOI Commissioner is able and willing to hold the Mayor accountable," Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), who chairs the Committee on Oversight and Investigation, said in a statement.

"A City that cannot administer elections, pick up the snow, or provide safe, decent, and affordable housing to 500,000 New Yorkers requires nothing less than an aggressive watchdog at the helm of DOI."

(Lead image: Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks Friday at a news conference at City Hall. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)