Onondaga County lawmakers have handed over future funding of the controversial aquarium to the county executive. They voted 13 to 4 Tuesday to allow Ryan McMahon to solicit and accept donations of any size to cover the increasing cost of the project being built in the Inner Harbor.
Most lawmakers are eager to place the fundraising responsibility with McMahon and the non-profit Friends of the Aquarium. Democratic Legislator Maurice Brown voted no. He’s glad lawmakers and taxpayers are off the hook, but said the legislature still has a duty to serve as a check and balance, especially since donations can be made anonymously.
“As long as this is a public project, it should remain a public project," Brown said. "The public deserves transparency, and I'm not willing to forego that for political expediency.”
County attorney Ben Yaus explained that existing laws prohibit what some lawmakers are suggesting.
“The concern here is a quid pro quo, which is illegal. It is a crime," Yaus said. “We have established procedures under state law and our county long established processes dealing with contracts. That's your bids, your construction, your purchases.”
Republican Legislator Julie Abbott also sits on the Friends of the Aquarium Board. She said it’s insulting to suggest that the board won’t provide adequate oversight of donations and contracts.
“We're going to have quarterly reports back to the legislature. Honestly, it's why I have a seat at the table," Abbott said. "I want to make sure that this succeeds and I want to be there and be part of the process.”
The board and the county executive also have the ability to grant naming rights to the aquarium or specific exhibits. Elaine Denton of Manlius implored legislators to heed a letter she quoted from former county comptroller Bob Antonacci in 2017 stating that only lawmakers have that authority.
“'...presently, there is no authority for the County Executive to contract such power away, much less to undertake it, independent of the legislature,'" Denton quoted from the letter. "Yet this proposed law, acknowledges that the county is working on this once again with no checks and balances provided by the legislature,” she concluded.
Denton reiterated concerns from lawmakers and the public about spending money on an aquarium when the county should be addressing homelessness, lead, and other community needs. Meanwhile, crews continue to work on the project.
