Onondaga County Courthouse
The old Onondaga County court building is home to the county legislature. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and county legislators want to keep private the names of donors who close the shortfall for construction expenses on the county’s controversial aquarium.  


Republican legislators introduced a measure at Wednesday’s county Ways and Means Committee meeting that would amend a local law from 1996, eliminating the need for legislative approval on private contributions greater than $1,500 toward the aquarium. 

Some Democrats, including Onondaga County Legislature Minority Leader Nodesia Hernandez, have supported the legislation. 

While legislators broadly support the measure, at least one open government expert, Rachael Fauss from Reinvent Albany, said the legislation is not best practice.  

“The names of the donors is an essential thing to disclose,” Fauss said. “I would think that that would be a high priority in terms of transparency so you don’t have concerns about ‘pay to play.’

Legislators will vote Tuesday on the measure, which was meant to streamline the way the county receives donations. They see the measure as a new avenue to facilitate private donations that would help the county shore up the growing construction costs of the aquarium project ahead of its fall 2026 opening date.

The Legislature previously denied a December request from County Executive Ryan McMahon for an $11 million “loan” from taxpayers to cover a $15 million rise in the cost of the aquarium. Legislators balked at McMahon’s request, refusing to appropriate any more public dollars toward the construction of the project. 

The contributions would be received by the county comptroller and then directed to the Friends of Onondaga County Aquarium, a non-profit charity that accepts tax deductible donations. Legislators would also receive a quarterly report of how much money was gifted. Donors who choose to make their contribution anonymously would be kept out of those reports to legislators.

For some Democrats and open government experts, the move raises concerns about public oversight of the project. They are concerned about not knowing who is funding the project and the board of the charity controlling the incoming private funds.

Democrats Charles Garland and Maurice Brown said they were concerned of a potential “pay to play” situation, where private entities could donate to the project and expect concessions from the county. 

“My fear is folks are going to be donating to gain some sway and that just opens up a ‘pay to play’ vacuum that might create bigger problems than the ones we presently have, Brown said.”

McMahon and county officials lambasted the suggestion that there could be “quid pro quo” interactions between private companies and the county. 

“The insinuation is not only insulting, it’s not even worth addressing that somehow this administration would engage in some type of quid pro quo,” said Justin Sayles, a spokesperson for McMahon. 

Robert Durr, an attorney representing the county, said at Wednesday’s meeting that the move to conceal the names of donors who choose to remain anonymous is not a new practice. The county has made similar exemptions for the county zoo and the Erie Canal Museum, Sayles said. 

“It’s not unusual. It happens all the time. You’re not doing anything outside of the box here,” Durr said. “This is standard operating procedure.”

Democrat Dan Romeo was the first to raise concerns about not being able to know who is helping fund the aquarium. Romeo said his concerns are not immediate but are about the amount of funding that could come in over time. 

“It’s the transparency piece, and also understanding and preparing ourselves for later on,” Romeo said.

Republican Julie Abbott, who McMahon appointed to the board of Friends of Onondaga County Aquarium said donors are less likely to contribute if they think their name will be disclosed.

“I would be concerned if anybody was not able to donate anonymously,” Abbott said. “Especially when you are in that bracket, a lot of times everybody comes after you for money and people would like to pick and choose and not have a thousand phone calls after their name is seen giving a half a million dollars. I really honestly think it would hurt the fundraising capacity.”

Fauss, the open government expert, said a project that has received this level of public funding should have a donor disclosure requirement. That is especially important given that the aquarium charitable foundation board is appointed by McMahon, Fauss said.

“If this resolution was required to be passed by the legislature, it tells you that it is highly enmeshed with the government,” Fauss said. “If there’s fundraising that’s happening and there are donations to a county-affiliated nonprofit, they should be disclosed.”

Though not a one-to-one comparison, Fauss said that other cities, like New York, have instituted baseline rules on how to report charitable contributions to city projects or to nonprofit funds that provide money to city departments. 

Garland, the lone Democrat who voted “yes” on the aquarium,  worries the amount of funding necessary to bring the project to fruition could hand donors leverage, he said. Democrats believe the county would need to raise another $8 million to fund the project.

“You’re going to have contractors and developers, making donations,” he said. “Realistically, you can’t expect them to donate millions of dollars to not expect something in return.”

One of Garland’s biggest concerns is that the board is staffed with McMahon’s appointees.

“The only entity we have receiving this money and making recommendations is this hand-picked foundation,” Garland said. “We’d like to see not necessarily an outside entity, but an entity chosen by the legislature to handle that.”

Regarding Garland’s concerns, Sayles said that the county’s law and purchasing departments handle contractors’ business. These procedures, he said, run counter to “pay-for-play” questions 

Sayles added that the foundation has legal counsel on board and that they are subject to a routine audit every year.

“They are bound by laws of ethics,” Sayles said. “The lawyers are obligated by their law license.”

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Eddie Velazquez is a Syracuse journalist covering economic justice in the region. He is focused on stories about organized labor, and New York's housing and childhood lead poisoning crises. You can follow...