Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon is looking at a post-pandemic world, as he outlines plans for the future. Helping the community recover, rebuild and heal from the pandemic was the theme of McMahon’s yearly State of the County address Wednesday evening.
McMahon wants to spend $142 million state, federal and local dollars on a cornucopia of projects, ranging from anti-poverty and economic development initiatives, to upgrades in neighborhoods and new roads. The biggest by far, is $25 million to create a sports complex along the shore of Onondaga Lake.
“We’ll partner with a private sector outfit that knows what they’re doing, so the government won’t run this, and overall a $33 million impact at minimum, said McMahon.
Many of these projects mirror priorities of Democrats, according to county legislator Linda Ervin, as long as they move forward.
“He went through a lot of good stuff tonight,” said Ervin. “But my concern is the proof is in the pudding, is whether it happens or not."
McMahon promises action, noting when initiatives fall flat, it’s usually because there’s no money. He’s working with $142 million in funding. The key, especially with the federal stimulus cash, is to keep it from being a one shot deal.
“So we put forward a plan that does address the human side of the pandemic,” McMahon said. “We’re making very large infrastructure investments. We’re making very large tourism and hospitality investments that will generate sales tax for years to come."
McMahon also called for investing millions in tourism promotion, in a bid to help hotels that have struggled in the past year. And to help many restaurants that are in the same boat, he announced a matching gift card program, that would allow patrons of local restaurants to double their money, if they buy a gift card.
“It will at least generate a million in stimulus into restaurants. Most meals are over 50-70 bucks for a family of four,” he said. “So for us, our restaurants are hurting. This will be an immediate stimulus we’ll get up and running in short order.”
Another part of his plan included expanding broadband internet access to more rural parts of the county.
