After a public dispute this week between Onondaga County and the group that raises money for the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, part of that dispute has been resolved.
Officials with the group Friends of the Zoo told Onondaga County lawmakers this week that their relationship with the county changed last year, after they refused to donate $1 million to the county’s aquarium project. Friends Vice Chair Megan Thomas said since then, the county has engaged in an aggressive and bullying relationship with the nonprofit.
“What is happening right now is that the Friends are under economic threat,” Thomas said during a county legislature committee meeting Tuesday. “Our choice was to speak up or to go under, you know, and here we are speaking up for ourselves. And we are doing so in a way that shows integrity. And we are doing so in a way that is supported by the documentation. And we want to make it clear on the record that we’re not going to continue to be treated this way.”…