Monkey Business: Legislators to Get Private Briefings on Zoo Project

Bello’s practice of holding separate caucus meetings to conduct legislative business evades open meetings laws and leaves the public in the dark.

Monroe County legislators have been invited to private meetings to discuss a design contract for a major expansion of the Seneca Park Zoo. Each caucus will receive a separate briefing on January 22. The only reason this is legal is that New York State’s Open Meetings Law includes an exemption for political caucuses.

This exemption is being grossly misused.

Background on the Zoo Project

County Executive Adam Bello announced a major expansion of the Seneca Park Zoo during his 2022 State of the County address. Later that year, I joined my colleagues in voting to authorize $102 million in bonds for the project. But the plan hit a roadblock when a construction bid came back at a staggering $173 million—far exceeding the approved budget.

Now, Bello is trying a new approach. This week, he submitted legislation to hire a new design firm, Cambridge Seven Associates Architects, which has pledged to keep the project within budget. The $6.7 million contract goes before the Ways and Means Committee on January 28.

Bello held a press conference on Friday, flanked by state and county legislators, to promote the new plan. His press release, however, omitted a crucial detail: the legislature must first approve this new direction.

Although this contract appears to be a done deal, it’s no surprise the administration could face tough questions given the project’s rocky past. After all, the 2022 bonding didn’t pass unanimously—seven of the 29 legislators voted against it.

Misuse of Caucus Open Meetings Law Exemption

But rather than simply fielding questions in a public forum—like the Ways and Means Committee or the full Legislature meeting—Bello has arranged separate Zoom briefings for each caucus. By the time lawmakers walk into the public meetings, most of their questions will have already been resolved. And the public will have no idea what was asked—or answered—behind those closed doors.

These private briefings highlight a deeper problem: the exemption for political caucus meetings has turned public forums into mere formalities. When discussions happen behind closed doors, the public loses out on seeing how their representatives arrive at decisions, and there’s zero accountability for what the administration says in those sessions.

Excluding Legislators from ARPA Briefings

This isn’t the first time the administration has used caucus exemptions to shut down scrutiny. Twice last year, the Bello administration excluded certain legislators from caucus briefings about American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) spending. Vice-President Mercedes Vazquez-Simmons and I had been at the forefront of raising questions about the Community Resource Collaborative scandal, and Bello refused to let us attend a caucus briefing on the results of his audit into the missing money. Other legislators were told they, too, would be barred if they shared the link or allowed us to listen in.

The second ARPA briefing involved nearly $30 million in new spending, and we were both barred from that briefing as well. It’s clear that these private sessions are often used to hide uncomfortable details and punish lawmakers who speak up.

Of course, legislative leaders should call on Bello to end these closed-door briefings—especially those excluding legislators he doesn’t favor. But let’s be realistic: lawmakers enjoy having access, and on the Democratic side, Bello has shown he’ll retaliate against those who don’t toe the line. (Exhibit A: excluding legislators from briefings!)¹

Needed Reforms

The New York Coalition for Open Government published a report criticizing how caucus meetings are sometimes used to conduct public business. They wrote, “These secret meetings make the public meeting a sham as the real discussion has already occurred in private.”

While the group recommends changing state law, there’s nothing stopping municipalities from taking their own action. State law is a floor, not a ceiling, for open government. Ithaca and several downstate towns have already passed laws barring the discussion of public business in caucus meetings.

I will propose that Monroe County to adopt a similar law prohibiting caucuses from meeting with administration officials to discuss legislation that’s coming before the legislature within the next few months. This proposal is specific, doesn’t bar caucuses from discussing legislative matters on their own, and makes it much harder to sidestep open government.²

Ultimately, we owe it to taxpayers to conduct the public’s work in public. If we allow closed-door briefings to become the norm, official meetings will be nothing more than a rubber stamp—and the public will remain in the dark about how decisions that affect their lives are really being made. We can’t let transparency become an endangered species at the Seneca Park Zoo or anywhere else in Monroe County.

Update

I wrote about the need for transparency regarding Monroe County’s plan for $25 million in state anti-poverty funds. Onondaga has already provided its plan to legislators. Erie County emailed me their plan within a week of my request. Monroe County, however, won’t release its plan at this time, per a response from the deputy county executive.

1. One could argue I was still able to ask my questions in the open meeting, despite being banned from the caucus meeting. That is not a solution, as a significant chunk of the public’s business was already done. In addition, this video shows what happened when I tried to ask my numerous questions at Ways and Means.

2. It should be noted that legislative bodies are allowed to go into executive sessions for specific reasons such as personnel matters or legal settlements. There is no reason to have secret caucus meetings to discuss government business.