On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Onondaga County, County Executive Ryan McMahon said there are many pandemic-related regulations coming from the state that should now be at the discretion of local governments.

McMahon on Monday highlighted numerous reasons for this, starting with reports over the weekend that Larry Schwartz, a longtime adviser to Governor Andrew Cuomo leading the state's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, has been calling county executives to gauge their loyalty to the Democratic governor amid the current sexual harassment investigation. One Democratic county executive feared the county’s COVID-19 vaccine supply could suffer if the executive did not indicate support for the embattled governor, The Washington Post reported.

McMahon, a Republican, said he had no such conversations with anyone.

"I do know that this is a fear of everyone, including I think this governor with the previous administration, was politics in the vaccination process," McMahon said. "And a fear of counties is that politics is being played or can be potentially played, so that phone call, whether intentional or not, left a chilling effect for not just county executives, but county leaders throughout the state. And I think this goes to some of our frustration levels about where we are in the pandemic and getting things back to local control."

McMahon said that going to the state to ask permission for, or request, tweaks in certain statewide restrictions based on local conditions on the ground has been tiring, and could now be more bureaucratically difficult since the state legislature recently scaled back Cuomo’s pandemic powers.

"We are at a different stage in the pandemic. Many of the emergency powers that impact local governments' day-to-day operations aren’t necessary anymore," McMahon said. "The vaccine’s a little different. They’re not going to change vaccine rollout overnight. But empowering local governments and county health departments who’ve vaccinated for decades to have more control in our own community, which I think has been a trend, is where this should be going."

McMahon’s argument goes beyond the vaccination process, however. He said he also talked to the state earlier Monday about restaurant restrictions.

"Is it feasible why we’re at 0.7% positive rate for a month and restaurants are closed at 11:00 still? When SU’s playing at 9:40? Are we going to kick everyone out of the place at halftime or are we setting ourselves up for failure?" McMahon said. "I understand if a community’s positive rate is much much higher, that’s a potential pressure point. But that’s not where we are. We’ve managed this crisis. We’ve seen the conditions on the ground before the state has. Let us manage our own community now."

McMahon added that the state recently told the county that face shields are not a viable alternative for partitions on desks in schools. The county recently said it would allow school districts to reduce student social distance requirements from 6 feet to 3 feet, but must still have some kind of partition.

"That’s an example where why isn’t that our call?" McMahon said.

McMahon said it’s not in the county’s best interest to put forward policies that would put people more at risk and extend the pandemic, so it’s unlikely local governments would act irresponsibly if they’re the ones who would have to respond immediately to any kind of case spike that is caused by one of those policies.

The county executive acknowledged that things like a statewide mask mandate should still be consistent.

There were 61 new COVID-19 cases reported Monday, for a total of 218 active cases. Two more people have died, totaling 683 since the pandemic began. Forty-three people are in the hospital with 13 in critical condition.