City Ethics Board could be convened on Monday about Olney's allegations

Oct. 4—WATERTOWN — City Councilman Cliff G. Olney III is questioning the motives of the Ethics Board for only giving three days' notice of a meeting that will allow him to defend himself over ethics allegations.

Olney was notified in his council agenda packet on Thursday afternoon that the Ethics Board will be meeting at 4 p.m. Monday about him. He didn't read a letter until Friday from Ethics Board chairman Stephen A. Jennings that Jennings was convening the board and inviting him to appear.

Jennings could not be reached for comment by press time.

"They want to rush through to say that I had my chance to appear and I didn't," Olney said Friday night. "This is absolutely unfair."

On Friday, Olney said he plans to go to the hearing to request more time to prepare his response and to again ask for the city to provide an attorney to represent him.

Contacted Friday night, council members Benjamin P. Shoen and Lisa A. Ruggiero said they didn't know the Ethics Board will be meeting on Monday about it. Ruggiero wanted to know why they weren't told.

But Mayor Sarah V. C. Pierce said that she understood that the Ethics Board would only be convened if Olney was going to appear.

She hopes that Olney goes through with his plans to appear.

"I am pleased the process is moving forward and he's taking the opportunity to appear before the board," she said.

Before finding out about it on Friday, Olney has said he would "absolutely not" go before the board unless he was given an attorney. He also believes he won't get a fair shake from the board since its members have already recommended his removal from office.

Shoen wondered why Olney would want to adjourn the hearing since council members discussed the matter several weeks ago.

In August, Councilman Robert O. Kimball contended that the matter should finally be taken to its conclusion and hoped the Ethics Board would look at it again.

Kimball, who learned on Thursday morning that the board would meet on Monday, said it's a step in the right direction.

"I am happy to hear that there is some progress on this issue," he said.

Last September, then-Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith filed an ethics complaint accusing Olney of releasing confidential information, having a conflict of interest and breaching his fiduciary duty involving the city's purchase of the Watertown Golf Club in January 2023.

The Ethics Board recommended that Olney should be removed from office over those allegations. Olney denies any wrongdoing and adamantly maintains that the accusations were politically motivated.

Last year, the Ethics Board didn't call on Olney to defend himself. Council members recently agreed that he should have had a chance to do that. They also generally believe that the Ethics Board went beyond its scope by calling for Olney's removal from office.

The city will have to hire an outside attorney to handle it in a formal administrative hearing. City attorney Kristen Smith's law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, has recused itself because the firm is mentioned in one of the three allegations against Olney.

The hearing would be similar to a trial with testimony. The hearing could cost $10,000 or more, city officials have said.

One of the Ethics Board seats remain vacant. During all this time, the city has failed to fill the vacancy.