Olney did not appear because the ethics committee is sticking to its original recommendation

WATERTOWN, N.Y. (WWNY) – Watertown City Councilman Cliff Olney had a chance to defend himself before an ethics committee Monday night but chose not to.

Olney was not happy about the Watertown Ethics Board’s closed meeting Monday night.

“I am disappointed that this ethics hearing took place today,” he said.

In August, the City Council approved a second meeting to give Olney an opportunity to defend himself against a complaint from former Mayor Jeff Smith. He was accused of making private information public.

Olney said he would attend until he learned the meeting would be a board meeting.

“The night we talked about this, I told everyone here that I wanted this to be open and transparent so that the public could see what was proposed at that first meeting,” he said. “Today’s meeting showed me that this will not be such a process.”

Without him, the board affirmed its September 2023 recommendation that Olney violated city code and general municipal law.

“The evidence clearly convinced this panel that the city breached significant fiduciary duties,” said Stephen Jennings, a member of the ethics panel.

Before reading out the decision, Jennings made it clear that the Ethics Commission is not a court or hearing body.

“We are an ethics board that just gives advisory opinions and forwards them to the City Council,” Jennings said, “and then they have a responsibility to hear anyone we make a recommendation to.”

Councilman Robert Kimball, who attended the public portion of the ethics meeting, said he hoped the city could move the process forward.

“I anticipate that we will be able to bring forward a resolution at our next regular meeting to move forward with the appropriate hearing on the ethics complaint at that time,” Kimball said.

Olney says he has sent information to the New York Conference of Mayors seeking an official response to the situation and is waiting for a letter.

Olney says he believes the Ethics Committee should not have met before issuing this opinion.

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