WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – City councilman Cliff Olney is again saying city attorney Robert Slye should be replaced.
To which Slye responded Tuesday: “If he gets three votes, he wins.”
“I’d like to put a resolution up for the city council to decide if we can bring in new legal counsel and start afresh with somebody who just gives us legal opinions about the facts and not necessarily his more political advice,” Olney said Tuesday.
He’s waiting to see how much support he can get.
As of now, Olney does not have the three votes on city council it would take to remove Slye.
Last spring, Olney called for Slye’s ouster.
This time out, Olney’s not happy with the way Slye questioned Michael Lundy, majority owner of the Watertown Golf Club.
Lundy has taken the first steps toward suing the city, Olney and council member Lisa Ruggiero over council’s decision to no longer allow parking on land just below the golf course club house.
As part of the legal preliminaries, Slye questioned Lundy for about an hour back in June.
During the questioning, Slye pointed out the council has a right to not allow parking, and individual council members have a right to vote as they choose.
But Olney says Slye should have gone further, should have told Lundy that the city never had the right to allow parking there in the first place, because the deed which gave the city Thompson Park expressly forbids commercial use of the property.
“What I need is someone who is going to give me good legal advice, not a political opinion. And what I think has happened with this whole situation, with Golfgate, is that this has been a political opinion to accommodate certain individuals in the city,” Olney said Tuesday.
Olney said city officials have known for years the land in question was city property, and they simply let the golf club use it.
But Slye says he didn’t know the land in question was city property until a survey was done.
“I personally was not aware that property was part of the park,” Slye said.
As for the questioning of Lundy, “I think a lot of the questions that were asked by Mr. Slye, our attorney, were softball, and I’ve heard the term ‘patty cake’ used to describe the interview,” Olney said.
But Slye said at this early stage in a potential lawsuit, the questioning is not as adversarial as it can be in later stages.
“If you’ve never done it, you wouldn’t understand,” he said.
Mayor Jeff Smith is a hard ‘no’ on the question of replacing Slye.
“I think Bob Slye does a great job representing the city. Councilman Olney, I don’t know where he got his law degree to suggest that Mr. Slye is not a good attorney,” Smith said Tuesday.
The mayor said Olney “has a gripe against Bob because Mr. Simao does. I feel he has to do the bidding of the person who supported him in his campaign.”
The reference is to Ives Hill Country Club owner P.J. Simao, who has for years argued the city gives Watertown Golf Club unfair advantages.
Olney denies he’s working on behalf of Simao.
Council member Lisa Ruggiero proposed a compromise Tuesday, doing an annual performance review of the city attorney, as council now does for the city manager and city clerk.
“That might help address some concerns people have,” she said.
Despite the city dis-allowing the use of the parking area, people still use it. There were dozens of cars and trucks parked in the disputed area Tuesday, while a golf tournament was going on.
“Whether it be at Concert in The Park, whether it be at a Pride event, whether they’re using the splash pad or the pool, it’s not just golfers. Eerybody’s using it and you have to treat everybody equally and fairly and you can’t go after one group,” Smith said.
“I think that’s a good thing up there that people are utilizing the park.”
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