There’s tension in the city of Watertown after unexpected guests showed up at this week’s City Council meeting.
Seven members of the New York State Police showed up to speak with council members. Mayor Sarah Compo Pierce said the police have been conducting a criminal investigation involving certain council members and private citizens for more than a year.
After meeting with police and council members for more than an hour, she introduced a resolution that would grant police permission to speak on the record with current and past city of Watertown employees, attorneys, or elected officials. That would include executive session discussions and attorney-client privileged information.
"I think it's important that we approve this measure and be completely transparent with the authorities and the public as this criminal investigation continues, and this resolution will accomplish that," Pierce said.
The resolution passed 4-1. Council member Cliff Olney was the only dissenting vote.
"We were not notified of the investigation going on in the mayor's office,” Olney said. “We did not know that there was going to be an interruption of tonight's meeting. We did not know that you all were going to be made to sit here for as long as you were, while we went in there and hashed things over, and for that reason, I think that this should be tabled, so that we can better understand the implications of what this says."
Olney later released a statement saying he believes the investigation is politically charged. Few details are being released about the investigation, but Olney said he believes it is related to the city’s controversial purchase of the golf course in Thompson Park.
The investigation was launched in the fall of 2023, in the wake of a council meeting that included emails read from local developer P.J. Simao offering to settle unpaid taxes, donate to several charities, and provide storage to golf carts in exchange for the names of people who ran a Watertown meme page that was critical of the sale. Former Mayor Jeff Smith said he took that as a bribe.
Olney said he is calling on the mayor and council to provide clear and detailed explanations of the investigation’s scope, timeline, and objectives.
Mayor Pierce said since this is an ongoing investigation, she will not comment further at this time.
