Olney will not be on June 24 Watertown council primary ballot
Jun. 5—WATERTOWN — Councilman Cliff G. Olney's last argument to get on the City Council ballot for the June 24 primary was not successful on Thursday morning.
State Supreme Court Judge James P. McClusky on Thursday denied Olney's request to put him back on the ballot.
Olney was ready to give oral arguments, but the judge ruled from the bench.
"This was decided before I got here today," Olney said.
He reiterated that he will run as a write-in candidate and has already started taking steps to get the word out to the public on how to vote for him.
He has put together a campaign card explaining what voters have to do vote for him. Olney plans to go door to door to pass them out before the June 24 primary.
He also plans to notify all the people who signed his ballots to tell them that they've "been disenfranchised," Olney said.
Olney, a first-term councilman, was in court Thursday after refiling a motion seeking to have Judge McClusky reverse a decision that his name not be on the ballot.
Seven other candidates are running in the June 24 primary. Four will go on to the November general election.
Olney, who acted as his own attorney in the court matter, requested that Judge McClusky reconsider a ruling that a legal challenge of an elections board determination that he did not have enough valid signatures on his campaign petitions was not filed in a timely manner.
Olney initially filed suit asking to have his petitions reviewed by the court after it was determined he lacked the required minimum number of signatures to be on the ballot.
While Judge McClusky did rule that Olney had enough signatures to be on the ballot, he subsequently dismissed Olney's complaint because it had not been served on the defendants in a timely manner.
Olney, who contended he followed the court's timeline when serving the papers, filed a motion to have the matter reconsidered. Judge McClusky declined the request, ruling that Olney did not abide by state Civil Practice Laws and Rules when filing his motion for reconsideration.
Olney subsequently refiled the motion, indicating that he had corrected any procedural error in his filings.
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