ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT JUSTIFIED

The Accounts Office – Commissioner John Franck, Deputy Commissioner Sharon Kellner-Chille and Tony Popolizio and anyone else Mary Zlotnick had accused of using their positions to cheat taxpayers out of money have been vindicated and now she can be terminated.  Mary has had it good these last 4 months. While not working she received full salary with benefits.

She is now living in Albany with a mystery man, reportedly the former Pinnacle HR person who had worked for the City.  She has been earning extra income it is said by leasing her assets (her house) in Saratoga Springs.

Zlotnick’s insistence of an open public hearing in front of  officer Christopher Nicolino, who oversaw the five days of witness testimony and weighed arguments on both sides of the case, found the city proved three of the five counts of insubordination they filed against Zlotnick Sept. 13.
Zlotnick went to the media with accusations of corruption in the city’s Accounts Department, where she worked as a clerk to Assistant City Assessor Tony Popolizio.  She “exhibited a willingness to be intentionally untruthful” during a disciplinary hearing on Aug. 25; and how she contacted the media “to spread untruthful allegations of misconduct” against Popolizio.
Zlotnick will be hard pressed to file a civil suit against the City as some say she will.  Testimony given against and by her have proven that she didn’t understand the Accounts office practices and it looks like she had started from day 1 to begin a witch hunt against her superiors.  Many wonder if she could even have been a plant by the Mayor or Deputy Mayor, but there are no hard facts of this, just inside scuttlebutt.  However, think about this, the Democrats have a majority this term, the Mayor is lost, and he looks like he is a deer in the headlights at the Council table.  The Mayor looks like he is a nervous wreck and has been complaining that he can’t get his way and is red as a beet 99% of the time.  The coloring could be because of high blood pressure or worse yet, dates with a Russian liquid.  It makes one wonder.  The damage to Franck and his office have been as bad as it could get.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a civil suit were filed against Ms. Zlotnick by the three, and if she is smart, take some heat off her and bring out those who put her up to this if anyone.

 Her accusations were cloudy from the beginning.  She contacted City Police and State officials before talking to her superiors, and then she went on the radio, newspaper and TV circuit to drum up support and portray herself as an innocent lamb looking to draw out self serving attention about her alleged scheme.  She has had her 15 minutes of fame and hopefully will ride into the sunset down in Albany.


 down in Albany.

EATING CROW - CONGRATULATIONS SUCCESS

Well, the election is over and I have to tip my hat to SUCCESS for running a campaign that did put the fear of high taxes and a change to a City run by big developers, I thought that’s what we have now.  However, they won and we will go on as usual.

It should also be said a round of thanks should go to the hard working people who worked on the Saratoga Citizen side.  They were a group of concerned citizens who fought for a cause they believed in with no aspirations other than to make the City better.  Saratoga would be even better if it had more citizens like them to join civic programs that just to sit back and complain about those whose intentions are not selfish in any way.

One thing that we can come away with from this election and can join SUCCESS in is that people do not want 4 year terms among other items, as the Mayor has indicated this himself.  His Commission will be watched by many to see if they will make sure that the mandates of the 2001 Charter passed by the citizens will be enforced.  The way to better this form can probably be done by just following that Charter’s mandates.

It will also be interesting to see how our economy will fare when as rumored the Governor announces soon that Albany will be the site of a new full blown casino, which has been talked about for the last few months.  I have no fear however, that our form of government will be able to keep Saratoga the lively City we are now with no tax increases and the same level of services.

   

Again, congratulations to SUCCESS for their victory.