Milton supervisor seeks probe of challenger over computer issue
Zlotnick asks state attorney general to look into why his opponent wiped office files
Town Supervisor Benny Zlotnick, who is fighting to keep his seat this November, has asked the state attorney general to investigate his Republican opponent, Scott Ostrander.
Zlotnick, running as a Democrat, wants answers about why the town administrative office’s computers were wiped clean of files and programs as Ostrander, his predecessor, left office.
“New information has come to my attention,” said Zlotnick, who is serving his first term. “I have forwarded that information along with other evidence documented at, around and since the time of the incident for further investigation. If there was wrongdoing, I have recommended all those involved be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
He also said he could not further comment as he “feel it’s best for the integrity of the investigation.”
After the incident, Ostrander, a part-time Ballston Spa police officer and Clifton Park court officer, said the wiping of the computers was hearsay. On Thursday, Ostrander said “the allegations remain as untrue . ... There was no legal action to pursue because nothing improper occurred.”
Ostrander also called Zlotnick’s call to the attorney general as “a desperate attempt of a failing campaign to distract voters from the real issue facing Milton residents.”
Also on Thursday, Ostrander’s confidential secretary, Shannon Doherty, said the only thing done was the elimination of emails between herself and Ostrander. She said she was instructed by an IT expert the town contracts with on how to do it.
“I was told everything was saved, nothing would be lost,” Doherty said. “I can tell you Scott had nothing, nothing to do with anything.”
Ostrander also pointed a finger at Zlotnick’s confidential secretary saying she “needed help turning her computer on by two town employees” and that the whole thing was a Windows update.
The call for an investigation involving town computers coincides with a contentious election in which Ostrander is being supported by the state Republican committee with several mailers that accuse Zlotnick of being dangerous, wanting to defund the police (there are no Milton police) and wanting to raise taxes 89.5 percent.
Zlotnick, a lifelong Republican who recently left the party, beat Ostrander in 2019 by running as a Democrat, Conservative and Independence party candidate.
The wiping of the town’s computer of programs and files was discovered by Zlotnick in January 2020, his first month as supervisor. Zlotnick said he is uncertain who did it, but when he went to prepare for the town’s first board meeting of the year, he discovered everything was gone.
At the time, Zlotnick said that Doherty
told him there was confidential information on the computers and that is why nearly everything, including town-owned applications like Word and Excel, were gone.
She now says that’s a lie. She also said that the town never paid anyone to restore the files, though a bill from the vendor shows the town paid $270 to get the computers back up and running.
The bill, dated March 7, 2020, indicates that the computers had no management systems and were set to factory default. The charge was for restoration of those functions.
When discovered in January 2020, Deputy Supervisor Barbara Kerr urged Zlotnick to report the matter to police. However, Zlotnick decided not to, saying “it wasn’t worth it.”
Recently, Zlotnick has said he regretted that decision.
Kerr is now concerned that forensics on the computers will be difficult, considering it’s been nearly two years since the incident.
In 2020, a spokeswoman for the state comptroller’s office said state public officers law “authorizes a public officer to demand from his predecessor in office the books, papers, money and property belonging or appertaining to such office.
“If such demand is refused, the new officer may bring a legal proceeding to obtain the items referred to in the statute.”