Jun 5
2023
OTB board extends embattled executives
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Editor’s note: Investigative Post and the Niagara Gazette share selected stories, including the following report from Mark Scheer, who previously worked for Investigative Post.
Days before state lawmakers agreed to abolish their positions, the board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. approved new employee contracts for several members of its management team, including CEO and President Henry Wojtaszek.
Documents available on OTB’s website show the board approved contracts during its April 27 meeting after exiting an executive session where directors discussed personnel matters behind closed doors. The minutes reflect only that the board approved the employee contracts. They do not show the final vote among directors.
The vote took place six days before the May 3 approval of the 2023-24 state budget, which immediately ended the term of all the board’s existing directors. The budget language established a new board that will operate under a weighted voting system that will give more voting power to larger municipalities served by OTB, including the cities of Buffalo and Rochester and the counties of Erie and Monroe.
The change shifts power from rural counties controlled by Republicans to urban counties and cities in the hands of Democrats. That raised the specter of the new board ousting Wojtaszek, a Republican power broker.
“This is all about cleaning up a board that has a pervasive culture of corruption,” state Sen. Tim Kennedy told Investigative Post last month.
Copies of the contracts were not included in the board materials from the April 27 meeting. The minutes from the meeting do not offer any details, such as the names of the employees receiving the extended contracts.
Wojtaszek met Monday with a reporter and members of the Niagara Gazette’s editorial board. He acknowledged that the board granted him a three-year contract at his current rate of pay, more than $200,000 per year.
Wojtaszek declined to say how many other “officers and employees” were awarded contracts by the former board, confirming only that two of the organization’s vice presidents — Scott Kiedrowski and William White — also received three-year deals at their current pay.
It remains to be seen whether the incoming board will honor the employment contracts which – on paper, at least – would tie all three individuals to the organization through April 2026.
“We don’t know what the new board is going to do,” Wojtaszek said.
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When asked why the board voted to approve contracts with him and other employees less than a week before state lawmakers agreed to remove them from OTB’s board, Wojtaszek said the move was recommended by John Owens, an attorney out of Rochester.
Minutes from the April 27 meeting show that, in addition to approving the employee contracts, the former board agreed to hire a new assistant corporation counsel. Wojtaszek confirmed on Monday that Owens was given the job.
“He gave the advice (on the contracts) prior to being hired,” Wojtaszek said.
OTB’s former attorney, Mark Gabriele, resigned in January, according to records obtained by Investigative Post. Gabriele, who earned a salary from OTB in addition to operating the law firm of Gabriele & Berrigan. He was paid $64,646 in 2022.
When asked for copies of the employee contracts, Wojtaszek directed the newspaper to request them under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. The Gazette filed an FOI request seeking the document Monday afternoon.
OTB manages betting parlors across Western New York and a casino, hotel and horse racing track at Batavia Downs in Genesee County.
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Investigative Post and the Gazette have reported extensively on improprieties at the OTB since 2018. That reporting prompted investigations by state auditors and state and federal authorities for, among other things, providing free health insurance to board directors and improper use of tickets and concessions for sports games, concerts and other events that were supposed to support the organization’s promotional efforts. In addition, one audit flagged Wojtaszek for failing to reimburse OTB for his personal use of an agency car.
Democrats, including Kennedy, the chief sponsor of the budget language, described the board shakeup as long overdue in light of years of questionable decision-making and lack of transparency at OTB.
After the state budget was approved, Kennedy described the OTB changes as “a big victory for the people of Western New York” while suggesting it roots out corruption by removing directors who “demonstrated a blatant disregard for the public good.”
The reform effort drew criticism from Republican leaders who described it as a “power grab” by liberal Albany elites who wanted to give more control to Democratic strongholds like Erie County and Buffalo at the expense of rural communities that benefit from OTB’s operations.
During his interview with the Gazette on Monday, Wojtaszek defended the organization’s operation under his watch, suggesting OTB has increased the amount of profits it returns to host municipalities like Niagara County by millions of dollars in recent years. He also said it has made changes in its policies and practices in keeping with recommendations from the state comptroller as directed in a pair of critical audits.
While he acknowledged that OTB remains the subject of investigations involving what he would only describe as involving entities at the state and federal level, Wojtaszek expressed confidence the public benefit corporation and its officials will ultimately be exonerated.
“We haven’t seen anything to give us any indication that there’s any corruption,” he said.
Last week, Investigative Post and the Gazette reported that OTB is being sued by a former executive of the agency, contending board members should pay back millions of dollars for health insurance, tickets and other perks they were not entitled to. That case is ongoing in federal court.
