Byron Brown chosen to lead Western OTB

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Mayor Byron Brown, incoming OTB chief. Photo by Garrett Looker.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown today was selected to head the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. 

Brown, 65, was one of two finalists interviewed by OTB’s governing board, which unanimously selected the mayor after five hours of closed-door interviews and deliberations.

Elliott Winter, who represents Niagara County on the OTB board and served on the search committee, told reporters Brown is a good fit given his experience running a city government.

“He oversees 3,000 employees with a budget of over $600 million. He’s worked in the same capacity for the last 20 years and the City of Buffalo has seen a resurgence over the last 20 years with the hotels, the economic development, the restaurants, the entertainment,” Winter told reporters. “And we think he will be a valuable asset to our organization.”

Brown’s hiring is subject to successful contract negotiations and him acquiring a gaming license from the state Gaming Commission. Final approval could come at OTB’s next board meetings, scheduled for Sept. 25 and 26.

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Two sources told Investigative Post that four directors questioned the search process during Thursday’s closed-door session. The directors were concerned with a lack of transparency around how finalists were chosen, the sources said.

A total of 133 candidates applied for the job, a pool that was pared down to 10 finalists, according to sources. Four of the finalists were then interviewed by the search committee and two were interviewed by the full board today. The other person interviewed worked in the energy sector, not the gaming industry, a source said. 

OTB officials declined to identify the other job candidate. 

OTB’s Vice President of Operations, Sean Schiano, was said to be one of the four finalists but was not interviewed Thursday, sources said.

Related: The musical chairs begin in City Hall

Brown would succeed Henry Wojtaszek, 61, the current president and CEO since 2016, who has been the subject of scrutiny and criticism the past five years. The board in June approved a severance package for Wojtaszek that includes a $299,000 payment, equal to his annual salary. Wojtaszek’s buyout has been challenged by two local state lawmakers as a violation of the state’s “golden parachute” law. The lawmakers have called on the state  Attorney General and Inspector General to investigate.

Brown is expected to be paid in the same range as Wojtaszek, which would represent a huge pay increase from his $178,518 salary as mayor, even though OTB is a much smaller operation. For example, the Batavia-based public benefit corporation has a staff of 469 full- and part-time employees, vs the city payroll of 2,770.

Brown, who first took office in 2006, is Buffalo’s first Black mayor. He is also the city’s longest-serving chief executive, having won a record-setting fifth term in November 2021 by means of a write-in campaign, after losing the Democratic primary to India Walton that year.

In the last 12 years, Brown’s tenure has been marked by budget deficits that drained the city’s reserve funds, as he resisted raising property taxes and failed to develop new revenue streams, even as the city’s operating costs steadily rose. His successor faces a projected budget shortfall of at least $40 million next year, with more deficits forecast in the years that follow. 

Winter, the OTB director, said the city’s budget deficits under Brown were not a concern and declined to comment further.

OTB operates a casino, hotel and harness racing track in Batavia and betting parlors and kiosks spread out among the two cities and 15 counties that own the agency. Profits are shared with the municipalities and the agency has projected it will send as much as $10 million back to the cities and counties this year.

OTB has been the subject of investigations by the FBI and state comptroller in recent years.

Controversies include:

• The use of tickets to sporting events and concerts by OTB executives and board members.
• Board members receiving gold-plated healthcare benefits, something the state attorney general has said is not allowed. OTB later changed its policy, disallowing new board members to receive health insurance.
• An FBI investigation into the awarding of contracts to politically connected vendors.
• Wojtaszek’s personal use of a car and cell phone paid for by OTB — perks he later gave up.

Brown’s interest in the OTB job has been rumored for months. Investigative Post first reported his potential move in February.

Antonella Rotilio, head of OTB’s employee union, praised Brown’s record dealing with the city’s labor unions, saying he “has supported working people.” 

“The success of the corporation is a team effort, and our members are a big part of that equation,” Rotilio said. “Working together and building strong relationships between labor and management is essential to the success of the corporation.”

State Sen. Sean Ryan, who is likely to run for mayor next year, said Brown’s departure “will be the beginning of a new era” for the city.

“For the first time in nearly two decades, Buffalo will have the chance to address our many challenges with a clean slate and fresh eyes,” he said.

Ryan added that it’s a new era for OTB, as well.

“It is my hope that he will commit to cleaning up the culture of corruption that has defined our local OTB for many years now,” Ryan said. “He can start by calling for the board to rescind the illegal golden parachutes approved earlier this year.”

Ryan, along with Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, were the lawmakers questioning Wojtaszek’s buyout. In a statement, Wallace said while there may be a change in leadership, she still believes the buyouts to be illegal.

“These golden parachutes are still illegal and a flagrant waste of public dollars, and the board should vote immediately to rescind them,” she said. “OTB has a culture of wasteful spending at best and possible corruption at worst. OTB revenue is intended to benefit the public, not line the pockets of top executives and board members.”

Timothy Callan, Erie County’s representative on the board of directors, said he had qualms about the search process but ultimately felt like Brown was the right man for the job. Callan said Brown’s commitments to improving transparency, working more closely with the board, improving relations with the media and meeting with leadership of the municipalities made him feel comfortable voting in favor of Brown.

“While I was not happy with the search process and the way it was conducted … after interviewing both candidates, Mr. Brown was the more knowledgable of the two candidates,” Callan told Investigative Post. “I felt comfortable voting for Mr. Brown to be CEO.”

Should Brown take over as president and CEO, improving relations between OTB, lawmakers, the state Gaming Commission and others in Albany will be a priority, Callan said.

Callan, Buffalo representative Crystal Rodriquez-Dabney, Rochester representative James Wilmot and others joined the board last year after then-state Sen. Tim Kennedy got reform legislation included as part of the state budget. That shakeup instituted weighted voting and effectively handed control of the agency to Democratically-led Buffalo and Rochester as well as Erie and Monroe counties.

Brown spokesperson Mike DeGeorge did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

J. Dale Shoemaker