OTB may vote on Brown contract next week

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The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. is expected to discuss — if not vote on — an employment contract for Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown at its board of directors meeting next week.

Reporter J. Dale Shoemaker appeared on WCNY’s Capitol Pressroom to explain the latest.

The board, at a special meeting two weeks ago, offered Brown the OTB president and CEO job. He would replace Henry Wojtaszek, who has led the agency since 2016. Wojtaszek this summer announced plans to accept a $299,000 buyout and step down at the end of the year.

Two state lawmakers have called buyouts offered to Wojtaszek and two other departing officials unlawful and have asked the state Attorney General and Inspector General to investigate.

The board of directors will meet on Wednesday, Sept. 25 and Thursday Sept. 26, when Brown’s contract could be on the agenda.

Several state agencies, namely the comptroller’s office and the Gaming Commission, said this week that they are monitoring the transition. 

If Brown accepts the top job at OTB, he’ll need to apply for two licenses from the Gaming Commission, spokesperson Lee Park said. He would need a “Video Lottery Key Gaming Employee License” to oversee the hundreds of video gaming machines OTB operates, as well as a “Track Management License” to oversee the harness track at Batavia Downs. The video gaming side of OTB drives the lion’s share of the agency’s annual revenue. 

The agency expects to pull in $44 million in revenue this year and pay out a little more than $9 million to the cities and counties that own it.

Park said Brown had yet to apply for either license and there’s no “statutory or regulatory” deadlines for him to do so. However, Park said, “it’s reasonable to anticipate that, should an individual be hired, the applicable licensing material would be submitted to the Commission soon thereafter.”

Park noted that the Gaming Commission’s oversight of the transition is limited and the body has “no regulatory role in approving the hiring or the terms of hiring OTB leadership.” That’s up to the board of directors. 

Still,“The Commission is monitoring the transition to ensure that management applies for the appropriate licenses to conduct business, upon which time the Commission will determine if the applicant meets the required licensing thresholds,” Park said.

The comptroller’s office, which has dinged OTB in the past for officials’ use of sporting tickets and Wojtaszek’s use of an agency vehicle, said it’s also paying attention to the leadership transition.

Jennifer Freeman, a spokesperson for the comptroller’s office, said while the agency does not currently have any audits underway and has no audits planned, the new CEO should take note of issues raised in past reviews.  

“While our audits resulted in statutory reform and corrective actions by the organization, we encourage the new president to review the findings of those audits and the organization’s actions carefully to see if additional actions are needed,” she said. “We will continue to monitor WOTB and plan future audits as warranted.”

J. Dale Shoemaker