Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

Aug 2

2024

OTB chairman rescinds Pledge of Allegiance demand

OTB Chairman Dennis Bassett. Photo by Garrett Looker. The chairman of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has backed off his demand that those attending board meetings recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Dennis Bassett chastised an Investigative Post reporter after OTB’s last board meeting on July 25, contending he wasn’t effusive enough in reciting the pledge. “Why can’t you put your hand on your heart and recite the Pledge?” Bassett said to the reporter after the meeting. “Because if you can’t do that, I would like for you not to be in here when the Pledge is recited. You’re insulting[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Jul 31

2024

Rural IDA leader highest paid in New York

Steven G. Hyde retires effective Aug. 1. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel. When he steps aside tomorrow, Steven G. Hyde — a Genesee County official — will retire as the highest-paid economic development leader in the public sector in New York. His $274,898 salary as president and CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center was nearly $25,000 more than Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023 salary. It was also more than every other industrial development agency leader in the state. To wit: His counterpart in New York City earned $243,500 in 2023. His counterpart in Erie County made $205,000. His counterparts at[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Jul 26

2024

Recite the Pledge of Allegiance … or leave

OTB Chairman Dennis Bassett. Photo by Garrett Looker. If you want to walk into Batavia Downs, the price of admission is pretty obvious: You’ve got to have a few pennies for the slot machines. But the board of directors that runs the casino and harness track has decided there’s a new cost if you want to hear them discuss the business of the publicly owned Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation: Stand up, place your hand over your heart and recite the Pledge of Allegiance loud enough for Chairman Dennis Bassett to hear you. If you don’t? Bassett doesn’t want you[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Jul 24

2024

A changing of the guard for STAMP

Mark Masse, incoming president of the Genesee County Economic Development Center. Illustration by Garrett Looker. Effective August 1, Mark Masse will take over as president and CEO of the Genesee County Economic Development Center — the public agency building the STAMP industrial park. Hailing from Genesee County, Masse earned a public accounting degree from Nazareth University and has worked for the IDA since 2010 as its vice president of operations. He takes over for Steven Hyde, the longtime president and CEO who initiated STAMP’s development. He’ll earn a salary of $185,000 and manage an agency with a $10.5 million budget.[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Jul 23

2024

STAMP struggling to fill rural industrial park

Two companies are backing away from plans to move into the sprawling Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park in Genesee County, Investigative Post has learned. Scannell Properties, a multinational builder, will no longer construct three large warehouse-like buildings at the industrial park, according to a June email from the Genesee County Economic Development Center, the industrial development agency building STAMP. In addition, an unnamed company — whose proposed development was called “Project Emporium” — will no longer construct a campus of buildings, including large data centers and office buildings. Scannell Properties had signed a “right of first refusal” contract for[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Jul 16

2024

New York’s generous subsidies to Amazon

The future site of an Amazon distribution center in Niagara County. Photo by Garrett Looker. New York in recent years has awarded so many tax breaks and subsidies to Amazon that it now ranks as one of the top states in the nation for doling out assistance to the $2 trillion company. The state’s more than $700 million in total subsidies to Amazon ranks it fourth in the country, according to a new data analysis by SwitchOnBusiness, a consulting firm. Only Oregon, Virginia and Illinois have given the e-commerce giant more. The consulting firm gathered its information from Good Jobs[...]

Posted 5 months ago

Jul 9

2024

OTB lawyer says buyouts A-OK

Henry Wojtaszek at a January OTB meeting. Photo by Garrett Looker. An outside attorney representing Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. says the agency is not covered by a state law designed to prevent public authorities from offering so-called “golden parachutes” to outgoing executives. In a written opinion provided to members of OTB’s board on Friday, attorney Terry Connors argues that the state’s Severance Pay Limitation Act has no bearing on a June 27 decision by the agency’s board to authorize lucrative buyouts for three departing executives, including CEO and President Henry Wojtaszek. In his opinion, Connors argues that the act,[...]

Posted 6 months ago

Jul 9

2024

Buffalo Bills begin spending on community projects

The Buffalo Bills stadium under construction in Orchard Park. Photo by Garrett Looker. The good news: The Buffalo Bills have already begun spending millions of dollars on community groups and projects in accordance with the community benefits agreement attached to the team’s new stadium. There’s more: The team has extended the CBA, agreeing to make the annual allocations for three additional years. That means the Bills will spend an additional $9 million on the CBA, for a total of $99 million over 33 years. It also means the money is flowing now, instead of starting in 2026 when the new[...]

Posted 6 months ago