Aug 31
2025
Wojtaszek eyes return to OTB
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Henry Wojtaszek, the former president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., is planning to rejoin the organization he left last year, this time as member of the board of directors.
Elliott Winter, who previously represented Niagara County on the OTB board, resigned from that position last week, creating an opening for Wojtaszek, who lives in North Tonawanda.
Wojtaszek’s appointment as Niagara County’s new representative on the board, by law, must be approved by that county’s legislature. But in text messages to OTB board members, Wojtaszek expressed confidence the county lawmakers will vote to approve his appointment in the coming weeks.
“I just want to give you a quick text to let you know that I’ve been asked to replace Elliott Winter on the Western OTB Board and I’ve accepted,” Wojtaszek wrote in one text message obtained by Investigative Post. “I look forward to seeing you in September at the Board meeting.”
Three sources, one an OTB board member, confirmed the veracity of the text message sent by Wojtaszek. The board next meets September 24.
Rebecca Wydysh, the chair of the Niagara County Legislature, did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday. Wojtaszek, reached by phone, hung up as soon as an Investigative Post reporter identified himself. He did not return a subsequent call and did not respond to a text message seeking comment.
Donate to support our nonprofit newsroomIn a statement, OTB spokesperson Mike DeGeorge confirmed Winter had resigned but said President and CEO Byron Brown “has not heard from Mr. Wojtaszek that he has been appointed to the Board of Directors.” The agency, he added, “has not been officially notified that Niagara County has appointed a new Board member.”
Four members of the board of directors, however, said on Saturday they understood Wojtaszek to be seeking the board seat. Winter, in an interview, said he resigned from his position for personal reasons and that Wojtaszek “said he’s interested in it.” He said he called Wojtaszek last week to inform him he’d resigned from his board seat.
“This period of time in my life is just busy and I can’t be everywhere,” Winter said, noting that he runs a jewelry store and that his children are involved in extracurricular activities. “It wasn’t an easy decision but I had to prioritize.”
Dennis Bassett, the chairman of the OTB board of directors, said he’d heard Wojtaszek may join the board but said he was waiting for more information. He stressed that if Wojtaszek does rejoin OTB, “it wouldn’t affect the direction President Brown is going with the reforms,” referring to a series of “reform agendas” Brown’s administration has implemented this year.
Antonella Rotillio, an official with the United Public Service Employees Union that represents hundreds of OTB employees, said in a statement the union is “deeply disappointed but not surprised” to learn Wojtaszek was seeking to rejoin the agency. She noted employees recently won a new contract that included 3 percent raises under Brown.
“I really have to question his motives,” Rotillio said of Wojtaszek. “This is highly suspicious especially given how great the corporation is currently doing and the gains we have achieved in a small time for the workforce.”
Should he join the OTB board of directors, Wojtaszek will be one of 17 leaders of the agency, owned by Buffalo, Rochester and 15 counties in Western and Central New York. OTB owns and operates the racetrack, hotel and casino at Batavia Downs as well as several betting parlors located throughout its footprint. A public agency, OTB is required by law to send 44 percent of its revenue to the state and a portion of its profits to the cities and counties that own it. Under a system of weighted voting, the Niagara County seat has eight votes out of a total of 99. The agency brings in revenues of about $90 million each year and distributes around $10 million to the municipal governments.
Wojtaszek, an attorney by trade, began his tenure at OTB in 2013 when he was hired as the agency’s general counsel. He ascended to the role of president and CEO in 2016. His administration was subsequently beset by a series of scandals. Wojtaszek, for example, doled out bonuses and raises to himself and his top executives, allowed board members to enroll in the agency’s gold-plated health insurance plan and wined and dined at steakhouses in Las Vegas and Saratoga Springs as he traveled to conferences with other agency leaders. He also allowed top executives to attend Buffalo Bills and Sabres games at the agency’s expense. Use of the stadium and arena suites included food and booze that OTB also paid for.
The largesse, which Wojtaszek defended as stemming from rising revenues, occasionally attracted the attention of authorities.
In 2019, for example, the FBI opened an investigation into allegations OTB had awarded contracts to politically-connected companies in Rochester and Niagara County. Wojtaszek, prior to joining OTB, served as the chairman of the Niagara County Republican Party and former board chairman Richard Bianchi served as a leader of the Monroe County Conservative Party. Former Chief Operating Officer Michael Nolan later alleged Wojtaszek fired him in 2020 for cooperating with federal investigators.
Then, in 2021, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued a pair of audits that criticized the agency’s distribution of Buffalo Bills, Sabres and concert tickets to executives and for allowing them to drink and eat in stadium and arena suites. The audits further criticized Wojtaszek’s use of a cell phone and car paid for by the agency. OTB, DiNapoli wrote at the time, “needs to clean up its operations.”
By 2023, state lawmakers agreed to reform the agency and, in legislation passed as part of the state budget that year, fired the board of directors. The legislation further instituted a system of weighted voting for the new board, throwing control of OTB to Buffalo and Rochester along with Erie and Monroe counties, all of which are led by Democrats. The board shakeup eventually led to Wojtaszek resigning last year, paving the way for the board to appoint Brown — the former Democratic mayor of Buffalo — as the new president and CEO.
But even Wojtaszek’s exit proved controversial. The board approved for him a nearly $300,000 buyout agreement, equal to a year’s pay. The package was subsequently called illegal by state lawmakers who asked Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the matter. It’s not clear if she did so. DiNapoli, however, agreed to conduct a third audit of the agency. That review is ongoing.
As one of his final acts before he departed Batavia Downs at the end of last year, Wojtaszek hired his son for a job at OTB.
Following his departure from OTB, Wojtaszek was hired for legal services by the Town of Lewiston and subsequently joined Lippes Mathias, the law firm led, in part, by former state Attorney General Dennis Vacco.
