Articles for Phil Gambini

Dec 10

2019

Buffalo Billion felon: Wired and hired

Republicans on the Niagara County Legislature voted Tuesday to hire a felon involved in the Buffalo Billion scandal to serve as the county’s spokesperson. In a partisan 8-5 vote, the Legislature approved the hiring of Kevin Schuler, a politically wired executive at LPCiminelli until he pleaded guilty in May 2018 to two felony charges involving the fixing of a bid to manage the construction of the $750 million Tesla plant in South Buffalo. Schuler will serve as the county’s public information officer and earn $79,003, an increase of nearly $10,000 from the job’s 2019 salary. The job entails handling[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Dec 6

2019

Buffalo Billion felon candidate for county job

A felon who played a central role in the Buffalo Billion scandal is now a finalist to land a job as the public face of Niagara County government. Kevin Schuler is one of two candidates county legislators are scheduled to interview Monday for the job of public information officer, who acts as spokesman for county government and fields media requests. The county’s 2020 budget proposes the PIO job pay $79,003 a year. The new salary amounts to a nearly $10,000 raise. Schuler was the longtime political fixer for Louis Ciminelli, a prominent developer and influential Republican until his fall[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Oct 10

2019

OTB relents, discloses ticket recipients

For months now, the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. has refused to release the names of people who attended Bills and Sabres games in luxury suites it leases from the teams. Today, the OTB relented and released 201 documents that purports to identify ticket recipients. OTB acted in the face of a threatened lawsuit from the Niagara Gazette, which, along with Investigative Post, filed Freedom of Information requests this spring that were subsequently denied. OTB officials contended that release of names would represent an invasion of privacy of ticket recipients. Officials from the state Committee on Open Government[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 31

2019

Free ride over for OTB boss

The pay and perks are aplenty for the head of the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. There’s Henry Wojtaszek’s annual salary of $179,462. A state pension. Forty-seven days a year of paid time off, including vacation, holidays, personal time and sick time. Access to gold-plated health, dental and vision insurance, which he has opted out of in favor of an annual cash payment of at least $6,000. And, until April, a cell phone and automobile paid for by OTB. Wojtaszsek abruptly surrendered the car and phone after Investigative Post and the Niagara Gazette requested records under the state[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 19

2019

State comptroller to audit OTB

The state Comptroller announced Friday his office is going to take a close look at how the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. does business. The audit will consider not only the routine aspects of the OTB’s operation, but several questionable business practices exposed by Investigative Post and the Niagara Gazette. They include deluxe health, vision and dental insurance provided to part-time board members and the distribution of tickets to concerts and sporting events. “Questions have been raised about the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation that warrant a deeper look,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement. “Our audit team[...]

Posted 5 years ago

May 8

2019

OTB slow-walking information requests

The obfuscation of the Western Regional Off Track Betting Corp. was on full display Tuesday night when its president, Henry Wojtaszek, spoke at a meeting of the Niagara County Legislature. Wojtaszek had been asked by lawmakers to address several issues, including his refusal to release the names of those provided tickets and Sabres and Bills tickets purchased by the OTB. Former State Senator George Maziarz has charged that OTB employees and board members are improperly helping themselves to tickets. Wojtaszek insisted that the tickets are given out to high rollers at the OTB’s casino at Batavia Downs, but he has refused[...]

Posted 6 years ago

Mar 15

2019

Key witness in ‘Billion case avoids prison

Kevin Schuler, the prosecution’s star witness in the Buffalo Billion corruption trial, escaped a prison term at his sentencing in Manhattan on Friday. Schuler was an executive at LPCiminelli who detailed the bid rigging scheme that resulted in the company landing the contract to build the SolarCity plant in South Buffalo. His testimony was key to convicting his former boss, Louis Ciminelli, and a top state economic development official, Alain Kaloyeros, on corruption charges. Both were sentenced to prison, although they remain free pending appeals. Schuler is required to perform 400 hours of community service over the next two[...]

Posted 6 years ago