Categories for News

Aug 1

2023

GOP lawmakers fight with public dollars to control OTB

Published by

It’s going to cost taxpayers in rural Western New York counties big bucks to support a legal challenge against state-imposed changes to the management structure at Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. A June 20 legal services agreement obtained by the Niagara Gazette indicates that at least three counties — Niagara, Orleans and Genesee — agreed to pay $5,000 apiece, for a total of $15,000, to cover a retainer fee for Lippes Mathias, the Buffalo law firm hired to oversee the OTB litigation. Under the agreement, the firm’s lead attorney — former state Attorney General and U.S. Attorney Dennis Vacco —[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 27

2023

Mayor, Council cut deal to bail out Braymiller

Published by

The Buffalo Common Council on Thursday voted to approve a package of  funding for small businesses across the city, a pot of money Mayor Byron Brown’s administration conjured out of pandemic relief aid to make a $563,000 forgivable loan to a downtown grocery store more palatable to lawmakers. Under the plan, Council members will each have $389,000 earmarked for small business grants in their districts, with an additional $2 million in loan funding also available. That $5.5 million package passed Thursday alongside a plan that reallocates $59.9 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding from various proposed community programs[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 20

2023

GOP lawmakers to sue over OTB reforms

Published by

Dennis Vacco, the state’s former attorney general, has been hired by Niagara County and other Republican-led counties in Western New York to challenge reform measures enacted by the state Legislature in May that affect the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. The changes removed OTB’s existing board and reconstituted its voting powers to shift control from rural to urban counties. Proponents said the changes were necessary to address corruption and cronyism; opponents characterized it as a power play by Democrats at the expense of Republicans.  Kevin Schuler, Niagara County’s public information officer, confirmed this week that the county and “several other[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 19

2023

Officials rebuke OTB over 11th hour contract extensions

Published by

Editor’s note: This story is a continuation of Investigative Post’s content sharing arrangement with the Niagara Gazette.  Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick used one word to describe the contract extensions recently granted to 18 executives at the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation: “obscene.” State Assembly Member Monica Wallace, who sponsored OTB reform legislation, termed the contract extensions “highly suspect.”  The objections were triggered by an April 27 vote by the OTB board to give multi-year contract extensions to CEO and President Henry Wojtaszek and 17 members of his management team. The board acted just days before the state Legislature added[...]

Posted 9 months ago

Jul 13

2023

Company seeking subsidies circulates fake study

Published by

A plastics manufacturer seeking tax breaks to build a plant in Lockport has put its application on hold after being called out Thursday for circulating a summary of a study that was fabricated and produced by artificial intelligence. Prior to a public hearing Thursday, the India-based firm SRI CV Plastics, seeking $312,000 in subsidies from the Lockport Industrial Development Agency, provided the agency’s board a one-page summary of a study that touted the safety of PVC pipes, one of the products the company plans to make at the plant. A University at Buffalo professor, Lourdes Vera, called out the company’s[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jul 10

2023

Contract extensions for 18 OTB executives

Published by

Days before state lawmakers stripped them of their duties amid concerns about corruption within the organization, the board of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. signed off on multi-year contract extensions for 18 top executives. Among them was CEO and President Henry Wojtaszek, who received a three-and-half year extension that pays him more than the governor of New York.  OTB officials refused to voluntarily provide details of the contract extensions, and instead required the Niagara Gazette to file a request for the documents under the state Freedom of Information Law. Those documents, obtained by the Gazette late Friday, show Wojtaszek[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jul 5

2023

Federal oversight ends of county jails

Published by

Editor’s note: This is the first story reported by Bruce Rushton for Investigative Post. Bruce joined the staff last week; he covers criminal justice. He can be reached at brushton@investigativepost.com. A federal judge has approved termination of a consent decree designed to improve health care and reduce suicide risk in Erie County jail facilities. At the request of county lawyers and the U.S. Department of Justice, which sued the county in 2009, U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny on June 13 approved dismissal of the decree created more than a decade ago to provide oversight of the Erie County[...]

Posted 10 months ago

Jun 29

2023

Yet another subsidy for local meatball maker

Published by

A West Seneca-based frozen food manufacturer — the rumored maker of Olive Garden’s meatballs — won yet another tax break from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday, its third since 2016. And that’s not counting six previous low-interest loans the IDA has granted to Rosina Food Products dating to 1981. The company manufactures frozen Italian food products, including meatballs, ravioli and pizza toppings. In a unanimous vote, the IDA board of directors approved $749,000 in property, sales and mortgage tax breaks for Rosina. Executives said the company will use the tax breaks to renovate and expand two buildings[...]

Posted 10 months ago
Investigative Post

Get our newsletters delivered to your inbox * indicates required

Newsletters *