Tag: OTB

Jul 12

2024

Harsh words for costly OTB buyouts

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State Sen. Sean Ryan, left,  Assemblywoman Monica Wallace and Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker. “Egregious.”  “Self-dealing.”  “Corrupt.”  A trio of local Democratic officials used those terms and a few other choice words on Friday to describe contractual buyouts for three outgoing executives that will come at a combined cost to Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. of more than $500,000.  During a press conference outside the OTB branch on Clinton Street in Cheektowaga, State Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, D-Lancaster, assailed the six-figure buyouts as “sweetheart” deals that are “wholly unnecessary.” Joining her in criticizing the deals were[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jul 9

2024

OTB lawyer says buyouts A-OK

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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 1 year ago

Jul 3

2024

State lawmaker calls OTB buyouts illegal

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OTB Chairman Dennis Bassett, left, and Henry Wojtaszek, president and CEO. Photo by Garrett Looker. State Assemblywoman Monica Wallace is calling the six-figure buyout for the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. president and CEO, Henry Wojtaszek, “blatantly illegal” and said she will ask state Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the “golden parachutes” going to three top OTB leaders. “There is no question that I will be asking the AG’s office, the comptroller’s office, and perhaps even the inspector general, to look into this,” Wallace, a Lancaster Democrat, told Investigative Post. The OTB board of directors voted last week to[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Jun 27

2024

Embattled Wojtaszek leaving OTB

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Henry Wojtaszek, OTB’s president and CEO. Photo by Garrett Looker. Henry Wojtaszek, the president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., will depart the public gambling agency at the end of the year. Two other top officials at OTB will depart early next year. According to a resolution passed by the OTB board of directors Thursday morning, Wojtaszek will continue to work for the agency until the end of the year. At that point, he will be paid an additional one year’s salary of $287,000 as a buyout.  Jacquelyne Leach, the longtime chief financial officer for OTB, will depart[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 29

2024

OTB considering hotel expansion at Batavia Downs

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The board of directors for Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. agreed on Thursday to hire two companies to help explore the possible expansion of the 84-room hotel at Batavia Downs in Genesee County.  Approval of the agreements came over the objection of one board director — Erie County’s representative Tim Callan,  who said he still has questions about how management arrived at the two vendors chosen to do the work.  “Management did not answer my questions to my satisfaction,” Callan said following Thursday’s meeting.  The board, minus Callan, authorized one contract for $76,000 with Bammel Architects, an Orchard Park firm[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 23

2024

OTB wants to expand gambling in Buffalo

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After an eight-month delay, Buffalo’s new representative on the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board of directors participated in her first meeting Thursday and has already taken on a major project: Changing state law to make it easier for Buffalo residents to bet on horse races. Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney, former deputy mayor to Mayor Byron Brown, said she wants to give bars, restaurants and bowling alleys in Buffalo and Western New York the opportunity to install betting terminals, supplied by OTB, as a way to earn more revenue. The terminals, called E-Z Bet, allow gamblers to bet on any horse race[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Feb 6

2024

Brown angling for top job at OTB

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From left: Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, OTB President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek, OTB board member James Wilmot. Mayor Byron Brown, who has pursued at least two jobs outside City Hall in the past six months, has his eyes set on yet another: president and CEO of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., sources tell Investigative Post. And those political insiders say the job’s current occupant, Henry Wojtaszek, is looking for an exit strategy, too.  It’s little wonder that Brown would be interested in the job. Wojtaszek has one of the best-compensated public service posts in the state. The OTB president[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jan 24

2024

Lawsuit accuses OTB of sexual harassment, wage theft

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The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. was sued Wednesday on claims two executives sexually harassed a female employee and managers at Batavia Downs stole tips from her and other bartenders. Among the allegations lodged against Chief Operating Officer Scott Kiedrowski and Director of Security Daniel Wood: a pattern of sexual harassment that extended over several years. Kiedrowski invited female employees to attend Bills and Sabres games at OTB’s suites, which one plaintiff contends was an effort to seduce her.   The lawsuit contends the alleged wage theft was brought to the attention of OTB management but, after correcting the problem, President[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post