Gov. Kathy Hochul had little to say on Monday when asked for her thoughts on management of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., including recent findings that one of the corporation’s top executives spent more than $27,000 in public funds on food and drinks for himself, his friends and other guests over a three-year period.
During a stop in Sanborn for a press conference at the SUNY Niagara campus in Niagara County, Hochul did not respond when asked if she was aware of management issues at WROTB or if her office intended to do anything about them.
“Let me check into this,” she said. “I have no details on what you’re talking about.”
Following her answer, the governor fielded a question on a different topic from another reporter.
The Niagara Gazette questioned the governor about WROTB’s operations following a series of recent reports raising renewed concerns about the organization’s use of public funds.
Last month, Investigative Post and the Gazette reported, following an internal review of operations performed by current WROTB management, that one senior executive ran up tabs at 34 Rush and Fortunes, two restaurants and bars inside Batavia Downs Gaming and Hotel.
Investigative Post later confirmed and reported that the executive in question is Chief Operating Officer Scott Kiedrowski, a former Niagara County Republican Party chairman and the right-hand man of former CEO Henry Wojtaszek.
The Gazette’s question for the governor also followed a July 24 Investigative Post report on pay raises authorized by WROTB’s board of directors for several top executives, including Kiedrowski and current President and CEO Byron Brown who saw his annual salary increased to $303,850 a year, a little more than $50,000 higher than the governor’s own annual salary. Last year, the organization drew media attention and criticism from state lawmakers when it agreed to buy Wojtaszek out of his contract as CEO and president and pay him his full year’s salary of $287,000.
Hochul has for years remained mostly silent on management issues at WROTB, which have included allegations involving misuse of public funds, questionable contract awards and questions over the legality of lifetime health insurance benefits previously provided to part-time board members.
In 2023, following several critical state audits, state lawmakers terminated the public agency’s 17-member board of directors and instituted a new weighted system of voting that shifted control over decision-making from mostly rural counties controlled by Republicans in Western New York to communities traditionally led by Democrats, including Erie and Monroe counties and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester.
In February, current management led by Brown instituted a so-called “reform agenda” described as an effort to usher in a “new era” of accountability, transparency and operational efficiency.
In June, WROTB officials announced the implementation of several new policies, including an update of guidance for handling so-called “house accounts,” those covering the distribution of so-called “comps” for food, beverages, gambling “free play,” hotel accommodations and merchandise by officers and employees. The policy change adopted by the board followed the release of a report by Brown that found $27,595 in comps were documented as having been distributed by one officer, later identified as Kiedrowski, from 2021 to 2024. In that instance, Brown’s report indicates the officer comped “friends” 12 times for a total of $1,592 during the time period in question.
Kiedrowski previously noted in response to a request for comment from the newspaper that Brown’s memo “clearly” indicated that all WROTB procedures were followed and there are no missing funds and “everything is fully accounted for.”
WROTB’s reform agenda and the release of internal reports from Brown come amid an ongoing audit of the agency’s operations by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office.