Niagara County Democrats oppose the idea of allowing former Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. boss Henry Wojtaszek to return to the organization as a member of its board of directors.
They also conceded on Tuesday, in the wake of an Investigative Post report about Wojtaszek expressing interest in an OTB board seat, that they lack the votes needed to block such a move in the county legislature, where Republicans outnumber them by an 11-to-4 margin.
The legislature’s minority leader, Chris Robins, D-Niagara Falls, said he’s heard about the possibility of Wojtaszek replacing Elliot Winter as the county’s OTB board representative but has not been told by any members of the Republican-led majority if they intend to present a request to do so as part of a formal resolution.
Robins said it “makes no sense” to bring Wojtaszek back to OTB in any capacity, given the history of high-profile scandals and questionable decision-making that occurred during his tenure as the public benefit corporation’s CEO and president. He said he finds it hard to believe county Republicans couldn’t find someone else — just about anyone else — to represent its interests on the OTB board.
“I keep thinking that we can now finally turn over a new leaf and put an end to this, and it just keeps coming back,” Robins said. “I just don’t think that’s a good fit for obvious reasons. I don’t need a long speech to say why I oppose it. It goes without saying. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Legislator Carla Speranza, D-Lockport, agreed.
“I just don’t want to see us with a here-we-go-again situation where we thought we were moving in the right direction and getting more governance and control over that group and it seems like it might be a step back,” she said. “I’m not saying he’s not qualified, but I don’t know if he’s the right person to be in that role. I have very strong doubts about it considering what’s transpired there in the past.”
The newspapers’ reporting partner, Investigative Post in Buffalo, first reported on Sunday that Wojtaszek has expressed interest in rejoining WROTB as a member of the board. The news outlet obtained text messages to board members in which Wojtaszek expressed confidence that county lawmakers will vote to approve his appointment in the coming weeks. Three sources, one an OTB board member, confirmed the veracity of the text message sent by Wojtaszek.
“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.”
In 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.
The suggestion that Wojtaszek will soon be returned to OTB as a board member drew a sharp rebuke from Antonella Rotilio, labor relations representative for unionized OTB employees.
In an email to board members and members of Western New York’s delegation of state lawmakers in Albany, Rotilio said she was “disappointed” but “not surprised” by the news. She described Wojtaszek’s bid to become a board member as having the potential to be the latest in a string of “embarrassments” for the organization and said the general attitude toward employees and their needs has improved under Brown’s watch. She described allowing Wojtaszek to return in a leadership role as “damaging.”
“It raises fundamental questions of accountability, priorities, and respect, not just for the workforce, but for the public you represent. It is my responsibility to advocate for the members I represent, and I am committed to fulfilling this duty,” Rotilio wrote in her letter. “I cannot remain silent in the face of actions that affect their rights and well-being. As a citizen within the very communities you serve, I find the political maneuvering behind this decision deeply troubling and offensive to the values and accountability that should guide a public benefit corporation.”
Replacing Winter with Wojtaszek as the county’s OTB board representative would require approval by a majority of Niagara County lawmakers. The legislature’s next scheduled meeting is Sept. 16. As of Tuesday afternoon, there was no agenda available for the upcoming meeting and Democrats said they have not been made aware of any plans to introduce a resolution to formally replace Winter — who stepped down as the county’s OTB board representative last week — with Wojtaszek.
Both Robins and Speranza said they were not sure if the matter would be brought up during legislature committee meetings scheduled for Tuesday evening.
Niagara County Democratic Party Chairman Chris Borgatti said given the power structure on the Republican side of the political aisle and within the legislature itself, he wouldn’t be surprised if GOP county lawmakers appoint Wojtaszek to the OTB board as he predicted in his texts to current board directors.
“If he wants it, he’s got it,” Borgatti said. “They are going to do whatever he says. It’s not a surprise here. The only folks who can stop Henry Wojtaszek and the corruption in Niagara County are other Republicans. If they don’t, Republican voters need to step up. Democrats have been calling this out for years because we’ve had enough.”
While Eight District Legislator Rich Andres, R-North Tonawanda, is the county’s current GOP chairman, it is widely known that Wojtaszek remains heavily involved in decision-making at the top of the political committee.
A reporter representing the Niagara Gazette called all 15 members of the legislature on Tuesday in an effort to gauge lawmakers’ opinions about the possibility of returning Wojtaszek to OTB.
A majority of Republican county lawmakers, including Andres, current Chair Rebecca Wydysh, R-Lewiston, and Majority Leader Randy Bradt, R-North Tonawanda, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
County lawmakers who did respond indicated that they were not aware of the situation, did not read Investigative Post’s story, or both.
Republican lawmakers Chris McKimmie, from Niagara Falls, and Jesse Gooch, of North Tonawanda, both said they didn’t have details about any proposed move by Wojtaszek to WROTB’s board and were not in a position to comment.
“There hasn’t been any official conversation,” McKimmie said.
“I honestly don’t want to make any comments one way or another on it until I understand all the facts,” Gooch said. “I’d like to learn more information about it.”
Wojtaszek started working at WROTB as agency counsel in 2013. He ascended to the role of president and CEO in 2016. His administration dealt with a series of scandals, including questions raised about bonuses and raises given to himself and his top executives and about the agency’s practice of providing part-time board members with a gold-plated health insurance plan. Investigative Post and other media outlets previously reported that Wojtaszek wined and dined at steakhouses in Las Vegas and Saratoga Springs as he traveled to conferences with other agency leaders and that top executives from WROTB attended Buffalo Bills and Sabres games at the agency’s expense, including food and booze purchased inside stadium and arena suites that came at the public’s cost.
A more recent internal review, conducted in June under current President and CEO Byron Brown, found Chief Operating Officer Scott Kiedrowski, who served as Wojtaszek’s right-hand man in the organization for years, spent more than $27,000 of the agency’s money on food and drinks for himself, his friends and other guests between 2021 and 2024.
If appointed to serve on OTB’s board, Wojtaszek would 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% 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.