Wojtaszek mum following interview on WEBR-AM radio

May 10—In recent days, Henry Wojtaszek has done a pair of interviews with local media outlets in which he has touted the accomplishments of the organization he runs, Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp.

When approached Wednesday morning by this reporter following an interview on a radio station that broadcasts from Niagara Falls, WROTB's president and CEO refused to answer any questions.

Instead, following his hour-long sit-down with Tom Darro, host of the AM 1440 talk show "Viewpoint," Wojtaszek said he had to use the bathroom, then ducked into the men's room inside Niagara Arts and Cultural Center.

After exiting the men's room, Wojtaszek, holding his cell phone to his ear, ignored this reporter's repeated request to discuss matters related to WROTB as he hurriedly left the building, walked across Portage Road and got into his car, which was parked across the street from the NACC.

Wojtaszek will soon be answering to new directors of the board for WROTB, the embattled public benefit corporation that, as a result of language included in the now-approved state budget, had all 17 of its existing directors dismissed last week.

During his interview with Darro, Wojtaszek, the former chairman of the Niagara County Republican Committee, described the move as "politically motivated."

He also hinted that his days as the leader of WROTB may not be coming to an end despite the state-sanctioned shift that will give more voting power to directors representing larger, traditionally Democratic strongholds, including Buffalo and Erie County.

Wojtaszek told Darro he expects several representatives of the now-dismissed board to be reappointed. While acknowledging it "certainly will be a different board" under the new makeup, Wojtaszek said he "definitely' expects "some will be returning."

"I would anticipate most of the members that were on the board will return to the board. That's what I've been told in the last couple of weeks," he said.

The WROTB board oversees Batavia Downs casino, horse racing track and hotel as well as 10 betting parlors and dozens of E-Z Bet outlets across Western and Central New York. The board is composed of representatives of OTB's municipal stakeholders: 15 counties including Niagara County and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester.

Democrats in Albany led the board shakeup. One of the lead advocates for the move, state Sen. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, described it as necessary to address "perverse corruption" revealed in the work of state auditors and outside investigators who have examined WROTB's operation in recent years.

Area Republican leaders, including U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-Canandaigua, and state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, jumped to WROTB's defense, criticizing the board change as a "power grab" aimed at re-directing voting power to larger communities served by WROTB at the expense of smaller, mostly rural counties.

When asked about the entity's current operation, Wojtaszek said he considers it "business as usual," noting that he has instructed OTB's 400-plus employees to continue doing their jobs as they did before the removal of the former board.

"We are full speed ahead," Wojtaszek said. "We're going to keep doing what we have been doing."

Some of what Wojtaszek and other WROTB officials have been doing has drawn attention from state and federal investigators who are reportedly continuing to probe the organization's inner workings.

Earlier this year, WROTB's board agreed to pay up to $20,000 to the Buffalo-based firm Personious Melber for legal services for "certain" employees who are being interviewed as part of an unspecified "investigation." The Buffalo-based news outlet Investigative Post reported that more than 20 WROTB employees were slated for interviews with state and federal investigators.

WROTB's past practices have also drawn questions and criticism from the offices of the New York state comptroller, state attorney general and Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick.

Both the state comptroller and attorney general have rendered opinions describing WROTB's longstanding practice of providing health insurance benefits at no cost to board directors as unlawful. Terry Connors, another private attorney working for WROTB, has said that he does not view those opinions as binding.

In addition, an audit issued by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office in 2021 found OTB officials spent at least $121,000 on tickets to sporting events, including Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres games, and concerts as well as food and alcohol for board members, employees and other individuals without the oversight required by state rules.

A second state audit found Wojtaszek did not reimburse the organization for his personal use of an official vehicle in a timely manner.

In discussing the audits' findings on Darro's show, Wojtaszek said WROTB officials invited auditors in and that he and other officials have since implemented operational changes in keeping with the auditors' recommendations.

"We answer directly to them," Wojtaszek said during his radio interview. "We actually ask them to come in. They gave us suggestions and advice how to improve our organization and we followed them.

"They asked us to do specifics things and we did them."

This reporter attempted to ask Wojtaszek if he thought OTB officials and users of the tickets flagged by state auditors should reimburse the public for the $121,000 expense.

He did not answer but he did tell Darro that, in keeping with the auditors' recommendations, "board members rarely, if ever, attend sporting event and concerts anymore."

As part of its promotional program, WROTB has engaged in suite agreements for Buffalo Bills games at Highmark Stadium, Buffalo Sabres games at KeyBank Center and at Blue Cross Arena, home of the AHL's Rochester Americans hockey team. Officials have consistently held that it was necessary for representatives of the organization to attend games, concerts and other events as "hosts" to assist guests as needed.

In an interview with this newspaper last October, Wojtaszek acknowledged that WROTB management "did not do a great job" of tracking tickets purchased with public money. At the time, agency officials also stressed that, in November 2019, prior to the release of the state audit, they made changes to the way ticket distribution is monitored.

Wojtaszek's appearance on WEBR followed an interview earlier this week with a reporter from WIVB-TV that the station described as an "exclusive."

During both interviews, Wojtaszek touted the accomplishments of WROTB under his watch and under the leadership of the former board.

In speaking with Darro, he said that while it's been a "couple of tough weeks" for WROTB, it has "actually been a great couple of years" for the entity in terms of its operation and profits.

Wojtaszek said, "You just can't argue with the numbers," which he described as "truly terrific," noting that, over the past two years, WROTB has distributed more than $13 million to its 17 host municipalities.

He said the "net win," the amount WROTB takes in from gaming operations at Batavia Downs, went from $53 million in 2017 to $76 million last year. He said the number is projected to rise to $83 million in 2023.

"The board of directors have done an outstanding job," Wojtaszek said. "The fruits of their labor is very apparent by the success of the company. Any way you slice it, you look at the objective numbers and the numbers are through the roof."