Management of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp., in an effort to provide transparency in the wake of challenges to its policies and procedures, presided over a three-hour session with chief financial officers from seven of its 17 member municipalities this afternoon at the Park Road facility’s board room.
The public benefit company has been hounded in recent months by an audit from the New York State Comptroller’s Office, by charges of fiscal irresponsibility by a disgraced former state senator and, most recently, by a series of letters sent by Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick seeking answers to questions concerning the following issues:
- The sale of the Hotel at Batavia Downs (dated July 15);
- Benefits (specifically ‘gold-plated’ health insurance) received by board members (July 18);
- The use of external legal counsel (Aug. 1);
- The retention of outside lobbyists (Aug. 8);
- The possible misuse of promotional and marketing materials (Aug. 24).
WROTB President/Chief Executive Officer Henry Wojtaszek, speaking by telephone this evening, said he “appreciated that Hardwick was trying to get information” and added that the meeting ultimately will strengthen the corporation’s relationship with the municipalities.
“Overall, I think the meeting went extremely well and was productive for all involved,” Wojtaszek said. “Our goal is to be transparent, so we were happy to provide them with good, positive economic news that is resulting in record revenues to various counties this year.”
Corporation officials who made presentations at the session, along with Wojtaszek, were Chief Financial Officer Jacquelyne Leach, Compliance Consultant Paul Moskal, Marketing Director Ryan Hasenauer and David Hart of Hart Hotels, which operates the hotel.
Genesee County Treasurer Scott German said he attended the meeting to learn more about WROTB’s methods.
“They started off by essentially going over the financials – the financials of horse racing and then the casino,” German said. “Then they gave each individual county that showed up our own sheet based on our financial information (such as revenues and surcharge issued to the municipalities).”
German said WROTB officials addressed the health insurance for directors, use of promotional tickets and use of company vehicles – “stuff that has been rehashed on TV for a couple of years now.”
“From what I heard, and this is coming from the side of OTB, their explanations were adequate, I guess. They made sense,” he said. “They explained how and why they give out tickets. For example, when they gave away tickets to see Garth Brooks in concert, they said they saw a dramatic increase in bets and profitability on those two particular days. It brought people in.”
German said that most of the questions came from Hardwick and Erie County Deputy Comptroller Timothy Callan with a few posed by Oswego County Treasurer Kevin Gardner.
Wojtaszek said Hart explained that the $7.5 million paid by WROTB to purchase the hotel from its original investors (ADK Hospitality) was warranted.
“David showed them that the price paid was fair based on the appraisal that was done and the numbers that we have been able to sustain at the hotel,” Wojtaszek said. “And revenues continue to increase.”
On the health insurance subject, Wojtaszek said the board of directors will be addressing that issue in the coming weeks with the goal of establishing “a comprehensive way to provide coverage for all of our employees.”
He also said that Moskal conducted an audit on the corporation's practices, made suggestions "and we are following those suggestions."
Wojtaszek noted that he will be continuing the dialogue with Hardwick’s office and will provide additional documents that Hardwick requested. He said that all 15 member counties plus the cities of Rochester and Buffalo were invited to today's meeting.
The letters sent by Hardwick to WROTB can be viewed by going to the Erie County Comptroller’s Office website – www4.erie.gov/comptroller/.
