A Q&A with Byron Brown and county, city leaders during initial meeting

Byron Brown had his facts and figures at the ready for a meet-and-greet with Genesee County and city municipal leaders Thursday, a quality that didn’t go unnoticed as he answered questions and gave well-polished objectives for the future of Batavia Downs.

The newly hired president and CEO was, in a word, “comfortable,” Legislative Chairwoman Shelley Stein said.

“So this is my first time in meeting Mr. Brown, and I believe that he was well prepared. He had his facts, and his numbers absolutely spot on," Stein said after the 50-minute meeting in courthouse chambers. "And the fact that he prepared for us in such a way, I think, speaks volumes about his willingness to be part of a community here in Genesee County and that he will value the host that we are, our city, our town and our county." 

During the session, Stein asked Brown about the revenue that is typically distributed from Batavia Downs to 17 municipalities, including Genesee County. She noted that since the hiring of him and Steven Casey, chief administrative officer and Director of Communications Michael DeGeorge, those three salaries add up to more than the revenue from video lottery terminal money for Genesee County in a year. “That money has already been spent,” she said.

“So I'm sure that that's a conversation that we will continue to have going forward, as I think there were too many questions at the same time coming, but we'll continue that with our board member, Mr. Zambito, and we will continue to probe and push on that because the work of the last three years with (former CEO) Henry Wojtaszek have just been stacked on top of each other,” she said. “Really, nice growth stats, and we've enjoyed those, and it helps our taxpayers here in Genesee County. He's got big shoes to fill, and we're going to give him room to do that, but we also want him to know that we're paying attention.”

As for paying, those first year salaries are $295,000 for Brown, $190,000 for Casey and $130,000 for DeGeorge for a total of $615,000.

Chuck Zambito is on the Western Regional Off-Track Betting board as a representative of and liaison to Genesee County. 

“It’s a great corporation,” Zambito said. “The gaming industry is changing every day. Our goal is to make the corporation better, stronger and more profitable.”

After introductions of each legislator, council member and Brown’s team, Brown parlayed some numbers into talking points for his new missive as the new leader of the Park Road enterprise. He reviewed some of his resume, including having been a member of Buffalo City Council, three terms in the state Senate and most recently as mayor for five terms, earning title to being "the longest serving mayor in the history of the city," he said.

“And one of the things that attracted me to this position is the revenue that it provides to 17 member municipalities in Western New York,” he said. “I thought that that was critically important, and wanted to be able to not only protect the revenues that are provided but to try to grow the revenues that are provided to the 17 member municipalities.”

Since OTB was established in 1974, the gaming facility has provided more than $260 million to those 17 municipalities, he said, with more than $13 million going to Genesee County.

“From my perspective, as former mayor of the City of Buffalo, I think that these revenues are important to the municipalities that receive them, so my new and existing management team will be working to preserve and to grow revenues. I also know here in Genesee County and in the city and town, it is important that this organization continue to be successful and profitable," he said. "It is an important employment source for this community, and we certainly ought to make sure that those employment opportunities are protected and preserved. 

"And if we can grow for the folks that live in this part of our state, obviously with the property, with the corporation being physically located in Genesee County, the majority of the employees at Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation reside in Genesee County," he said. "And so, this is a large employer, over 430 employees, and my focus with the management team and certainly the board of directors will be to protect the employment base, to grow the employment base, and to continue to provide revenues for this community and the other municipalities that derive revenues from OTB.”

County Legislator Marianne Clattenburg asked if Brown was keeping public safety in mind as the track backs up to city neighborhoods, and “the track has always been safe,” she said.

“Public safety will definitely be a priority of mine. My record in public service is one of being a strong supporter of public safety, law enforcement, and fire service. When I was in the New York State Senate, I had a very close relationship with the State Police. Certainly, as mayor of the City of Buffalo, I worked very closely with our police department, one of the largest municipal police departments in the state of New York, outside of New York City, actually the second largest police department, and enjoy strong support from deputy sheriffs in Erie County, Buffalo Police Officers, New York State Police," he said. "And in any community, public safety is critically important. Legislator Deleo is one of our security officers at the property. They do a very good job on the property. We also have a relationship with the Sheriff's Department, which certainly will continue. 

"Yesterday … many people from Batavia Downs attended the road dedication for Sergeant Sanfratello, and it just brought back to me how important public safety is," he said. "That certainly was a tragedy that occurred, and we will be working very closely with law enforcement, very closely with our security officers, to make sure that on the property, in the property, around the property, we are maintaining a safe environment.”

Legislator John Deleo added, “Batavia Downs is one of our polished diamonds, and I hope it continues to shine.” He also expressed concern about “whether we’re on parity now” or if more was going to the state. “If we’re not, I hope that you can break this situation and keep the money home.”

“That is a great point; we are not at parity right now,” Brown said. “That is part of our legislative agenda. As a former state senator, I served on the Gaming, Racing and Wagering Committee in the New York State Senate, so I have familiarity with the operation of that committee. We will be very focused, very aggressive in pursuing the legislative agenda that the board has established for us,” he said. “That certainly is one of the items in the legislative agenda and we have been formulating our strategies so that we can hit the ground running when the legislature goes back into session in January.”

The legislative process is one where relationships are “critically important,” he said, and he believes that his background and that of his team are keys to opening more doors of the process, at least to “be able to get in the door and have a conversation about the things that are important to WROTB … and to Genesee County,” he said.

“One of the issues that we're really zeroing in on is the tax rate and getting parity. We have a higher tax rate than other properties, and we want to make the case to the state that it made sense to bring us into parity with other properties, not only because it would make Western Regional Off-Track Betting more financially profitable but it would also produce greater revenue to the 17 member municipalities, and that will strengthen 17 municipalities in Western New York, including Genesee County,” Brown said. “One of the things that I have learned in government is there are threats that are seen and threats that are unseen. We will be paying close attention, and we will be very plugged into what's happening in Albany so that we can stay ahead of the curve. We don't want to find things out after they've already happened to us; we want to know what's happening before threats arise and try to pick those things off before it's too late to do anything to prevent them. So that will be our approach. Legislatively, we're going to be very active in Albany.” 

City Councilman Bob Bialkowski said that some city residents have complained about the noise levels and timing of concerts — continuing later at night past city ordinance — and Brown said he is “a stickler for the rules.” He offered to meet with neighbors to hear about issues when necessary.

“We don’t want a growing, thriving business and a declining community,” he said. “If a concert is supposed to end at a certain time, it will end at that time.”

Another goal is a potential hotel expansion, which the board has already been exploring. A property should at least be refreshed every seven to 10 years, he said, to continue a strong patronage of the hotel.

“The hotel is one of the, if not the, most successful in the region,” he said. “We have been able to improve the quality of the three restaurants and have been getting good reviews. That keeps people coming back.”

He referred to a Downs commercial and said that he’s had to practice the tagline “over and over,” predicting he might just show up in one of the promotions sometime: "You’re not going to just like coming here, you’re going to love coming here,” he said, really punching his voice on the love.

“We plan on being very visible, not just in the property, but very visible in the community as well. And I have a history of extensive community engagement in the different government offices that I have been in,” he said. “One of the things that I took real pride in is getting out with the people, getting out into the community, and building strong relationships with the community.”

Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. had shared concerns about times when VLT money was withheld at the state level, which caused financial stress for the city. Brown said he would “certainly work to help with that” and that it’s part of the mission to strengthen and grow the corporation, as it was when he was mayor working with the Seneca Nation and its casino. There were times when expected monies did not come, he said, and he was urged to give up, but “we stayed plugged in” to the governor’s office and the Senate Commission, and the situation eventually turned for the better. 

“We hope to be very articulate about the needs of the corporation and the needs of the surrounding local community, and we will be a voice with you in expressing the needs of the community to our legislators and to our governor,” he said. 

Jankowski appreciated the meeting and Brown’s words, he said. 

“And I'm confident that he has all the skills he needs and the intentions to do a really good job in Genesee County. I liked his answers to our questions. He seems very thorough, he seems very well thought out. And I think he has a really good plan, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with the Batavia Downs,” Jankowski said. “He obviously has no control over (VLT distribution), but as someone who's actually working at the downs and may have input in that decision, I'm confident that he will go to bat for our county and try to keep us in the loop as far as continued payouts and so on, so that our budget is able to keep up with the rising costs of a lot of things. We look forward to that VLT money to help us through that. So I think he realized how important that was to us, and I think he's going to do his best to help us out with that.”