Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick is asking more questions about the inner-workings of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. and this time he wants to know why the public entity is spending so much public money on Albany lobbyists.
In a letter dated Aug. 8 to OTB President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek, Hardwick said, following a review of the agency’s board meeting minutes dating back to 2014, his office found OTB has used 10 firms for lobbying and advocacy activities.
In the process, Hardwick indicated that, “at times,” the agency has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay individuals to represent WROTB interests.”
In his letter, Hardwick noted that OTB typically has between three and five firms under contract for lobbying work.
According to the comptroller’s calculations, the public benefit corporation has either paid or agreed to pay a total of $157,000 for such services in the first six months of 2022 alone.
Hardwick asked Wojtaszek to provide his office with copies of OTB’s lobbying contracts and requested a year-by-year breakdown of lobbying costs incurred by the public benefit corporation since January 2014.
“What are these lobbyists doing for WROTB?” Hardwick wrote in his letter. “What are they advocating for (or against)? To whom are they lobbying? Why did you retain lobbyists? For how long have these lobbyists been under contract with WROTB? What process (RFP, bidding, etc.) did you utilize to retain these firms? Under what metrics do you measure their success, and continue to engage them (what successful results did they obtain for you)?”
Formed in 1973, OTB is a public benefit corporation that oversees the Batavia Downs harness racing track and casino as well as local OTB branches and E-Z Bet locations across Western New York. Revenue generated by OTB is shared by the cities of Buffalo and Rochester and 15 counties, including Niagara and Erie counties.
The letter about lobbying is the third Hardwick’s office has sent to OTB in less than two weeks. At the end of July, his office asked Wojtaszek to provide more information about OTB’s purchase of a hotel next to Batavia Downs and health insurance benefits that continue to be provided to members of the agency’s board of directors despite rulings from both the state comptroller and state attorney general’s office suggesting they are not entitled to the perk.
As chief financial and auditing officer for Erie County, one of OTB’s member agencies, Hardwick has said that he has a vested interest and the authority to request more detailed information about the agency’s operation.
As was previously reported by the Buffalo-based news outlet Investigative Post, OTB had three Albany law firms under contract this year.
This list includes Upstate Strategic Advisors, a lobbying firm headed by former state Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, whose contract with OTB pays $3,500 per month, and Mercury Public Affairs, which receives $8,000 per month from the agency.
In addition, in March, OTB’s board of directors agreed to hire the firm Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates under a four-month agreement that cost $15,000 per month. The firm is operated by Patrick Jenkins, a former college roommate and long-time friend and associate of state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
Records on file with the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which oversees lobbying activities statewide, show OTB’s lobbyists have had contact with several top state officials this year, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers who serve on the Senate and Assembly’s Racing, Gaming and Wagering committees.
Issues identified on the reports involve horse-racing and gaming. In some instances, the records show OTB’s lobbyists contacted state representatives to discuss legislation proposed by state Sen. Tim Kennedy, a Democrat from Buffalo who pushed for a package of reforms that he said would address the “perverse dysfunction” within OTB.
Kennedy’s legislation, along with another bill supporting changes in OTB operations that was sponsored by Lancaster Democratic Assemblywoman Monica Wallace. Neither reform measure was approved by the state Legislature before the end of this year’s session.
OTB has been subject to increased scrutiny in recent years, with New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office issuing a pair of audits last fall that encouraged the agency to “clean up its operation.”
State auditors flagged OTB officials for improperly helping themselves to tickets to Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres and other events that were paid for by the agency. In addition, auditors determined that Wojtaszek failed to properly account for personal use of his agency issued vehicle.
Wojtaszek and other OTB representatives have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.