BATAVIA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Western Regional Off-Track Betting (WROTB) is taking steps to reform some of its more controversial policies under new leadership.
President and CEO Byron Brown introduced a reform agenda at Thursday’s Board of Directors meeting at Batavia Downs, outlining 10 policy changes aimed at improving transparency and accountability.
"This agenda is about going forward," Brown said.
The agency has faced scrutiny in recent years over personnel and financial decisions, particularly the buyout of former President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek’s contract.
Lawmakers criticized WROTB for buying Wojtaszek out of his contract and paying him his full year’s salary of $287,000.
RELATED: President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek to be bought out of contract at Western Regional Off-Track Betting
“We have been looking at concerns that have been expressed about the operation," Brown said.
One of the most debated topics was executive severance pay.
Brown initially proposed reducing severance from 24 months to four months. However, after discussion, the board decided that, for now, there will be no severance pay for executives.
“So my management team and I will be looking at severance packages in the gaming industry and making a recommendation to the board on what makes sense in this industry,” Brown said.
Tim Callan, Erie County’s representative on the WROTB Board of Directors, expressed support for most of the reforms but pointed out concerns regarding transparency and executive benefits.
“These were things that throughout last year I had been raising questions about—the sponsorship program, where the corporation gives sponsorships and donations to various groups, the travel policy, and procurement,” Callan said. “So to see those three areas being addressed by the new management team, I’m very happy to see that. That’s very reaffirming.”
However, Callan was caught off guard by the timing of the reform agenda, saying he didn’t receive the document until the morning of the meeting.
“That was the first sign that anything was going on," Callan said. "So it was a bit surprising that we had a lengthy discussion about it in Executive Session, and then there was a vote today. I wasn’t aware that was going to be happening.”
Callan also took issue with an item in the reform package that would have allowed seven management employees to receive health insurance through WROTB while only paying 20% of the cost.
He argued that this would be unfair to lower-wage employees, who in some cases must cover up to 72% of their health insurance costs.
“We have members of the management team making $190,000 or more…to send a message and say to them, ‘Okay, you only have to pay 20% of the cost of health insurance,’ but somebody here making $17.50 an hour has to pay 72%—that, to me, is not right,” Callan said.
Callan noted that WROTB previously approved generous buyouts for its former CEO, CFO and other executives — decisions he voted against.
“Henry had a 24-month severance in his contract. And that obviously is both long but an incredibly significant expense to the corporation, and therefore the taxpayers,” Callan said.
Callan also raised concerns about the board’s history of not following competitive bidding processes for contracts.
He cited previous instances where WROTB hired vendors without public bids or requests for proposals, something he hopes will change under new leadership.
“Mr. Brown is committed to doing a number of things differently,” Callan said.
The board approved nine out of the 10 proposed policy changes. Discussions on severance pay and health insurance are set to continue at next month’s meeting.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
