Departing OTB chief splurged on on travel

En route to his $287,000 buyout, Henry Wojtaszek dropped thousands on a Las Vegas hotel and restaurants, all on the public’s dime. It wasn’t his only travel spending extravagance during his final year on the job.

Henry Wojtaszek, departing president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting. Photo by Garrett Looker

Henry Wojtaszek is going out in style.

The departing president and CEO of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. traveled grandly during his final year on the job, records show. 

Consider: 

A three-night stay at a swanky hotel on the Las Vegas Strip at a cost of $3,300. 

A $1,600 tab — dinner for five — at a top-rated Las Vegas steakhouse owned by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck during that same trip. 

An August trip to Saratoga Springs that included a $2,420 tab — dinner for nine — at a farm-to-table steakhouse.

And an overnight stay at a four-star New York City hotel three blocks from Central Park for a one-day jaunt costing $1,200.

Wojtaszek’s spending at times far exceeded limits set for state employees. Reimbursement for meals is set at up to $92 a day. Wojtaszek at times spent an average of up to $269 to $320 for meals for himself and OTB colleagues who traveled with him.

The cap on hotels varies by the city and time of year. Wojtaszek spent up to $1,100 a night in Las Vegas; the state limit for that city is $159.

While OTB is a state public benefit corporation, it is exempt from the state spending caps, which mirror federal limits. 

John Kaehny, executive director of the good government group Reinvent Albany, said the spending on Wojtaszek’s travel is “yet more evidence that Western OTB’s fundamental purpose is to employ and enrich political bottom feeders.”

Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick said Wojtaszek’s travel “reinforces my call for the state comptroller to audit the organization.”

Mark Johnson, a spokesman for the state comptroller, said: “OTBs, like other public authorities, should implement and enforce policies which are reasonable and in the best interest of the entity and the public.

“This is particularly important for OTBs which are required to turn over any net revenue remaining after expenses to constituent counties,” he said.

During his last year on the job, Wojtaszek has spent at least $16,136 on seven trips around the country, typically for conferences or trips to Albany, and all on the public agency’s dime. The total includes several thousand dollars for dinner bills Wojtaszek picked up for other OTB officials also in attendance. 

The 2024 travel spending is among Wojtaszek’s most expensive during his eight-and-a-half years on the job, according to budget documents. Other years that come close are 2017, when Wojtaszek spent $14,612, and 2018, when he spent $17,404.

What’s more, his most-expensive trips this year — conferences in Las Vegas and Saratoga Springs — came after he announced he would step down from his position at the end of the year. His departure comes with a $287,000 buyout that hit his bank account last week, a payment that some lawmakers have called “illegal” and that the state Inspector General appears to be probing.

Wojtaszek’s spending was detailed in a cache of receipts and reimbursement reports obtained by Investigative Post via the Freedom of Information Law. The records detailed trips through the end of October.

The spending comes at a time when the agency is cutting its payments to the local governments that own it. By law, a majority of OTB’s proceeds must go to New York State, Buffalo, Rochester and 15 counties in Western and Central New York. 

The agency last month said it would send $2.6 million less back to the local governments this year due to increased costs.

Wojtaszek refused to discuss his spending with Investigative Post.

In a statement, OTB spokesperson Ryan Hasenhauer said each trip was necessary so Wojtaszek could attend classes, network with industry professionals and “stay up to date on emerging trends in this highly volatile and competitive industry.”

“Due to the ever-changing landscape of gaming, it was necessary for Henry to attend all of these before his departure to make sure [OTB] was represented and to gather information he could impart to the incoming management team,” Hasenhauer said.

He added that Wojtaszek’s travel budget of $15,000 was approved by the board.

Wojtaszek’s travelogue

Wojtaszek’s spending for three trips to Albany was modest. He spent far more, on both hotels and restaurants, when he traveled for conferences in New York City, Saratoga Springs and Las Vegas.

Records indicate he usually traveled alone, but other OTB officials joined him to Las Vegas and Saratoga Springs. Those officials were identified in Wojtaszek’s spending records only by their initials.

Three of the trips came after Wojtaszek planned his OTB departure, which was announced June 27. 

Wojtaszek’s first trip of the year was an overnight stay in Albany on Jan. 8. That trip cost OTB about $800. The hotel, the Hampton Inn & Suites, cost $253. Wojtaszek was reimbursed $549 for mileage, meals and tolls.

A month later, on Feb. 5, Wojtaszek again stayed overnight in Albany. No hotel receipt was included in the records obtained by Investigative Post, so the cost is not clear. OTB reimbursed him $518 for mileage, meals and parking. 

In April, Wojtaszek drove to Atlantic City for the 2024 East Coast Gaming Congress. His stay at the Hard Rock Hotel cost $121 for the night of April 17. He was reimbursed $204 for mileage and meals, although records do not indicate how he got to the conference. 

Two months later, in June, the agency spent $1,200 to send him to the “Who’s Who Casino & Sports Betting” conference in New York City, hosted by the news publication City & State New York.

Then came the Saratoga Racing and Gaming Conference, hosted at the height of the horse racing season. Wojtaszek spent nearly $4,400, including on the dinner for the eight board members who attended.

Among the expenses: 

• $1,157 to stay at the Embassy Suites by Hilton for three nights. The receipt shows that cost (an average of $386 a night) covered only Wojtaszek’s room.
• $218 for dinner at 534 Bistro. Records indicate Wojtaszek only paid for himself.
• $2,420 for dinner at Salt and Char. Records indicate Wojtaszek paid for himself and eight others. 
• $557 in reimbursements for Wojtaszek’s mileage and other meals.

The conference website indicates Wojtaszek would have been charged a $450 registration fee, though records don’t include a receipt for the event.

One receipt indicated that Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney, who represents Buffalo on the OTB board, and Paul Bartow, who represents Schuyler County, were among those who attended. Rodriquez-Dabney said she spent the conference attending classes and meetings. She said she learned about the impact artificial intelligence could have on gambling and heard lawmakers who lead gaming committees speak.

“I was the nerd that went to every session because I wanted to learn,” she said.

Bartow, in an interview, said he went to learn about igaming, or online betting, a form of gambling OTB wants the governor and state Legislature to approve for Batavia Downs.

“This wasn’t about fun and games,” he said. “It could have been for someone, but it wasn’t for me. You’re there the whole day in presentations.”

Wojtaszek took another trip in October, this time to Las Vegas for the Global Gaming Expo. Wojtaszek’s four-day excursion would cost OTB nearly $8,000, with Wojtaszek twice picking up the dinner bill for himself and four other executives who accompanied him. The expenses included:

• $3,345 to stay at The Palazzo at The Venetian. Records show Wojtaszek’s room cost between $600 and $1,100 per night, before additional charges such as a room upgrade. Records also show the room was registered to Wojtaszek; expenses for the other executives were not included in the documents obtained by Investigative Post.
• $929 for dinner at Brera Osteria. Records indicate Wojtaszek paid for himself and four others. 
• $1,598 for dinner at the steakhouse Cut. Wojtaszek again paid for himself and four others.
• $1,499 to attend the conference.
• $588 to reimburse Wojtaszek for mileage and other meals.

Wojtaszek ended the month with a more modest trip to Albany. Records show he and incoming CEO Byron Brown, the former Buffalo mayor, made it a day trip and did not stay overnight. 

Wojtaszek was reimbursed $485 for mileage and meals and Brown was reimbursed $68 for meals.

Wojtasek intended to make an eighth trip, to a conference in Huntington Beach, California, and OTB purchased him a $526 airplane ticket to do so. However, Hasenhauer said, a “very last minute family conflict” prevented him from getting on the plane.

A change from past leadership

Michael Kane, the former CEO of the Western OTB who stepped down in mid-2016, said Wojtaszek has spent more on travel than he did when he was in charge. He said he and Wojtaszek differed in their philosophies on spending during travel. 

Still, he said Wojtaszek’s spending was not excessive.

Kane, now executive director of the New York Gaming Association, a trade group., said he found the Las Vegas and Saratoga Springs conferences “very valuable” but that he would limit the number of board members who could attend each year. 

“But you don’t want to take the whole house with you,” he said. “Otherwise it seemed like overkill.”

Typically, Kane said, he and other OTB leaders would try to limit dinner bills to $100 or less. 

As for conferences, Kane said: “Is it a legitimate expense? Yes. Is it something that’s necessary? Probably not.”

Rodriquez-Dabney said she’s begun discussing with Brown, Wojtaszek’s successor, about how to regulate travel by OTB leadership moving forward. She said the agency ought to benefit from executives traveling to conferences but that spending should be limited.

“I would call for travel guidelines to be presented to the board that include a budget for the year based on what conferences they plan to go to,” she said.

She said she’d like to see spending limited to the state comptroller’s daily guidelines and a rule barring the purchase of alcohol with agency funds.

“It’s a new day, a new person,” she said. “I think Byron and his administration deserve to be given a chance and make changes that need to be made.”

posted 4 hours ago – December 17, 2024