Niagara County sig
Niagara County Courthouse in Lockport
Democrats in the Niagara County Legislature want lawmakers to demand Western Region Off Track Betting Corp. publicly release a list of the people who were given tickets to sporting and entertainment events through one of the corporation's promotional programs. 
Minority Leader Dennis Virtuoso's submission follows allegations from earlier this year that tickets to a pair of New Era Field and Keybank Center suites were given to friends and family with connections to local politics and OTB representatives. The tickets to sports and entertainment events were normally reserved for “high-rollers” at the Batavia Downs Casino.
Virtuoso, D-Niagara Falls, said the resolution was motivated by stories in the Niagara Gazette and the Investigative Post, the non-profit online news outlet based in the City of Buffalo.
Articles in both publications detailed OTB officials' refusal to turn over records of individuals that had utilized the Suite Ticket Promotion Program operated by the public benefit corporation after requests were made under the state's Freedom of Information Law.
Officials at OTB claimed releasing a list of ticket users would, in part, constitute an unwarranted invasion of the the recipients' personal privacy. Robert Freeman, the executive director of the state's Committee on Open Government, an authority on government records access, said a denial on such ground was without standing.
Freeman said the ticket recipients had attended public events with tens of thousands of other members of the public, any number of whom could have seen OTB ticket holders in the corporation's leased suites, which are adorned with the WROTB logo. An expectation of privacy under such circumstances is not possible, he said
In light of the denials, Virtuoso said it is the legislature's responsibility to provide oversight. Niagara County is one of 15 counties and two cities, the City of Buffalo and the City of Rochester, that have ownership of OTB and receive a cut of its profits annually, he noted.
"If they're not being transparent, we have to hold them responsible," Virtuoso said. 
The Gazette's request was sent after former state Sen. George Maziarz's public accusations against OTB officials, including Henry Wojtaszek, the president and CEO of the corporation's Batavia Downs Gaming and Hotel.
Maziarz claimed in February that OTB officials had been giving event tickets purchased with public money to the corporation's executives and board members and their friends and family. The conduct amounted to "hundreds of thousands of dollars" of taxpayer funds being used for the personal benefit of certain individuals, he said.
Wojtaszek denied the accusations, as did Scott Kiedrowski, the former Niagara County GOP Chairman, ex-North Tonawanda Clerk-Treasurer. Maziarz said Kiedrowski had been using the suite access as a "family season ticket" for Buffalo Bills football games and Buffalo Sabres hockey games.
Virtuoso said a public release of the list is the only way to vet the allegations. 
"If it's being abused there should be reaction to that," Virtuoso said. "I'm not saying they were abused, because I don't know, and we won't know until we see the list." 
The legislature's Majority Leader, Randy Bradt, R-North Tonawanda, said he had not discussed the measure with his caucus directly, but did not expect the Republicans to oppose its passage. 
"I’m fairly confident we’ll be supporting this resolution," Bradt said last week.
The majority leader reiterated his previous stance regarding the potential public release of the list.
"If it’s 'FOIL-able,' it should come out," he said.
Wojtaszek did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding the resolution, which is due to come before lawmakers during their Tuesday meeting in the Niagara County Courthouse, 175 Hawley St., at 7 p.m.