Buffalo’s longest-serving mayor is leaving City Hall for a betting agency

Associated Press

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo’s longest-serving mayor says he will leave office early to lead an offtrack betting agency. Byron Brown was offered the position of president and chief executive of the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. and announced late Monday that he will accept it. The 66-year-old Democrat will be paid an annual salary of $295,000 to oversee operations at betting sites in several counties in New York and Batavia Downs, which offers live harness horse racing. As mayor, he is paid $178,500 a year. Board president of Western Regional Off-Track Betting says it’s hoped that Brown will raise the agency’s profile in Albany. Before becoming mayor in 2005, Brown was a state senator.