BUFFALO, N.Y. — According to multiple sources, Western Regional Off-Track Betting plans to name a new president and CEO in early September.

Those sources said the OTB board have narrowed a list of many, many applicants down to just a few and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is on the shortlist.

"If it wasn't OTB, it would be some kind of other landing place,” said Jacob Neiheisel, University at Buffalo associate professor of political science. “There have been rumors swirling around for a long time that he and possibly other politicians in town have been looking for something of an off-ramp."

Neiheisel points out Brown considered running to fill a congressional vacancy when Democrat Brian Higgins resigned and was also connected to a vacancy for president at Buffalo State University last year. 

In the midst of his fifth term, Brown is already the longest serving mayor in city history.

"If you are someone who is deeply involved in the waterfront development and you've liked the kinds of things that were done there, I think maybe it's a positive legacy,” said Neiheisel. “If you were maybe dismayed by some of the other parts of the city that possibly have gone neglected or under-developed, I think that's maybe a very different kind of evaluation that you might have of him.”

Under state election law, the Aug. 5 deadline to fill a vacancy during a general election has passed. That means if Brown resigns, according to the city charter, Common Council President Chris Scanlon would serve as acting mayor through the end of 2025.

Neiheisel expects other candidates to have interest in running for the position next year, including Buffalo state Sen. Sean Ryan. 

"I think Ryan has been long-discussed as someone who has had his eyes on the position, was setting himself up to be in that place, has focused a lot on urban issues in his time in Legislature," Neiheisel said.

The new OTB president will replace Henry Wojtaszek, who accepted a nearly $300,000 buyout. In the 2023 budget, the state Legislature restructured the board, unseating sitting members, requiring new appointments and weighting the votes of the 17 municipalities that govern the oft-scrutinized public benefit corporation.

The legislation effectively transferred power from Republican-led rural counties to Democratic-controlled urban centers.