Albany ups power play; State, Legislature, NYRA announce mgmt. deal

[hud8118]

Please correct me if I am wrong but...

1. The NY State Legislature is the one who wanted (forced) the 1% increase from 25% to 26%. Wasn't NYRA opposed to the 1% increase?

2. One role of the Franchise Oversight Board has been to "monitor and enforce compliance with definitive documents that compromise the franchise agrement" and to "review and make recommendations concerning accounting, internal control systems..." also to "review such franchised corporation's revenue and expenditure policies" also to "review such franchise corporation's compliance with the laws, rules and regulations."

WE ALL KNOW THE LEGISLATURE IS JUST A MONEY GRABBING ORGANIZATION WHICH IS UNCONCERNED WITH THE GOOD OF HORSE RACING, AND THE OVERSIGHT BOARD SHOULD BE TAKING AT LEAST 50% OF THE HEAT/BLAME ON THIS AND THOSE MEMBERS SHOULD BE CANNED.

[goodcopy]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Sure, let's do that. And the first thing that will happen is the tracks will get bought up by real estate developers and torn up.

Come on man,I said make it profitable!

[parsixfarms]

A whole lot of government CYA going on. Here's the section from the RWB's interim report (pp. 17-18), as it pertains to the oversight provided by the Franchise Oversight Board:

The FOB has five part-time members serving without compensation. The FOB has no fulltime staff but has a Division of Budget employee serving as its secretary. As a practical matter, the FOB operates as a global overseer with a limited budget that relies heavily on NYRA’s representations, supported by NYRA’s employees, consultants and auditors. Realistically, with its limited resources, the FOB was in no position to review or enforce compliance with thedetailed takeout provisions of Chapter 115.

[Antitrust32]

The Gov seems like a pathetic excuse for a human being.

[Powderfinger]

Aqueduct should have put a synthetic surface on that inner track years ago, to show that they were trying.

[pointman]

Originally Posted by pba1817

Looks to me like if the people at NYRA would have followed the terms as they agreed, and would have not ripped off the betting public, this probably would have been avoided... icing on the cake appears to be the promotion of the people who were at the helm when the takeout "issue" was going on.

You do realize that the people who sent NYRA the letter and ordered the lottery to withhold the money from NYRA are just as responsible, if not more, than NYRA for this error? Or are you just talking out of your a$$ as usual?

I wonder if the Inspector General is going to investigate the Racing and Wagering Board and the Oversight Panel as well to determine if there is any criminality with regard to their missing that the percentages should have been changed. Not likely to happen as this is clearly a witch hunt.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Powderfinger

Aqueduct should have put a synthetic surface on that inner track years ago, to show that they were trying.

I want to believe that the majority of the horses that broke down, would have endured the same fate if they were running on bubble wrap.

[10 pnt move up]

I do think there is a bit if irony that the state of new york is upset that there was a "over taxing" of the people.

Of course it could have been that they did not rake the barn correctly, the reason belies the real motivation.

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Powderfinger

Aqueduct should have put a synthetic surface on that inner track years ago, to show that they were trying.

Another NY state agency that failed miserably in its "role" was the Department of Taxation and Finance, and I hope the IG looks into this as well. As a former pari-mutuel examiner for the Dept. at NYRA tracks, I was interviewed by the Albany Times-Union about this situation, and also by the state employee union in NY, PEF. Seems they decided they didn't need any examiners at the tracks any more - mistake!

Bottom line is that all the "watchdogs" were sleeping on the job, either to short-sightedly save money or, as some have suggested, to "entrap" NYRA into doing something like this in order to sweep them aside.

[Powderfinger]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

I want to believe that the majority of the horses that broke down, would have endured the same fate if they were running on bubble wrap.

You're probably right but you know the old saying "image is everything."

[joeydb]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Sure, let's do that. And the first thing that will happen is the tracks will get bought up by real estate developers and torn up.

That's true. Garden State Park, where I used to go often, is long gone, replaced by what South Jersey needed more of: strip malls.

[richard]

Originally Posted by pointman

You do realize that the people who sent NYRA the letter and ordered the lottery to withhold the money from NYRA are just as responsible, if not more, than NYRA for this error? Or are you just talking out of your a$$ as usual?

I wonder if the Inspector General is going to investigate the Racing and Wagering Board and the Oversight Panel as well to determine if there is any criminality with regard to their missing that the percentages should have been changed. Not likely to happen as this is clearly a witch hunt.

Of course they should be investigated for possible criminal collusion. We'll see.

[pba1817]

Originally Posted by pointman

You do realize that the people who sent NYRA the letter and ordered the lottery to withhold the money from NYRA are just as responsible, if not more, than NYRA for this error? Or are you just talking out of your a$$ as usual?

I wonder if the Inspector General is going to investigate the Racing and Wagering Board and the Oversight Panel as well to determine if there is any criminality with regard to their missing that the percentages should have been changed. Not likely to happen as this is clearly a witch hunt.

No I am not aware. As I said in my posts on the subject, the writer of the article and the letter to NYRA makes it appear that someone is not being legit in the crux on the matter. Which in all reality, when dealing with politicians and boards and oversights and etc, most all are not legit.

[pba1817]

At what point do you stop getting in bed with the state and run your business privately?

Once you accept the handout, or reimbursements, or whatever you like to call them, you are now dealing with the devil.

Was NYRA and their tracks a privately owned business at any point? With no state involvement or funding? If so, why is the state involved now?

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by pba1817

At what point do you stop getting in bed with the state and run your business privately?

Once you accept the handout, or reimbursements, or whatever you like to call them, you are now dealing with the devil.

Was NYRA and their tracks a privately owned business at any point? With no state involvement or funding? If so, why is the state involved now?

State always had their hand in the various Associations pockets even pre-GNYRA (Greater New York Racing Association) when there were 4 separate entities. Albany has milked racing in this state endlessly and then added layers of patronage when afforded the opportunity in 1970 with the creation of the OTB system. At that point, by all rights, Albany began competing with NYRA and therein lies the source of all the problems the past 40 years.

[Gaelic Storm]

Left at the Gate blog has a good post about this topic.

http://leftatthegate.blogspot.com/20...r-on-nyra.html

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Gaelic Storm

Left at the Gate blog has a good post about this topic.

http://leftatthegate.blogspot.com/20...r-on-nyra.html

Excellent link. I personally think that NYRA should march into Court with an Order to Show Cause to obtain an Injunction against the State from withholding the payments. I really find it hard to believe that the State can revoke NYRA's contract on something like this.

This is clearly people CYAing and trying to use the media to shift the blame on NYRA and attempt to convince the public that it is the same old NYRA despite the reality that it is now run by a different set of people. As we have seen such nonsense works and even convinces some people who are supposedly fans of the game.

[Kasept]

NYRA STATEMENT – WEDNESDAY MAY 16

ELMONT, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) Board of Directors exercised its business judgment as a private, not-for-profit corporation to appoint a President and Secretary. These appointments were made to stay in compliance with NYRA’s Bylaws, Article VII, Section 7.01. NYRA’s Board acted to insure that there was professional management in place to operate a complex business which has a significant economic impact on New York State. The NYRA Board has a fiduciary obligation to exercise its business judgment to protect the best interests of racing and the income stream that pari-mutuel wagering provides to the state.

On May 1, 2012 Racing and Wagering Board Chairman John Sabini sent a letter to the NYRA Board of Directors, which stated “…it is imperative that you provide an interim operational plan to the Board, especially who will be performing functions as Chief Executive Officer and Counsel.” This letter contained no indication of any concerns or limitations with respect to these appointments. The NYRA Board acted to name a President and Secretary without any knowledge of any concerns by either the Franchise Oversight Board or the Racing and Wagering Board.

Furthermore, neither the Racing and Wagering Board nor the Franchise Oversight Board has authority over the naming of officers by the NYRA Board of Directors.

The suggestion in the May 15, 2012 letter from Chairman Sabini and Chairman Megna that the NYRA Board and other NYRA executives have a potential role in the improper take-out investigation, thereby making the NYRA Board’s action inappropriate, is flawed. This reasoning would effectively paralyze the corporation based on innuendo. The Inspector General’s investigation is ongoing and there should not be a rush to judgment until a final report is issued, and due process is provided.

[Kasept]

Quite something..

On May 1, NYRA is instructed -- implored in fact -- to name new executives to replace Hayward and Keogh...

Then 2 weeks later are admonished and threatened when they do so.

Anyone still confused by what's going on here?