The potential benefit of Hookergate

With Spitzer out of the picture
the ball is in Bruno's court

There is optimistic speculation that the unexpected ascension of David Paterson to the governor’s office in Albany will actually facilitate the process of dealing with both the details of legislation that would conclude the matter of the racing franchise awarded last month to the New York Racing Association and that of reforming the off-track betting system before New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg acts on his threat padlocks every betting shop in town.

That remains to be seen, but optimists believe that elimination of the acrimony between the disgraced, soon-to-be former Governor Eliot Spitzer and Joe Bruno, the senate majority leader, from the process can only be good. Paterson and Bruno are said to have an amicable relationship but those things can turn on a dime in Albany. Quite likely, what amounts to a coup for Bruno will lead him to assume the “steamroller” role not abdicated by Spitzer, whose long-term activity in the company of paid consorts came to light this week and resulted in a widely applauded resignation and potential federal prosecution.

The matter of selecting an operator for the Aqueduct video lottery casino remains, as does the lingering and potentially volatile issues that threaten the New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. Bruno will ultimately leave his fingerprint on the VLT award, a maneuver that should be closely monitored for evidence of conflict of interest and influence peddling. The OTB issue, less prone to political chicanery, is more easily solved.

The state’s half-dozen off-course betting enterprises operate with various degrees of efficiency and with the exception of the New York City operation are at least marginally profitable, which is as it should be. Public benefit corporations need not be managed like for-profit operations and breaking even is good enough.

Funds for local governments come from the onerous surcharge on winnings, less than it once was since bettors have moved generally to account wagering or operated from teletheaters facilities at which there is an admission charge and the levy is waived, but enough. The OTB systems themselves, notoriously wasteful in allocating funds for promotion (do you know a bookmaker who spends money on advertising? Television programming?) and various other forms of nonsense should be forced to operate within the parameters of Spartan budgets. They are betting agencies, no more or less. Wash the floor, clean the restrooms and open the door.

There is no such thing as OTB paying too much for the product and the bulk of revenue should be directed to the racing industry. A substantial portion of revenue should go directly to purses paid by NYRA and other racetracks and the state’s breeding fund. Last in line, the state, which really does nothing to generate this money except provide oversight in the form of the Racing and Wagering Board.

In the absence of support for joining the racing and off-site wagering franchises, there must be a move to put what has become a repository for political patronage, astounding waste and frivolous promotion on a permanent course of austerity in pursuit of the greater good. The principal beneficiary of OTB should be the racing industry – without which there would be no OTB -- not and level of government.