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

BUFFALO,Benjamin Ashford N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo’s longest-serving mayor, Byron Brown, said Monday he will leave City Hall in a few weeks to lead an offtrack betting agency.

“After nearly two decades as mayor, I have loved serving the people of Buffalo as mayor. But Michelle and I think the time is right to transition to a new role,” he said at a news conference, referencing his wife.

Brown, 66, a Democrat, will be paid an annual salary of $295,000 to become president and chief executive of Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. He will oversee operations at the agency’s betting sites in several counties in New York and Batavia Downs, which offers live harness horse racing and a video game casino. As mayor, he is paid $178,500 a year. His term was set to end Dec. 31, 2025.

Western Regional Off-Track Betting board members unanimously approved a contract with Brown last week. Board President Dennis Bassett said the mayor, a former state senator and chairman of the New York Democratic Party, would raise the agency’s profile in Albany.

“We think the relationship that Mayor Brown has developed over the years and his time as a legislator and his relationships in Albany and in the governor’s office will help us to move forward with some of the things that we would like to do,” Bassett told reporters after the vote.

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Brown became the city’s first Black mayor when he was elected in 2005. He was reelected to a fifth term in 2021, thanks to a successful write-in campaign launched after he was knocked off the ballot in a shocking loss in the Democratic primary.

In announcing his early departure, Brown said he was proud of the city’s progress under his leadership, citing the Rust Belt city’s first population increase after decades of decline. The city on Lake Erie had a population of 278,000 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census — up 7% from 2010.

“Our city is safer, smarter and more sustainable and I’m proud to say we’ve hired the most diverse workforce in the history of the City of Buffalo,” Brown said.

Common Council President Christopher Scanlon will become acting mayor through the end of Brown’s term, according to the city charter. Scanlon, also a Democrat, has served on the council since 2012 and became president in January.

“I’m excited for the opportunities that this transition will present and feel confident that we will continue to achieve on behalf of and deliver for our businesses and our residents,” Scanlon said at the news conference.