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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. announced the support of the New York City Pension Funds for shareholder resolutions asking that ExxonMobil address climate change risks and separate the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer positions:
 
“ExxonMobil has long evinced a culture of defiance and indifference to many important concerns of long-term shareholders. For many years, the Board of Directors has failed to demonstrate independence from management, and has generally remained silent and unresponsive to issues on which long-term shareholders have sought meaningful engagement.

The company can take the first step to reforming itself by separating the positions of CEO and Chairman of the Board. Absent this reform, the Board will continue to follow rather than lead, and shareholders will continue to be frustrated by its unresponsiveness to their important concerns.

The Board can demonstrate new leadership by acting to position the company for the inevitable carbon-constrained future. While recent unprecedented profits have served to boost executive pay, and win support from some short-term investors, clearly this is not sustainable.”

The New York City Pension Funds have submitted their own shareholder resolution seeking to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. ExxonMobil’s annual shareholder meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 28 in Dallas, Texas.

The New York City Pension Funds are the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), the Teachers’ Retirement System of New York City (TRS), the New York City Police Department Pension Fund, the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS).

In addition to Thompson, trustees for the Pension Funds are:

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Michael Currid, Captains’ Rep.; John J. McDonnell , Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edward D. Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Thomas Drogan, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, Captains Endowment Association.

New York City Employees’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.
Teachers’ Retirement System: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

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