New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today announced that the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected a request by Consol Energy of Cannonsburg, PA for concurrence with its view that a proposal he submitted to the company on behalf of the New York City Board of Education Retirement System and the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, calling for the adoption of a policy to expedite the disclosure of vote results to proponents of shareholder resolutions, can be omitted from its 2009 proxy statement.

The proposal requests that companies provide proponents of shareholder resolutions timely disclosure of the vote results on their proposals. The pension funds believe that in so doing, the companies provide an opportunity for good-faith dialogue between proponents of proposals and company representatives on issues of concern.

“On behalf of the two pension funds, I applaud the SEC’s decision to uphold this resolution, and I am pleased that Consol now must include our expedited vote result disclosure resolution in its 2009 proxy agreement for consideration and vote by the shareholders” Thompson said. “We believe that by increasing the opportunity for engagement, companies can help reduce the number of shareholder proposals that are resubmitted annually, and establish positive, productive relationships with proponents of proposals.”

The proposals were filed on behalf of two of the five New York City pension funds – the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS) and the Board of Education Retirement System (BERS).

Google, Inc. of Mountain View, CA and Lattice Semiconductor Corporation of Hillsboro, OR have already agreed to adopt the “expedited disclosure of vote results” policy this year. As a result of these agreements, the Comptroller has withdrawn the resolutions.

On behalf of the two funds, Comptroller Thompson also submitted the “expedited disclosure of vote results” resolution to Massey Energy of Richmond, VA this proxy season.

Collectively, the two pension funds own considerable shares of common stock worth millions of dollars in the four companies.

The resolutions can be viewed at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

All five New York City Pension Funds have been at the forefront of shareholder activism in pressuring many of America’s largest companies to improve workplace conditions, protect the environment, promote human rights abroad, and adhere to accepted corporate governance standards.

Besides Thompson, the trustees of the following four pension funds are:

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), James Molinaro (Staten Island), and Acting Borough President Earl D. Brown (Bronx); 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.

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 Sullivan, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, Captains Endowment Association.

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; John Dunne, Captains’ Rep.; John J. McDonnell , Chiefs’ Rep., and James J. McGowan, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

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