(The following story by Carolyn Shapiro appeared on The Virginian-Pilot website on May 14, 2010.)
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A majority of Norfolk Southern Corp. shareholders rejected a proposal Thursday that pushed for greater disclosure of company spending on political campaigns.
At the railroad’s annual meeting in Williamsburg, 67 percent of shareholder votes cast were against the proposal, brought by the New York City comptroller on behalf of several New York City pension funds. The 33 percent in favor of the measure was essentially the same percentage of votes that supported the same proposal at Norfolk Southern’s annual meeting last year.
The funds, which hold more than 1.1 million shares of Norfolk Southern stock, sought more “transparency and accountability” in the company’s political spending to ensure that it uses its assets in ways that represent the interests of the company and its shareholders, according to the proposal in the company’s proxy statement filed in late March to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Norfolk Southern’s board opposed the measure. It argued that the company’s current disclosures of political contributions are adequate and that further reporting on them would be “unnecessary and unproductive.”
Gail Dubrow, a Norfolk Southern shareholder for about five years, said she voted against the proposal mostly because of the board’s position on it. “If I’m pleased with management, I vote with management,” she said.
She also didn’t think the proposal would change the reality of companies using money to influence politics. “You’re not going to change the system,” said Dubrow, a 71-year-old Williamsburg resident. “It’s the way of the land, and it’s always been that way.”
During a presentation after the annual meeting at Williamsburg Lodge, Dubrow and other shareholders heard Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern’s chairman and chief executive, describe a turnaround in the company’s financial outlook since the annual meeting in 2009.
“What a difference a year makes,” Moorman said.
A year ago, the Norfolk-based railroad’s traffic volume had fallen by 20 percent from the same time in 2008. Volume began to improve in the second half of 2009, leading to year-over-year increases through the first quarter this year, Moorman said.
“That’s a strong sign that the economic recovery, at least in our business, is well on the way,” he told shareholders Thursday. “Your company came out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in as good or better shape financially and physically.”