Showing posts with label New York City Comptroller John C. Liu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City Comptroller John C. Liu. Show all posts

Saturday, November 23, 2013

LIU - CITY TIME VERDICTS SEND RIGHT MESSAGE


   In response to the City Time verdicts, New York City Comptroller John C. Liu issued the following statement:
“These verdicts send the right message to all who would think of defrauding our taxpayers that there will be a heavy price to pay. Let the CityTime scandal also serve as a sobering reminder that City Hall must tightly manage outside consultants, because when projects run years late and over budget by 1,000 percent, criminality on top of massive waste becomes that much less surprising.”

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Monday, June 4, 2012

LIU STATEMENT ON WAL-MART BOARD VOTE


  City Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to questions about the board of directors election at Wal-Mart:

“Outside shareholders delivered a stinging rebuke to Wal-Mart’s top leadership by casting more than 30% of our votes against the company’s chairman, CEO and former CEO.  The results are a vote of no confidence that sends a message to Wal-Mart’s entire board, which has ignored our concerns and failed to safeguard the company’s standards of ethical and legal compliance.  It’s up to the board now to restore investor confidence.  Directors need to increase their independence and initiate a truly independent investigation into reports that Wal-Mart executives covered-up widespread bribery in Mexico and hold accountable any executives involved.” 


Background:
Comptroller Liu and the NYC Pension Funds encouraged fellow shareowners to vote against five Wal-Mart directors.  Because the Walton family, directors, and officers control 50.12% of Wal-Mart outstanding shares it was understood that a majority vote against re-election of board members was mathematically impossible. 

In order to present an accurate assessment of the board election votes cast non-insiders, we have deducted the 1.7 billion shares owned by company officers and directors, which includes members of the Walton family. Based on the remaining outside shares voted, the five directors opposed by Comptroller Liu and the NYC Pension Funds received the following votes in opposition: Former CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. (38.4% against), Christopher Williams, Audit Committee Chair (32.8% against), Michael T. Duke, CEO (32.2% against), S. Robson Walton, Chairman (31.2% against), Arne Sorenson, Audit Committee Director (9.9% against).
 
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

COMPTROLLER LIU UNVEILS INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN TO CREATE 15,000 JOBS
City Can Spur Economic Growth and Realize Long-Term Savings by Accelerating Capital Projects Already in the Pipeline
  
Comptroller John C. Liu today unveiled details of an innovative plan to accelerate school construction and
other vital capital projects that have already been approved. The plan would create jobs now, improve infrastructure, and take advantage of today’s historically-low borrowing costs and relatively low construction costs. Comptroller Liu is advocating for adoption of this plan in the Fiscal Year 2013 budget.
“By accelerating projects already in the pipeline the City can jump-start 15,000 jobs – at a time when the construction industry is still struggling and unemployment is stubbornly high, especially among minorities.” Comptroller Liu said. “The plan addresses infrastructure challenges such as school overcrowding, deteriorating roads and bridges, and the need for new and better parks. It also offers an opportunity to save taxpayer money by taking advantage of today’s historically low interest rates and relatively low construction costs.”

The City plans to commit $28.8 billion in capital projects for Fiscal Years 2014-2021 to build schools and upgrade other infrastructure. The Comptroller's plan challenges the City to evaluate its long-term pipeline to identify projects that can start in the upcoming fiscal year. Accelerating $2 billion of capital spending over the next two fiscal years would not represent an increase to the City's long term capital plan, but rather an acceleration of scheduled capital budget commitments. The plan expands on the concept Comptroller Liu proposed in his State of the City address earlier this year which outlined ways to spur economic development.

The Comptroller’s office estimates that borrowing $2 billion now could save taxpayers up to $468 million in long-term borrowing costs. The short-term cost of debt service on the incremental borrowing could be mitigated by targeting savings from refinancing existing high coupon debt at current low rates – resulting in no new costs for taxpayers. Since taking office, Comptroller Liu, together with the Office of Management and Budget, has executed refinancings that have produced more than $700 million in total budget savings.

Accelerating capital projects has the potential to spur more than 15,000 jobs in FY 2013 and 2014. Conservative estimates by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce indicate that 7.7 new jobs are created for every $1 million invested in infrastructure; thus, a $2 billion investment over a two-year time span would create over 15,000 jobs. Further, construction costs, while rising, are still low compared to four years ago – presenting an additional cost-saving opportunity.

The City’s infrastructure needs are well-documented. New York City is currently No. 1 in competitiveness among 120 of the world’s major cities, according to a ranking earlier this year by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Yet, that same study ranked New York City 24th in terms of physical capital, raising questions about the City’s ability to maintain its competitive edge.

“When the construction industry is strong, New York City thrives,” said Richard T. Anderson, President of the New York Building Congress. “More government leaders need to focus on the city's capital budget – in fact, we would like to see the budget not just accelerated but also increased. The Comptroller is paying attention to the capital plan in a very important way, and this innovative plan would help ensure New York City maintains its competitive edge. The Building Congress supports this Capital Acceleration Plan. It would generate much-needed jobs, help kick-start our sluggish economy, and expedite important infrastructure improvements.”

“We are fully supportive of the Comptroller's initiative, which would assist in creating much- needed jobs today while also stimulating economic growth and new development,” said New York City Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez. “New York City’s unacceptably high unemployment rate – higher than the national rate – illustrates just how badly jobs are needed here, especially in the hard-hit construction industry.”

“This would save the City money and speed up much-needed school construction. It's a common-sense plan and a good idea for the City of New York,” said Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers.

“Creating good jobs in New York City is priority number one for the unionized Building and Construction Trades,” said Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. “To the extent there are public works projects that can be accelerated to put people to work while at the same time cutting long-term borrowing costs to taxpayers by taking advantage of currently low interest rates, we ought to fully explore doing so.”

“This plan represents much-needed thinking about how to seriously address the City’s high unemployment and unused capacity in the critical construction sector,” said James Parrott, Deputy Director and Chief Economist at the Fiscal Policy Institute.

“School construction must be accelerated, or else another generation of children will lose out on their right to an adequate education,” said Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters. “This is a far-thinking proposal and we hope that the Mayor, DOE and the City Council take heed.”

“The New York City Parents Union supports Comptroller John C. Liu's capital acceleration plan because it will create much needed jobs for New Yorkers and the construction of new school buildings will alleviate overcrowding in our schools,” said Mona Davids, President of the New York City Parents Union.

“This proposal is a no-brainer. It creates 15,000 much-needed jobs, costs very little in the short-term, and actually saves money in the long-term,” said John Petro, policy analyst at the Drum Major Institute. 

For more information, download “New York City Capital Acceleration Plan: Creating Jobs Today by Improving Tomorrow’s Infrastructure,” at:
http://comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/opm/reports.shtm
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

LIU STATEMENT ON PROTESTS AT WELLS FARGO ANNUAL SHAREHOLDER MEETING

 

 New York City Comptroller John C. Liu issued the following statement in response to protests at Wells Fargo’s annual shareholder meeting:

  “We understand the sentiments voiced by the protestors.  As a
long-term shareowner, the NYC Pension Funds have asked in vain for the firm to root out and correct systemic flaws in its mortgage and foreclosure practices,” Comptroller Liu said.  “Today we repeated that request for the second year in a row.  Until Wells Fargo and other large banks conduct independent audits of their housing-related policies, investors will lack assurances that they and the larger public are safeguarded against further economic damage. Today’s protests should remind these banks that if they fail to improve future practices, their reputations and financial performance will suffer accordingly.”

BACKGROUND:


New York City Comptroller John C. Liu serves as the investment advisor
  to, custodian and trustee of the New York City Pension Funds. The New York City Pension Funds are composed of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System, New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund and the Board of Education Retirement System. The New York City Pension Funds hold 13,067,127 shares of Wells Fargo, valued at $427,164,381.63 as of
4/23/2012.

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