Gold star wheels…
You have to wonder what the other members — not to mention the valet — at whatever country club Comfort Systems (FIX) CEO William Murdy belongs to must think when he pulls up in his 1999 GMC Jimmy, which according to this site where I found the picture, costs $4,999. After all, Houston, where the company is based, is definitely a city that’s into their cars — so much so that they even have a museum devoted to art cars. But that’s exactly what Mundy drives, according to the proxy the company filed late yesterday. Given that the SUV, which the proxy notes is used for both personal and business use, costs the company less than $5K a year, Comfort Systems didn’t even have to disclose the perk. That they did and that it’s so modest is certainly interesting.
That’s also true for the country club, which the company said cost around $1,400 last year, or about what an annual family gym membership costs. At a time when executives seem to be more than a bit car-crazy — Visteon (VC), which filed its proxy earlier this week disclosed spending $62K on one executive’s car and Sotheby’s (BID), which filed its proxy last night disclosed spending $161K for car-related expenses for CEO William Ruprecht — Comfort Systems clearly deserves a rare footnoted.org gold star.
UPDATE: Dealing with a flood in my basement, so no post today (4/16). Back to bailing and praying that I don’t burn out another sump pump!
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April 16th, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Good luck with the sump pump, Michelle. Come back soon.
In contrast to your view, I have some understanding of high-priced country club fees winding up on the corporate benefits list but absolutely no sympathy with YMCA level dues being paid by the corporation. So no gold star from me.
One could argue that pricey golf and country clubs are where a CEO mingles with similar high power folks, so the membership could benefit the corporation. But just who is the Comfort Systems CEO going to meet at his local exercise club? Guys like me, who are of no possible benefit to the corporation.
This CEO should be paying his own gym membership fees. I can see no reason why it is on his corporate benefits sheet.
April 16th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
Greetings from Waterworld! What a day! Two sump pumps later and my basement is dry — at least for the moment. When I got to my local Home Depot (HD) this morning at around 7:30 am, it was already picked clean. Oddly enough, they had plenty of sump pumps, but none of the connecting hoses. Even odder was that the Wet-Dry Vac that was $58.97 early Monday morning was $10 higher when I returned to the store at around 2:30 pm. When I asked about the sudden price difference, the guys on the floor plead ignorance and sent me to the front-end manager. First, he told me I must have been looking at a different model. Then he told me the price was incorrect this morning. But he insisted — without me ever mentioning the words — that the store was positively absolutely not price gauging. And then he knocked $10 off the price without me even asking. Hmmm…sounds a bit like a guilty conscious to me!
April 17th, 2007 at 8:39 am
The Home Despot is evil indeed. While Lowes might do the same,the more you buy there the weaker the Despot becomes.I have been know to drive a long way to spend at Lowes since there is not one around here,yet. TrueValue is a good choice as well. Try joining Grainger (GWW) and while you pay a bit more,there is no messing around with inventory and quality. You need a business card and they do (from msg boards) seem to engage in some sort of age discrimination but one look at the catalog and you know that they have what you will need.
Take the “burned out” pumps back for a full refund and get the water away from the house. The pumps should not be burning out–there is something wrong. Check TERRYLOVE plumbing website for remedies.