San Jose Water Company Annual Meeting (2010)

San Jose Water Company (SJW) had its 2010 annual meeting on April 28 in downtown San Jose. Pastries and coffee were offered to shareholders (see picture above). About 30 people attended, mostly company employees. Unfortunately, Norman Mineta, one of the Board members, did not attend because he was busy in China. Only one out of the eight directors attending the meeting was female.

Chairman Charles Toeniskoetter handled most of the meeting and congratulated an employee for 20 years of service. The CEO gave a brief presentation and said that the company was doing well but had "some political things to get through." (Last year, the company also complained about the political environment, but it hasn't been very specific about the political issues they are having.)

I skimmed the 10K and noticed that SJW owns a lot of land and real property. I also noticed that SJW has set up a subsidiary, SJW Land Company, "which has a 70% limited partnership interest in 444 West Santa Clara Street, L.P., a real estate limited partnership that owns and operates an office building." (page 15, 10K)

Guess who owns the other 30% of 444 West Santa Clara Street, L.P.? "A real estate development firm, which is partially owned by the Chairman of the Board of SJW Corp." (page 34, 10K) The tenants are "an international real estate firm under a 12-year lease." (Id.)

Visions of Enron-style subsidiaries flashed through my mind, so I had to ask about the limited partnership. I mentioned the Chairman's interest in the subsidiary and questioned why a water company was in the landlord/land business. The Chairman said that SJW Land Company took "land no longer needed for the utility and put it into the Land Company." He said that SJW has been in "the real estate business" for a long time, and it has been successful in that business.

The Chairman never mentioned any potential conflict of interest in owning property with SJW. It would have been nice if the Chairman told shareholders that he recuses himself from decisions involving SJW Land Company, but I didn't want to press the issue. I asked about the pension plan. The CFO said it was "90% funded" per IRS rules. The meeting concluded thereafter.

I hope to see Mr. Mineta at next year's meeting. I wanted to ask him about a story involving a baseball bat signed by Hank Aaron and Sadaharu Oh, the home-run king of Japan. See here ("The Camps at Home," 3/8/1999) for more on this story.

Disclosure: at this time, I own an insignificant number of shares of San Jose Water Company (SJW).

Anthony Bourdain's Favorite Food: Pho

Click HERE to read a review of a 2009 Bourdain speech.

Robert Half International Annual Meeting (2010)

Robert Half International (RHI) held its annual meeting in Millbrae, California at the Westin Hotel. Approximately 40 people attended the meeting. Unfortunately, I attended the meeting late and missed the video presentation and most of CEO Harold Messmer's short speech. However, a very perceptive and kind employee saw me come in late and allowed me to watch the video privately. The video, shown to shareholders and employees, discussed Robert Half's various businesses. RHI assists companies by providing flexible staffing. It is increasing its focus on small to mid-size businesses and believes the healthcare industry will represent increased flexible staffing demands. I was surprised by the diversity of RHI's businesses--RHI owns Accountemps, Finance and Accounting, Officeteam, Protiviti, and other staffing segments.

One segment of the video talked about "PEARL" (Pillsbury’s E-Discovery Alliance of Resource Leaders), an e-discovery service. For more information, click here. Law firms may be interested in such a program, assuming it is cheaper than hiring a temp legal agency (a service Robert Half Legal also offers).

The video also mentioned RHI's cash position of $349 million, with very little debt.

Everyone at the meeting was open and friendly. The hotel offered fruits, cereal, different juices, coffee, pastries, yogurt, and even a security guard outside the meeting hall. The CEO agreed to take a picture with me, and he didn't spend any time checking to see if it was a good picture (even after I told him it would be on my blog). Many executives are self-conscious, but CEO Messmer comes across as both suave and down-to-earth.

Now, I have to take time off work and sometimes drive moderate distances to come to annual meetings, so I get disappointed if there is no presentation or if the meeting is poorly run. When a company has a well-run meeting, like RHI, it makes me more confident as a shareholder and more likely to hold my shares.

Also, companies that offer shareholders goodies at the annual meeting get extra points in my book, because they are savvy enough to get free advertising. (It doesn't hurt to butter up shareholders, either.) The first picture above shows you all the different items I picked up at the meeting. RHI offered shareholders golf balls, different mugs, a stress ball, a hat, and a notebook. All of the items were branded, which gave the company a chance to show off its various businesses. Kudos to RHI for running a professional meeting and for treating shareholders to a fun morning.

Disclosure: I own an insignificant number of RHI shares.

Faisal Shahzad and Terrorism

From this Guardian story: would-be Times Square terrorist Faisal Shahzad "came from a wealthy family. He earned an MBA. He had a well-educated wife and two kids and owned a house in a middle-class Connecticut suburb." 

Shahzad fits the profile of a terrorist, and it has nothing to do with race, ethnicity, or religion. If you haven't read my thesis on how to find the most likely terrorists, you can read it HERE.

Comments from Santa Clara County Judges on Law and Motion

From last night's Santa Clara County Bar Association seminar:

On motions: "Brevity is beautiful."

On ex parte motions: "Your procrastination is not our emergency."

On disputes between lawyers: The basic concept is, "Don't involve the court." [i.e., do your best to work things out]

On how to begin your motion: the first paragraph should tell the court why you are here and what you want the court to do.

Another Hitchcock Film Recommendation

From the great Hitchcock film, Dial M for Murder: "[P]eople don't commit murder on credit."

If you haven't seen it, I recommend you watch it. Woody Allen's 2005 film, Match Point, seems to have drawn some inspiration from this Hitchcock film. I usually like Woody Allen, but for some reason, I didn't like Match Point. Most of my friends, however, did, so don't let me stop you from seeing it.

Inspiring Speech

American Scholar, Spring 2010
Article: Solitude and Leadership
Author: William Deresiewicz

http://www.theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/

Why is it so often that the best people are stuck in the middle and the people who are running things—the leaders—are the mediocrities? Because excellence isn’t usually what gets you up the greasy pole. What gets you up is a talent for maneuvering. Kissing up to the people above you, kicking down to the people below you. Pleasing your teachers, pleasing your superiors...

Henry David Thoreau looks alive and well in the body of William Deresiewicz.