TRUSTEES CAST

OUT OIL STOCKS

S&P 500 Stocks Shifted To S&P 475

By JIM KEVLIN • for www.AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN – Rejecting the advice of the village treasurer, the Village Board this evening voted unanimously to shift its investments in S&P 500 stocks over the next year into an S&P 475 scrubbed free of fossil-fuel companies.

Trustees acted despite Treasurer Derek Bloomfield, citing guidelines for CFAs (chartered financial analysts), advising them that a fully diversified portfolio, including fossil-fuel stocks, is the most stable. “Social investment should be done with one’s own money,” he said.

Historically, Bloomfield said – and he underscored this was just his opinion – fossil fuels have done more to raise mankind out of poverty than any other development through the ages.

But Trustee Lou Allstadt, the retired Mobil executive vice president, shot back: “I totally disagree with the statement that fossil fuels have been a boon to humanity. They’ve created a great threat to humanity.”

Eventually, he predicted, fossil-fuel stocks will drop, and the village should get ahead of the curve. Looking into the stock for any market could be a risky deal, which why it is nice for anyone who is interested in investing in any type of stock to do research using something similar to Stocktrades as well as watching the market.

Trustee Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch seconded Allstadt’s motion, and the rest of the trustees and Mayor Jeff Katz voted aye. The money, about $140,000, will be shifted in quarters every three months for the next year.

The Village Board then accepted a sales tax report from Trustee Kuch showing July revenues up 27 percent over the year before, largely due to more fans buying gasoline, it was noted, to get back and forth from the record-breaking Griffey Jr.-Piazza induction.