"Things are getting better," he said. "It's just going to take some time."
Some companies still increase executives' pay even though the stock is worth less, a practice Elson believes is hard to justify to shareholders.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s share price dropped 22 percent last year, but CEO David D. Smith's compensation package nearly doubled, to about $2 million.
Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank saw his compensation almost triple to $1.5 million as his company's stock price fell 13 percent.
Black & Decker Corp. CEO Nolan D. Archibald, whose $11.1 million compensation ranked him second in the metro area after Shattuck, enjoyed a 7 percent increase though the company's stock price fell 13 percent.
Sinclair, which declined to comment, also reported a 58 percent drop in profit last year.
Profit at Black & Decker, on the other hand, rose about as much as its CEO's pay. "His compensation is well down from what it was in 2003 to 2005," added Roger A. Young, a Black & Decker spokesman. "There is certainly a pay-for-performance mentality and system here."
Under Armour, which saw its profit rise 35 percent, says Plank's compensation was artificially low in 2006 because he turned down a $625,000 bonus that year. "He felt we could have done better, although we did very, very well," said Wayne A. Marino, Under Armour's chief operating officer.
It looks at first glance like Constellation CEO Shattuck saw his pay slump 30 percent last year - his 2006 figure was reported as $20 million in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. But the company takes issue with the way the SEC requires corporations to count long-term incentives.
Constellation insists that Shattuck's actual compensation was about $14 million in 2006 and $14.8 million last year, which equates to a 6 percent raise. It said similar calculations applied to the other Constellation executives on the high-pay list.
Constellation's stock performance last year hasn't immunized the company from concerns about pay levels - and not just among BGE customers annoyed about the 50 percent increase in electric rates last year.
PROXY Governance Inc., a Vienna, Va.-based proxy advisory firm, recommended that shareholders withhold votes this year from directors on Constellation's compensation committee to protest "out of line" pay.
