"Stem cell czar" at it again
Posted by Jesse Reynolds November 3, 2006
Biopolitical Times
Robert Klein, California's "stem cell czar," is inappropriately politicking again. This time, he's endorsed Democrat John Garamendi for Lt. Governor. It's my understanding that as an appointed state official, he is prohibited from endorsing candidates for office. The way he introduces his endorsement suggests he knows this:
His attempt at endorsing Garamendi as something other than his official capacity - chairman of the board of California's $3 billion stem cell program - is disingenuous and wrong. Everyone knows what his day job is. Klein's action is the equivalent of Leon Kass, then chair of the President's Council on Bioethics, lobbying Congress on stem cell research as a "private citizen" - a move that was roundly criticized by stem cell research advocates.
It is made all the more transparent that Garamendi's press release and news articles about the endorsement all note that the next Lt. Governor will have the power to appoint five members to the board that Klein chairs. Since Klein must maintain the support of this board, it is worth citing the California Supreme Court case of Stanson v. Mott, which set limits on electioneering by appointed officials:
An update: I just found a recent post from the California Stem Cell Report pointing me to the new web site of the stem cell research advocacy group, mentioned above, Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures. Chaired by Klein and operating from his corporate office, it rates the candidates for statewide offices [PDF] that appoint members to the board of the California stem cell research program, which he also chairs. It is a 501c4, meaning that it can lobby, and it does. Its mission includes "Mobiliz[ing] support" for the California stem cell research agency, and "Support[ing] legislation and regulatory efforts on a national and state level." It seems to be performing the work that Klein is prohibited from doing in his official capacity.
Klein chaired a similar advocacy organization, the California Research and Cures Coalition, just after the passage of Proposition 71. He resigned that post [PDF] under pressure. This is more egregious, in that the new organization is a lobbying outfit, not just an "education" nonprofit. Moreover, it advocates for candidates that will appoint the board members whose support Klein needs to stay on in his official capacity. Klein must choose: Is he an advocate, or a public servant? He should resign from one of the two boards.
I’m here today as a patient advocate. Certainly as the father of a son with juvenile diabetes and the son of a mother with Alzheimer's. I’m here as the author of Proposition 71, as the Chairman of the Proposition 71 campaign committee to give you a very clear message.and how he's listed on Garamendi's website (as "Proposition 71 Founder" under "clubs / organizations").
His attempt at endorsing Garamendi as something other than his official capacity - chairman of the board of California's $3 billion stem cell program - is disingenuous and wrong. Everyone knows what his day job is. Klein's action is the equivalent of Leon Kass, then chair of the President's Council on Bioethics, lobbying Congress on stem cell research as a "private citizen" - a move that was roundly criticized by stem cell research advocates.
It is made all the more transparent that Garamendi's press release and news articles about the endorsement all note that the next Lt. Governor will have the power to appoint five members to the board that Klein chairs. Since Klein must maintain the support of this board, it is worth citing the California Supreme Court case of Stanson v. Mott, which set limits on electioneering by appointed officials:
A fundamental precept of this nation's democratic electoral process is that the government may not 'take sides' in election contests or bestow an unfair advantage on one of several competing factions. A principal danger feared by our country's founders lay in the possibility that the holders of governmental authority would use official power improperly to perpetuate themselves, or their allies, in office...; the selective use of public funds in election campaigns, of course, raises the specter of just such an improper distortion of the democratic electoral process.This is not Klein's first inappropriate foray into politics. On the night before June's primary battle, an unknown stem cell research advocacy group chaired by Klein circulated a letter smearing state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, who was running for Secretary of State and had proposed strengthening the oversight of Klein's program. And he's led the state stem cell board in lobbying both the state legislature and federal congress, even hiring a lobbyist on taxpayer expense. If these actions are legal, they merely use loopholes to satisfy the letter of the law while violating its spirit.
An update: I just found a recent post from the California Stem Cell Report pointing me to the new web site of the stem cell research advocacy group, mentioned above, Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures. Chaired by Klein and operating from his corporate office, it rates the candidates for statewide offices [PDF] that appoint members to the board of the California stem cell research program, which he also chairs. It is a 501c4, meaning that it can lobby, and it does. Its mission includes "Mobiliz[ing] support" for the California stem cell research agency, and "Support[ing] legislation and regulatory efforts on a national and state level." It seems to be performing the work that Klein is prohibited from doing in his official capacity.
Klein chaired a similar advocacy organization, the California Research and Cures Coalition, just after the passage of Proposition 71. He resigned that post [PDF] under pressure. This is more egregious, in that the new organization is a lobbying outfit, not just an "education" nonprofit. Moreover, it advocates for candidates that will appoint the board members whose support Klein needs to stay on in his official capacity. Klein must choose: Is he an advocate, or a public servant? He should resign from one of the two boards.