The most curious thing about the March 18 editorial is the inconsistency of The Bee's positions.
The decision by the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the stem cell research institute to appoint two vice chairmen with very different and complementary skill sets, far from being an eleventh-hour decision, was made after much deliberation by our governance subcommittee and discussion by our entire board.
Art Torres brings decades of public and health policy experience to our board and a knowledge of the legislative process that might have served us well earlier in our history, and certainly will now. Duane Roth is an extremely diligent and hardworking member of our board, with different but equally essential talents and skills. Still, I was surprised to see The Bee endorsing the Republican candidate from Southern California for any statewide position.
Given The Bee's more usual political inclinations, it seems odd that you would suggest one candidate is superior simply because he is sufficiently well off to decline the salary this position normally carries. No employer has the right to insist an employee work for nothing, and that certainly includes the state of California. It was outrageous to imply that the superior candidate for any position must be the one wealthy enough to forgo a salary.
Does The Bee really believe that those Californians – most of us – who need our salaries to support our families do not have the right to participate on California boards and commissions? That is a remarkably elitist and anti-democratic point of view.
I was taken aback by your closing lines: "the ICOC is neither independent, nor a group of citizens …" I can understand questioning our motives and integrity – that comes with the territory. But isn't revoking our citizenship a bit harsh?
Francisco J. Prieto, a doctor for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the stem cell research institute financed with $3 billion in bonds that voters approved in 2004. He is responding to the March 18 editorial "Curious oversight at stem cell agency."
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