Stem cell agency's chief hailed

Re "Stem cell chief's exit is long overdue" (Editorial, June 20): Besides being an unseemly and inaccurate personal attack on the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine's chairman, your editorial was off the mark on many issues.

I joined the agency's board in March as its vice chair. I can assure you that the idea that Chairman Robert Klein "smothers" the board is a myth, yet the members do have a respect for his many contributions. It is a truly independent group with a wide diversity of individuals that allows it to avoid any conflict of interest impacting the agency's actions.

I am in CIRM's offices every day, and I have personally witnessed a very effective division of leadership, with the chair taking responsibility for finances – his expertise – and the agency's president managing the science – his expertise.

There are no behind-the-scenes contracts. The agency's public information firm's contract is only $110,000 per year, and the legal contracts are all discussed at public meetings and are in line with what is required to guide an agency of this size through a maze of state regulation.

After all my years in state government, I have rarely seen an agency as transparent as CIRM. Its board meetings are webcast, and virtually every move it makes is documented via transcripts on its Web site.

– Retired Sen. Art Torres, San Francisco

Weingarten substitute fell flat

Re "Give your view on future of opinion pages" and "Run state like a business; kiss the good life goodbye" (Forum, June 21): OK, Melanie Sill, you asked for it!

I'm one step closer to canceling my subscription. I warned The Bee that if Gene Weingarten wasn't in there, my Forum section would be lacking. Your attempt to source local "humor" didn't quite measure up. Straight sarcasm never really does. Humor is not for amateurs.

And why is much of the shrinking Forum dedicated to asking your readers how to edit a newspaper? Will it be the readers who are at fault if The Bee is unable to survive hard times?

– Suanne Klahorst, Sacramento

Watchdog should be unleashed

Re "Give your view on future of opinion pages" (Forum, June 21): As always, I write to The Bee with great trepidation. Why, you should ask? The main reason is the futility of writing, assuming that my comments will have an impact or effect on the employees of The Bee or the readers of The Bee. But I've always been an optimist, so here I go. What should the new editorial page editor be like?

1. The editorial pages – as well as the rest of the paper – should function as the Fourth Estate. The Bee fails, in most instances, to bring the state, county and city governments to task for the folly that is governing in California. This is not to say that The Bee never is critical of the powers that be, but The Bee should be more critical of those with the responsibility to govern. Get someone who feels that their role is to shine light on the darkness that is governing in California.

2. Find someone who can hire better columnists than the self-serving ones who now populate the editorial pages of The Bee. The syndicated columnists are fairly well balanced – one progressive, one conservative – per day. It's the other columnists who usually have an agenda to promote.

– Don Simons, Carmichael

Financial advisers need to reform

As Washington debates regulatory reform for the financial industry, it occurred to me that the financial problems of the past two years have two primary causes.

First, the average American is not very knowledgeable when it comes to making financial decisions and is in need of quality financial advice. Second, too many financial advisers care more about their commissions and bonus checks than they do about the well-being of their clients.

As a financial planner, I find the second point the more disturbing. In today's complex and constantly changing world of finance, people are in need of financial advice more than ever. But if they don't feel that they can trust a financial adviser, whom can they turn to?