Posted on 11/27/2007 6:57:17 PM PST by NormsRevenge
California Controller John Chiang on Tuesday joined a consumer group in requesting an investigation of a board member of the state's $3 billion stem-cell institute and said he will audit the institute to ensure it is spending its money appropriately.
Chiang said he has asked the Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate John Reed, chief executive of the Burnham Institute of La Jolla and a board member with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. A similar complaint was lodged against Reed last week by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.
"I want a full review," Chiang said during a meeting in San Francisco of a committee he chairs that reviews the institute's finances.
Reed has acknowledged he made a mistake in August when he wrote the institute's officials to quibble with their disallowing a $638,000 grant to a Burnham researcher. The agency's rules prohibit board members from lobbying for grants affecting their organizations.
Reed, who abstained from voting on the grant application, said he didn't realize at the time that it would be improper to send the letter.
Robert Klein, chairman of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, said he also made a mistake in advising Reed that "a letter should be written" about Reed's concerns. Klein said he should have made it clear to Reed that the letter should have been sent by someone who wasn't an institute board member.
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The institute already hires a firm to conduct annual audits of its operations. In February, California State Auditor Elaine Howle also issued a report that faulted the institute for using questionable data to justify its salaries, and letting its officials sometimes use chauffeured rental cars, eat expensive meals and fly first class.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Chiang said he has asked the Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate John Reed, chief executive of the Burnham Institute of La Jolla and a board member with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
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I’ll be surprised if the FPPC has enough money to stay on top of this latest state voter sanctioned boondoggle.. Giddyup.
Why bother, bring it back to a vote. A dead baby, or a flake of a skin cell. Maybe even us Californians will get it....maybe
I think they were the driving force behind the Laetrile Scam too.
I’m not surprised. The whole thing was a taxpayer ripoff from the start. the Muscular Dystrophy Association gets by with only $50 million or so for research each year. Why do stem cell researchers need billions??
Money attracts those who want to steal it.
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