Editorial: Stem cell follies: Crank up the spin machine

Just a half year into its troubled existence, California's stem cell research institute has already spent more than $2 million, none of it on research. Alert members of the institute's 29-member oversight board are starting to ask an important question: Where the heck is this money going?

Despite a cash-flow shortage caused by a pair of costly lawsuits, institute chairman Robert Klein II has been spending freely. Four months ago, under Klein's direction, the institute quietly hired Edelman, which bills itself as the "world's largest independent public relations group," at a rate of $27,550 a month. Edelman replaced Redgate Communications, which had already racked up $108,000 in PR work in three months.


Klein didn't use a competitive bidding process in retaining either of these companies. Neither did he seek competitive bids before he hired the law firm of Remcho, Johansen & Purcell for $320,000. At the moment, he and institute President Zach Hall are negotiating a long-term contract with Edelman that could top $500,000.
Oversight board members learned of these expenditures at a meeting in Irvine last Tuesday, and some...