Legal and public relations advice, legislative lobbying and grant procedures – all are part of the $1.6 million mix of outside contracts that the California stem cell agency has quietly let since the beginning of the year.
It is not surprising that the agency has gone to the private sector, and it is likely to do more of it in the future. The fledgling bureaucracy is limited to only 50 employees by law.
Use of private consultants and service has some virtue. Properly done, it is a way to handle start-up and special costs without creating a large bureaucracy that is hard to change as needs change. At the same time, use of private consultants, some of whom have access to sensitive information, raises issues about potential conflicts. None of the consultants seem to be required to meet the same conflict-of-interest standards as CIRM's own employees.
That means CIRM must exercise careful oversight of the consultants, which requires a critical eye that may not fit with the startup team ethos of the new agency. The handling of the contracts also may provide some insight into how the agency is likely to proceed in the future as it hands out hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants.
The contracts have triggered some criticism from Oversight Committee members, who have complained about learning about them in the media(see "Murky Money" on June 14). And only one of the contracts (the executive search agreement) seems to have been let in what might be considered a normal competitive process.
Reporter Laura Mecoy of The Sacramento Bee was the first to disclose the total value of contracts. We have written about the $10,000-a-month lobbyist (May 5) and the now terminated contract with Red Gate Communications for public relations work("Hello to Edelman" April 22). Mecoy noted that her total did not include a figure for the Edelman PR contract, which the agency said was still under negotiation. One source indicated to us that it could be in the neighborhood of $700,000 annually, which would presumably include building a community education program from scratch.
Here is a look at some of the other contracts:
$350,000 one-year contract with the state controller's office for various support services for 2005, ranging from personnel to setting up computer networks.
$320,000 seven-month contract with the law firm of Remcho, Johansen and Purcell of San Leandro CA to act as general counsel with rates up to $300 an hour, plus expenses. The total on this contract was raised from an original $100,000.
$165,000 contract, plus expenses, for the Spencer Stuart search for a CIRM president and assistance with a search for a chief scientific officer. The contract was scheduled to end by May 31. The firm could be in for a substantial bonus if CIRM hires other persons turned up in the CEO search for non-CEO positions.
$70,000 six-month contract with Constance Atwell of Pinehurst NC to provide advice concerning development of policies and procedures for grant management. Atwell's contract has an interesting "trust me" provision regarding possible conflicts of interest. The contract states that Atwood "affirms that to the best of (her) knowledge there exists no actual or potential conflict between the consultant's family, business or financial interest and the services provided under this agreement...." Atwell is a retired grants manager from NIH.
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