CIRM Chair Robert Klein and Angelo Tsakopolous, a Sacramento area land developer, are lobbying for a proposed 2,800-acre land deal near the capital that would also create a stem cell research center with a projected endowment of $200 million. Earlier this spring, Klein's private lobbying organization received a $125,000 contribution from Tsakopolous' company. Klein would chair the proposed nonprofit.
In a story written by reporter Ralph Brave, the Sacramento News & Review today painted a bucolic picture of the development's location, which is hard on a very busy freeway just west of Sacramento. Brave wrote:
"This acreage has become the latest battleground in the ongoing war over the fate of Yolo County’s distinctive dedication to preserving farmland and open space. Although it’s just commenced, this particular battle’s mix of the area’s most powerful real-estate magnate, the head of the state’s stem-cell oversight committee, the re-evaluation of Yolo County’s General Plan governing development, and next year’s elections promises a prolonged, intense struggle that could determine much about the county’s and the region’s future."The election issue involves at least the chair of the Yolo supervisors, a locally elected official who is seeking a seat in the California legislature. The dispute was characterized as a "farmland war" in a caption on a photo of a portion of the site.
Brave continued:
"Environmental attorney James Pachl told SN&R that Tsakopoulos’ 'proposal is an attempt to bribe the supervisors by offering to contribute to a fashionable charity in exchange for approval of AKT’s development project(AKT is Tsakopolous' company). Perhaps legal, but too unethical for most public officials to consider. The AKT property is valuable farmland, wildlife habitat and open space that should continue to be farmed.' A supporter of stem-cell research, Pachl expressed concern that 'the proposal will create a local political firestorm that will likely stop the project and damage the credibility of stem-cell researchers.'"The newspaper also brought into its coverage another CIRM official, Claire Pomeroy, a member of the Oversight Committee and dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Brave wrote that attendees at one dinner promoting the project included two Yolo supervisors, Klein and Pomeroy.
Brave said Pomeroy later told him that "it would not be 'appropriate to involve myself in land-use decisions.'"
Last Saturday, reporter Luke Gianni of the Woodland Daily Democrat quoted Pomeroy as saying,
"The concept of a research center for stem cells is a good one and something I support. A new research park in this region, in addition to the stem cell facilities we're currently building in Sacramento, could help complement the promising work our scientists are now doing in regenerative medicine."Brave's story contained more details on financing the stem cell research facility, provided by Amy Daly, executive director of the Klein lobbying group, Americans for Stem Cell Therapies and Cures.
"Upon approval for residential and commercial development for some portion of the Tsakopoulos 2,800-acre property, 200 acres would be donated to a new nonprofit called Bridge to Cures. One hundred of those acres would be taken to a bank and used as collateral for a loan to finance the building of the research center and its labs. Part of the profits from the residential and commercial development would go into an endowment, to be used as loans, grants and other financing for biotech companies to advance stem cell and other biomedical discoveries into clinical applications."
Daly said the center's labs would be leased to for-profit companies. Earlier, she told the California Stem Cell Report that Klein would chair Bridge To Cures.
Size of the endowment has ranged from $50 to $400 million, depending on the size of the development that might be approved.
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