Text of Simpson Hoover Comments

Here is the text of comments by John M. Simpson, stem cell project director of the Consumer Watchdog of Santa Monica, Ca., concerning next week's CIRM board meeting on recommendations by the Little Hoover Commission.

“The Little Hoover Commission requires no response and the Legislative Subcommittee is wasting the valuable time of its members trying to formulate one. What matters is action, not rhetoric.

“If the ICOC (the CIRM board) needs to send something, send a simple note:

"'Dear Little Hoover Commission:

"'Thank you for your thorough and thoughtful report. We appreciate its constructive tone and are giving serious consideration to all the recommendations you made.

"'Thank you,
"'The ICOC'

“Then the ICOC needs to spend its time thinking about and acting on many of the issues raised in the report. Number one on my list would be succession planning now that Bob Klein has made it clear he won't be chairman after 2010. Another important thing to deal with is the revised strategic plan that has been lingering in draft form since last December.

“Little Hoover did its job. They offered an independent assessment and a bunch of suggestions. They have done their job and are on to their next study. They really don't care what your write back.

“Now the ICOC needs to do its job. Surely that's not wasting members' valuable time formulating a response to the report. That approach smacks more of ego -- and thin skin -- than anything else. Instead, tackle the very real issues the agency is facing.”