Klein's Careful Statement on Re-nomination

In a statement made in connection with his re-nomination as chairman of the California stem cell agency, Robert Klein said today he wanted “to continue to build” on the state's stem cell research record.

But did he say he would accept re-nomination?

CIRM's chief communications officer, Don Gibbons, pointed us to the statement when we asked whether Klein planned to accept re-nomination.

The press release from the governor's office said,

“I am honored to be nominated chair of CIRM’s governing board by Governor Schwarzenegger,” said Klein.  “California was the first state to support and fund stem cell research, and I want to continue to build on California’s global leadership including growing our national and international partnerships and forging new ones that will help carry on this important research.”

By our reading, the quotation from Klein does not say that he accepts the nomination or that he is looking forward to running the agency – only continuing to build in the area of stem cell research. That could mean a variety of things, including bird-dogging CIRM's proposed new multibillion bond issue on a volunteer basis. We may be parsing the statement too closely, but Klein, who is a lawyer, can be exquisitely careful with words.

Klein has been adamant as recently as October about not planning to head the agency for another term. Plus, he may not have votes on the board to win re-election following the Bernstein/Portola Valley plan ruckus.