Somers writes of Klein's salary demands on California's CIRM

Terri Somers wrote of Robert Klein's reversal of position on taking a salary from CIRM:

Klein, who is chief executive of a financing company that funds affordable apartment developments and market-rate projects, said market conditions dictate that he can no longer afford to donate his time to the state.

“For the first three years, I wanted to make certain that all of our scarce initial funds were going for hiring critical staff and getting grants out and making certain we got past right-wing litigation that tried to stop this agency,” Klein said.

He said he also wanted to ensure that the state first repaid loans from philanthropists that funded the institute while it fought the legal challenges.

Klein informed the board in September that he wanted a salary. He said that in consideration of the current economic climate, he would continue to provide at least 15 percent of his time to the institute for free. He said his institute workweek has always surpassed 40 hours and will continue that way.

Somers did not mention that Klein had previously stated he would be stepping down after three years, which time is up. Somers also did not mention that Klein works as a lobbyist to secure governmental funding for stem cell research.