From: James McRitchie <jm@corpgov.net>
Subject: letter to the editor
Cc: SHemmeri@crain.com, public_affairs@calpers.ca.gov
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998
In your August 24th edition, you published a personal attack on my integrity by James E. Burton, CEO of CalPERS. Mr. Burton implies that I duped P&I into promoting my campaign for the CalPERS Board because I did not identify myself as a CalPERS candidate in a recent letter to the editor concerning policies, gag rules and lawsuits at CalPERS.
This was unfair to the other candidates, who did not have an "equal opportunity to comment," according to Mr. Burton. Unlike CalPERS, which carefully screens candidate ballot statements, P&I imposes no "requirement for truthfulness." Mr. Burton also implies that I am not qualified to comment on the likely outcome of a pending court action, since I am "not licensed to practice law in California."
P&I is an excellent trade publication but a poor choice as a campaign vehicle. Out of 215,000 state and university employees eligible to vote in the upcoming election, probably very few subscribe to P&I or read my own publication, Corporate Governance, which has been an important voice on the internet since 1996, calling on pension funds and other investors to act as owners instead of as speculators by increasing mechanisms of accountability.
My letter, responded directly to P&I's 7/13 article on Dr. Crist's "gag rule" which prohibits State Controller Kathleen Connell's representative from questioning money managers about their campaign contributions. I informed your readers of Connell's recent suit and elaborated on a double standard, which ostensibly prohibits her from collecting contributions from those doing business with CalPERS but allows those who appoint board members to continue to do so. I also speculated the courts would "likely" throw out CalPERS' stringent ban on political contributions, leaving the weak policy requiring reporting of gifts to board members and executives.
Mr. Burton's "desire to ensure accuracy" out of concern for the other candidates is misplaced; they are fully capable of speaking for themselves. His innuendos concerning my qualifications and ethics call his own into question. I am not an attorney; neither is Mr. Burton. We are both entitled to our opinions, with or without legal advice (although, in this case, we both have legal counsel).
Unlike Mr. Burton, I have no personal stake in continuing current policies which allow board members and executives at CalPERS to be showered in gifts. State law prohibits employees, with much less influence than Dr. Crist or Mr. Burton, from accepting gifts as small as a free drink and at least one employee has been fired for doing so. I stand by my statements and continue to agree with P&I's 2/23/98 editorial calling on public pension funds to end the practice of accepting gifts.
If Dr. Crist or one of the other candidates believes I took unfair advantage of my role as an editor to gain a foothold with P&I voters, I hope P&I will publish their letters of protest. I doubt P&I will become the voters forum Mr. Burton apparently believes it to be, but your readers may benefit by learning more about the wide ranging election issues at this $140 billion fund.
James McRitchie, Editor
Corporate Governance
http://corpgov.net
CalPERS Board Candidate
http://perswatch.net
contact information: 916.452.5338 (evening) 916.327.1194 (day)
Contact: 
jm@perswatch.net