Patrick objects as Romney fills a key slot
Over the objections of incoming governor Deval L. Patrick, a board that oversees state funding for stem cell research and other biotechnology initiatives appointed a little known budget planner for Governor Mitt Romney as its executive director yesterday.
Aaron D'Elia, an assistant secretary in the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, will be paid $125,000 a year to run the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which controls state funding for biotechnology initiatives in the Commonwealth.
The Romney-controlled board that oversees the center, which includes two recent appointees by the governor, voted 4 to 1 in favor of D'Elia's appointment. University of Massachusetts president Jack Wilson was the lone dissenter, saying he had spoken to Patrick, who had strongly objected to the lame-duck appointment.
Wilson complained that the selection was made by the board without a search. A top Patrick adviser echoed that criticism yesterday, saying that Romney had rescinded a slew of lame-duck appointments made by his predecessor, Acting Governor Jane Swift.
"It's very ironic for Governor Romney to do the same thing, which he deeply criticized Governor Swift for doing," said Patrick adviser Doug Rubin.
Rubin added that Patrick, who supports a wide range of embryonic stem cell research, sees biotechnology as an important economic driver.
"This is an area Governor-elect Patrick talked about during the campaign and has a lot of hope for attracting businesses," Rubin added. "This is an opportunity for the governor-elect to put the people in place that he thinks can help achieve these goals. By Governor Romney moving ahead and quickly filling the appointment, it really takes away Governor-elect Patrick's ability to implement his agenda."
The Center, which was created by the Legislature this year, has broad powers to fund and sponsor research, particularly early stage research that is not yet able to attract private venture capital. D'Elia yesterday said that he, like Romney, backs the use of stem cells created from embryos left over from fertility treatments, but he opposes cloning embryos with the genes of a person suffering from a particular disease that scientists want to study.
He said he believes he's qualified for the job because of his background working in economic development.
"I'm comfortable about what I bring to the table," said D'Elia, 35, like Romney a Republican. "I'm going to be very open to working with Governor Patrick, and I hope he's open to working with me."
D'Elia has no background in biology or science and received his bachelor's degree in history with concentrations in international affairs and business. He has worked for the state since 1999 and would qualify for a pension after 10 years. He was paid $86,630 in 2005, according to payroll records. State officials said he makes $105,000 as assistant secretary.
Yesterday, Wilson said Patrick had called him before the vote to raise his concerns.
"He was very strong and made a compelling case about why he felt uncomfortable with this moving forward, and it jibed with some of my concerns," Wilson said. "This is an issue of how we have the best success. It's all about getting the absolute best person in the position . . . and to give assurances to the community that we've done our due diligence."
Thomas Trimarco, Romney's secretary of administration and finance and a member of the board, had originally proposed that D'Elia be given the job without a broader search and that the appointment be open-ended. After Wilson objected, the board opted to give him a one-year contract and conduct a search.
Trimarco described D'Elia as "very talented and very dedicated" and insisted that he was not looking to place a loyal aide who would probably lose his job in the next administration.
"This isn't a political appointment," Trimarco said. "To give the impression that we're rushing to make political appointments is a real mischaracterization."
Trimarco said he was surprised that Patrick would focus on the $10 million center when his staff has only once sat down with the current administration to review the state's $26 billion budget.
The appointment is the latest move by Romney to put his stamp on state government as he prepares to leave office Jan. 4. He appointed two members to the Board of Education and selected a new chairman. Romney also appointed his top spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, to the Brookline Housing Authority last month, but Fehrnstrom withdrew after the Globe disclosed that the appointment would help him become eligible for a state pension.
Under the legislation creating the center, the Life Sciences board is made up of five members, the secretary of administration and finance, the secretary of economic development, the president of University of Massachusetts, and two appointees of the governor, a physician and a chief executive officer of a Massachusetts-based life sciences corporation. They serve five-year terms.
Romney recently appointed Dr. Micheline Matthews-Roth, a medical researcher, and Marc Beer, president of
By controlling the board and the executive director's appointment, Romney could ensure that Massachusetts doesn't embarrass him, as he begins his presidential campaign, by funding controversial research projects. Though Romney has said he supports stem cell research, state officials in August adopted rules that criminalized certain stem cell activities.
Matthews-Roth said she opposes human embryonic stem cell research. "Getting embryonic stem cells with present-day technology kills a growing member of the species of the party that gave the egg and sperm," she said.
Under the legislation, the governor can remove board members only for cause. But Patrick is likely to control the board anyway since two of his appointees will become members by virtue of their job, the secretary of administration and finance and the secretary of economic development. And Wilson, the UMass president, is seen as a Patrick supporter.
Andrea Estes can be reached at estes@globe.com. 
