To the editor:

Once again, Dolph Simons Jr. has either forgotten certain facts or is choosing to misrepresent them. In his May 26 Saturday Column regarding suspicions being raised about Clay Blair, Mr. Simons stated that Blair was an excellent chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents, “so good that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius would not reappoint him.”

In fact, Gov. Sebelius never had the opportunity to consider Blair’s reappointment because his term expired while Gov. Bill Graves was in office. According to a June 1, 2002, Lawrence Journal-World article headlined “Regents chair says he wants off board,” Gov. Graves selected Dick Bond to replace Blair on the board of regents. The article also quoted Blair as saying he did not want to be reappointed.

With Gov. Graves’ appointment of Bond to the Board of Regents, Gov. Sebelius couldn’t have appointed Blair even if he had sought appointment. K.S.A. 74-3202a prohibits more than one regent from residing in the same county. Both Bond and Blair reside in Johnson County.

It’s unclear why Mr. Simons continues to take shots at Gov. Sebelius. As the newspaper editor it’s his prerogative, but we should at least be able to expect that he will accurately state the facts.

Sally Howard,

chief counsel for Gov. Sebelius

Editor’s note: The incorrect information about Blair’s exit from the Board of Regents was the subject of a correction on page 2B of Tuesday’s Journal-World.