"We have a responsibility to move as quickly as possible," Robert Klein said Thursday. "I admit that I am an optimist."

The institute was created by California voters in November when they approved a $3 billion bond to fund stem cell research over the next decade.

The 29-member committee appointed to manage the institute met Thursday and began to rectify the mind-numbing bureaucratic problems that need to be solved before the agency can be launched in full.

The Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee sorted through issues ranging from mundane personnel matters to grappling with the appropriateness of patenting genes and other life forms. Its only business in one earlier meeting was to appoint Klein as chairman and biotech company founder Edward Penhoet as vice chairman.

The committee members began the process of getting a $3 million loan from the state treasurer so the agency can hire staff and begin operating. They also appointed a seven-member committee to locate a headquarters and find office space.

Many of the board members, who were appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) and other elected officials, represent research universities and the biotechnology industry, both of which are expected to win millions of dollars worth of grants.

The committee members discussed creating conflict of interest rules, one of several hurdles the agency needs to overcome before it can send off its first check. The committee also must design intellectual property guidelines to ensure the state shares in any profits made from drugs created by California's stem cell grants.

Subcommittees were created Thursday to find outside scientists and others to serve on powerful "working groups" that will vet grant applications, deal with laboratory construction and establish standards for awarding grants.

Critics complained the committee was violating the state's open meeting law Thursday because little information about the agenda was provided before the meeting began.

California Deputy Attorney General Ted Prim, who advised the committee on open meetings laws Thursday, said he was satisfied the meeting was legal.

Other critics, such as Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, complained that the so-called working groups are explicitly exempt from the state's open meeting laws and can conduct all business behind closed doors.

"I think that is particularly dangerous and ill-advised," Darnovsky said.

Klein acknowledged that detailed information could have been made available sooner, but said that the delay was because the agency had no staff.

"It is in the birth stage," Klein said. "We appreciate the patience and understanding of this process."

Klein said the agency would begin posting its agenda and related information on its newly launched Web site, http://www.cirm.ca.gov.

(Agencies via CRI January 8, 2005)