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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016 Brown wants transportation group meetings closed By HILLARY BORRUD Capital Bureau SALEM — Gov. Kate Brown’s offi ce has declined to explain why the governor wants powerful state trans- portation offi cials to meet in secret. Brown has promised to increase government transpar- ency, but a spokesman for the governor said it is legal for a majority of the Oregon Trans- portation Commission to meet privately without any notice. The commissioners are meeting as part of a committee planning for a review of the state Department of Transpor- tation, which Brown ordered last year. Two of the fi ve members of the Oregon Trans- portation Commission were at the committee’s fi rst meeting in March and a third mem- ber was expected to attend, according to a public record released by the state. That would have resulted in a quo- rum — enough commission- ers to make decisions — but the third commissioner ulti- mately skipped the meeting for reasons that were unclear. Under Oregon’s public meetings law, government committees that make recom- mendations, oversee agen- cies and set policies must hold open meetings. There are certain exceptions, includ- ing for groups that advise the governor. Chris Pair, a press secre- tary for Brown, said Friday that this exemption applies to the oversight committee because it is working on the review ordered by the gover- nor. Pair declined to comment on why the committee needs to meet behind closed doors. However, the commit- tee appears to be advising the Oregon Transportation Commission, rather than the governor. Commission chairwoman Tammy Baney appointed the committee, and it is provid- ing monthly progress reports ‘Something’s not right here. ... The statute’s broad enough that it says this group is subject to the public meetings law.’ Jack Orchard a lawyer for the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association to the Oregon Transportation Commission. Transportation commis- sioner Susan Morgan, the chairwoman of the review committee, also did not respond to questions about why the committee must meet in private. Jack Orchard, a lawyer for the Oregon Newspaper Pub- lishers Association who has been involved in public records and meetings issues, said that regardless of whether there is a quorum of transportation com- missioners, the review com- mittee’s meetings should be open to the public because the group is deliberating on a topic of public interest: What issues a contractor should examine as part of a review of the Depart- ment of Transportation. “Something’s not right here,” Orchard said . “ If this group was charged with defi n- ing the scope of the review, clearly that’s a piece of public business ... The statute’s broad enough that it says this group is subject to the public meet- ings law.” Brown ordered the review to address the concerns of law- makers and interest groups SEASIDE BOYS GOLF Gulls one stroke behind after one round The Daily Astorian BANKS — The Seaside boys golf team is just one stroke off the lead after one round of the Special District 1 Regional Tournament, hosted by Banks at Quail Valley Golf Course. Final round competition takes place today at Meri- wether National Golf Club in Hillsboro. Through 18 holes, Crook County holds the team lead with a 343 team score, one stroke ahead of the Gulls (344). Scappoose is third with a 353. Astoria is currently eighth with a 431 team score. Aaron Richardson led Sea- side on Day 1 with a 77, four strokes behind Crook Coun- ty’s Mayson Tibbs, who is cur- rently atop the leaderboard with a 1-over par 73. Carter Lee of Tillamook and Nathan Mapes of Scap- poose are tied for second with a pair of 76 s, followed by Rich- ardson. Seaside’s Berkley Pos- alski rounds out the top fi ve with an 85. Seaside teammates Jack- son Kunde and Josef Barbic added a pair of 91’s. Samson Sibony shot 111 as the Gulls’ fi fth player. “We shot a score good enough to stay in the run- ning,” said Seaside coach Jim Poetsch. “I fi gured that 330 s would win and 340 s would give us a chance, and that is what has happened so far. “We got two guys in the top fi ve and Josef and Jackson are just outside the top 10,” he said. “We left a few strokes out there today, but I like where we are sitting. This is a good reminder for us that every stroke is important. We’ve got another day to come back and hope- fully we can follow up with a good day (Tuesday) and get back to the state tournament.” Kirk Fausett leads Astoria with a 95, followed by Kyle Meisner (107), Joe Scott (111), Taylor Palmberg (118) and Conner Long (127). In the girls’ Regional Tour- nament at Meriwether Golf Course, Astoria shot a sea- son-best 441 team score, with personal best scores from Chloee Hunt (96), Saman- tha Hemsley (99), Jenna Tra- vers (119) and Kristen Tra- vers (128). Sadie Wooldridge carded a 127. Visit us online at www.DailyAstorian.com W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 IN C E L E B R A T IO N O F N A T IO N A L N U R SE S W E E K T he C latsop C om m unity C olleg e nursing students and faculty w ish to extend our deepest appreciation to the nurses in our surrounding com m unity. T h a n k Y ou SCOREBOARD PREP SCHEDULE TODAY Baseball — Tillamook at Astoria, 5 p.m.; Banks at Seaside, 5 p.m.; Catlin Gabel at Warrenton, 4:30 p.m.; Verno- nia at Knappa, 4:30 p.m. Softball — Valley Catholic at As- toria, 5 p.m.; Tillamook at Seaside, 4 p.m.; Portland Adventist at Warrenton, 4:30 p.m.; Vernonia at Knappa, 4:30 p.m. Girls Golf — Regionals, at Quail Valley, 10 a.m. Boys Golf — Regionals, at Meri- wether CC, 9 a.m. THURSDAY Baseball — Astoria at Seaside, 5 p.m. Softball — Yamhill-Carlton at Asto- ria, 4:30 p.m. Track — Cowapa Championships, at St. Helens HS, 3:30 p.m. FRIDAY Baseball — Astoria at Banks, 5 p.m.; Seaside at Scappoose, 5 p.m.; Clatskanie at Warrenton (2), 3:30 p.m.; Knappa at Vernonia (2), 3 p.m. Softball — Astoria at Banks (2), 4 p.m.; Seaside at Scappoose (2), 3:30 p.m.; Clatskanie at Warrenton (2), 3:30 p.m.; Knappa at Vernonia (2), 3 p.m. Track — Cowapa Championships, at St. Helens HS, 3:30 p.m.; District 1/3A, 11 a.m. recall the reason he missed the meeting, but he might have been out of the country. Baney, who laid out a sug- gested scope for the review in the March 31 meeting agenda, said she would have skipped the meeting if O’Hollaren had been there, in order to avoid a quorum of the Oregon Trans- portation Commission. Judson Randall is the co-founder and former presi- dent of Open Oregon, a charita- ble organization that promotes government transparency. Randall said the meeting might violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the state’s open meetings law, which states: “The Oregon form of gov- ernment requires an informed public aware of the delibera- tions and decisions of govern- ing bodies and the information upon which such decisions were made.” The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. about the agency’s ability to effectively spend hundreds of millions of dollars the Legis- lature could approve for trans- portation projects in 2017. The review is important because some lawmakers are only will- ing to approve higher taxes and fees on drivers to pay for the projects if the Department of Transportation can demon- strate it is operating effi ciently. The Department of Trans- portation estimated last year the review could cost $300,000 to $500,000. Two transportation com- missioners — Morgan and Sean O’Hollaren — are mem- bers of the review committee, which the transportation com- mission created in an effort to distance itself and ODOT from the review. The fi ve other committee members are for- mer state lawmakers and other public offi cials . O’Hollaren, the transporta- tion commissioner who missed the March 31 oversight com- mittee meeting, said he did not Lewis & Clark League Rainier 11-0 18-3 Catlin Gabel 5-4 10-6 Clatskanie 4-5 8-12 Warrenton 3-6 9-10 Portland Chr 1-9 6-14 Northwest League Knappa 14-1 18-1 Neah-Kah-Nie 13-5 14-11 Vernonia 12-3 14-4 Nestucca 9-9 10-14 Gaston 6-9 7-14 Faith Bible 3-12 3-17 Delphian 0-18 0-19 SOFTBALL Cowapa League Banks 12-0 16-2 Scappoose 10-2 18-4 Astoria 8-4 14-7 Seaside 3-9 8-13 Tillamook 3-9 7-14 Valley Catholic 0-12 6-15 Lewis & Clark League Rainier 11-0 18-3 Clatskanie 6-3 18-5 Warrenton 5-4 8-14 Portland Adv 2-7 3-9 Portland Chr 0-10 3-18 for your continued support of the nursing prog ram . Your contribution to the learning experiences of the next g eneration of nurses is invaluable. 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