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
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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.
Northwest League
Vernonia
12-0 16-4
Knappa
10-2 12-11
Gaston
10-5 13-10
Neah-Kah-Nie 7-8 7-12
Delphian
0-12 0-14
Nestucca
0-12 2-18
Sponsored by the
C C C N ursing C lub
FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED
5
Tickets: $1
OPENS MAY 6
Fridays and
Saturdays at 7pm
Sunday Matinee
May 8th at 2pm
TH
BACK SUPPORTER MATTRESS SPECIALS!
Produced with
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STANDINGS
BASEBALL
Cowapa League
League Overall
Banks
11-1 17-4
Valley Catholic 10-2 15-3
Astoria
6-6 11-10
Scappoose
6-6 13-7
Seaside
2-10 6-17
Tillamook
1-11 3-19
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