State Rep. Bill McGee said an increase in funding for transportation is needed.

"I don't think it's any doubt that if more funding were available it would be put to good and immediate use," McGee said.

McGee is a member of the 21st Century Transportation Committee. The committee is studying the infrastructure needs of the state.

Projects in Forsyth County, the district McGee represents, have been delayed year after year because of low funds, he said.

The Department of Transportation also needs to finish the major roads across the state, which would relieve traffic congestion and tie-ups, he added.

"I think that's something that needs immediate attention," McGee said.

Bob Orr sounded briefly like the attorney for the N.C. Press Association.

At a debate at UNC-Charlotte Saturday, the Republican gubernatorial candidate argued that Gov. Mike Easley and his successors should follow the state's public records laws.

Orr, a former Supreme Court justice, noted recent news reports that the governor's staff may have ordered public affairs directors to delete their e-mails, a violation of the records law.

He also attacked a recent meeting of the 21st Century Transportation Committee which was held on Figure Eight Island without press access.

"If we're truly going to have openness, it has to begin at the top," he said. "It has to begin with the governor. The governor has to be committed to obeying the open meeting laws, the public records law, of being able to fight for openness."

Orr said that public agencies should pay attorney's fees when they have been found by a judge to have improperly withheld public records.

Legislators and voters might be asked to approve a $2 billion road bond on the November ballot.

Brad Wilson of Raleigh, who heads a statewide transportation study group that will make recommendations in May, said he hopes the fall ballot will include a major referendum.

"To really make an impact on the highway infrastructure, that bond [issue has] got to be of a certain magnitude -- or it's really not worth doing," he said Thursday.

Wilson heads the 24-member 21st Century Transportation Committee, a group of civic, business and political leaders. He also predicted the committee would ask legislators to stop the transfer of $172 millino from the Highway Trust Fund to the general fund. (N&O)

A high-profile panel on transportation was scheduled to meet last night at the home of a member.

The dinner, featuring a catered buffet and a flamenco band, was to be held on private Figure Eight Island near Wilmington. 

It was not open to the public because of an exception in the Open Meetings Law that allows government bodies to have a "social meeting" where no business is discussed.

"We're not having a meeting. We're having dinner," said Brad Wilson, chair of the 21st Century Transportation Committee. "It's a social event."

But First Amendment lawyer Hugh Stevens said the loophole means the public has only the word of the officials to rely on.

"It invites people to skirt the law, even though they'll be well-meaning and well-intentioned," he said. (Char-O)