Oregon Wheat Commission; members; appointment process; rules

(1) There hereby is created the Oregon Wheat Commission. The Director of Agriculture shall appoint not fewer than six and not more than eight voting commission members for terms of four years. Except as provided in ORS 578.216, one member appointed by the director must be a member of the public. (2) The commission, by a rule approved by a majority of the nonpublic members appointed under subsection (1) of this section, may create not more than two additional voting member positions on the commission. A person appointed to a commission position created under this subsection must be a representative of the wheat industry. The director shall appoint members to any positions created under this subsection for a term of two years. A person may not serve a total of more than four terms as a member appointed under this subsection. Notwithstanding any term of appointment, a member position created under this section may be eliminated by a rule approved by a majority of the nonpublic board members appointed under subsection (1) of this section. (3) In making appointments of voting members to the commission the director: (a) Shall make all applications by qualified persons available to wheat grower organizations for review and ranking; and (b) Prior to making appointments, shall take into consideration rankings and any recommendations made by wheat grower organizations. (4) The director, or a duly authorized representative of the director, and the Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences of Oregon State University, or a duly authorized representative of the dean, shall be nonvoting members of the commission.