Many things could characterize the wry Republican leader from John Day, Sen. Ted Ferrioli. But bewildered-to-the-point-of-quitting is not one of them. Yet that's how Ferrioli entered the weekend after finding that only days before, the Legislature's top Democrats had drawn key business and labor leaders to an undisclosed location for a secret meeting about the state's biggest challenges, among them how to plug a $1.8 billion hole in the state's budget. So much for bipartisanship. So much for launching the legislative session in an arms locked, can-do spirit.

It's not that Ferrioli has answers to Oregon's problems. But he has publicly insisted for months that reforms are necessary to the Public Employees Retirement System, that overhauls to the state's roads and bridges are necessary, that spending and revenue are so out of whack each is in need of reform (for those paying attention, the word revenue means taxes). Yet Democrats, along with the unions supporting so many of them, have been disinclined to tackle PERS after a court upended 2013 reforms and have shown little fiscal imagination since Oregonians had the sense last year to defeat Measure 97, a huge spending enabler.

By Monday, Ferrioli had regained balance. He launched a steely challenge directly at Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, who'd called last week's secret meeting. Ferrioli wrote: "Senate Republicans are calling on you, as presiding officers, to convene a meeting with legislative leaders from all parties to start a constructive, bipartisan dialogue on transportation, PERS reform, revenue reform and spending reform." His letter was signed by Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend; Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg; Sen. Chuck Thomsen, R-Hood River; Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem; and Sen. Alan DeBoer, R-Ashland - probably not the best crowd to leave wondering what else it might not know about.

In response to a request from The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board to explain how last week's secret meeting advanced this year's legislative agenda, Courtney on Tuesday wrote: "Measure 97 was a $50 million bloodbath. Like I said at the Leadership Summit in December, a state whose major economic forces - business and labor - are fighting each other can never be all that it can be. A state whose major economic forces and political forces are together can do anything. We are hopeful that these meetings can help make that the case in Oregon, once again."

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The request, also put to Kotek, generated this written response: "The purpose was to bring business and labor leaders together to have an honest conversation about if and how they can work together to help solve the budget challenges facing our state. At this juncture - after Measure 97's failure and in the face of a $1.8 billion shortfall - we felt it was our job as presiding officers to bring these groups together again. We are now stepping back to focus on our work in the Legislature while they continue to talk."

The immediate takeaway is this: Democratic leaders view business and labor at such odds that transparent, bipartisan brokering in the statehouse is either counterproductive or too risky or both.

It is appropriate for any elected official to seek confidential consultations to better understand an issue and also to know what's at stake for specific constituents. Informed government depends on it. Yet previous meetings of business and labor groups have been hosted at the governor's mansion, Mahonia Hall, with adequate signaling they were occurring, media availability to follow and prompt vetting by lawmakers of emerging ideas. While confidentiality to participants was assured, the fact of their meeting and broad-stroke concerns were not.

Not this time. Not as Oregon approaches a fiscal cliff and, with its PERS-phobic Democratic leadership, could deliver hobbling costs to future generations. Gov. Kate Brown was not among the attendees last week, though she was briefed about the proceedings and will continue to be as such meetings occur, her office confirmed Tuesday.

The editorial board tried unsuccessfully to interview a handful of the meeting's attendees, whose participation was sought with the promise of complete confidentiality. Even the venue of the meeting went unconfirmed. But this much can be clearly known: This is no way to achieve bipartisanship. No way to serve the public's interest first. No way for a Legislature to rise to its best.

As Ferrioli makes plain his expectation for a better legislative day, so should anyone who cares that lawmakers find the gumption to act as one and do the hard work of finding a middle to get the job done.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board

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