Why shouldn't we hold a ConCon?

[Peter Kay]

Some say holding a ConCon might make things worse than they are. Others say it will cost too much (which I personally believe is a red herring to avoid a ConCon altogether).

I'd like to see some sensible reasons as to why we should not have a ConCon.

[Burt]

Some fear that the special interests will dominate the Concon proceedings and potentially change what currently exists. They've convinced themselves that no change is better than taking that chance. But then it is the status quo.

[Peter Kay]

Read my blog of the ConCon 101 event. That put all those fears/concerns to rest.

[EarthSurge]

Take a chance! Hawai'i needs a postive pro-active change by the people for the people

[Kaunaloa]

yes, cost is a red herring -- we throw away how many $$ away chasing after how many wasteful policies/ordaninces/etc. and suddenly we're worried about spending 5-10 mil.? yeah right ...


however, i remain unconvinced that having "regular folks" be the delegates to the ConCon will necessarily give a better result than having, say, a mixture of jurists and legislators. said "regular folks" may come in with particular issues top of mind, even ones they haven't widely publicized, and all of the sudden you'll have 2 or more factions of competing pet interests engaging in logrolling and who knows what will result.

[jk]

Furthermore, even if special interests dominate the ConCon, its power would be limited to making proposals that would then be voted upon by the electorate. It's more difficult for special interests to control a majority of the 350,000 people who vote than a majority of Hawaii's 75 state legislators.

[Peter Kay]

I see your concern here, however the '78 concon delegates were mostly "regular folk" with only a handful of incumbents serving.

Delegates don't just show up. They have to run for election which requires a certain amount of public disclosure and scrutiny.

I think when you are considering changing the structure of government, the best ideas will come from people outside the system rather than those within it.

[Peter Kay]

That's an extremely good point and and excellent counter-argument to those that are putting forth the idea that we shouldn't have a ConCon because special interests could take over.