OK Now What?

[Richard B]

Well the special interests won this round again. So how do we proceed from here?

[Peter Kay]

I've been toying around with the idea that we take what we've learned from this site and built a new social network that is essentially a political party.

[Puna guy]

1st by thinking logically with no ax to grind, as if we become publicly bitter we will be 'shut out' and not even have a voice in the discussion as they formulate their plans.

2nd accept the results as well intended.

3rd point out politely where we see flaws in their logic - such as the Democrat's plan for free keiki health care which followed a natural path with people giving up their paid health care and bankrupting the program.

[Richard B]

Good points gentlemen. I agree that even though we didn't get what we wanted, we can still move forward with heads held high. I read what you both said on the other posting "People have decided....." and believe it is our duty to help our elected officials to lead our state and communities forward into the future. I also believe that we could be very helpful if we were to come together and help voice the opinions of the "silent majority" in a logical and meaningful format. I do not hold to specific party lines as much as to what the individuals can accomplish and how they present themselves as public servants. Having said that, now would be a good time for you, Peter, to start this new network you mentioned and maybe we can help something happen over the course of the next few years. Guidelines would be necessary to keep us on track. I wouldn't want to be a part of a group that can only cry doom and gloom, rather, a group that can not only name the shortcomings but also come up with solutions to those shortcomings and present them in a timely and civil manner so that the recipients are compelled to take notice.

[Leilani]

What next? We move on. I am deeply sadden that most in our state were so embedded or to be more frank fossilized in their manner of thinking that they saw something like ConCon a threat to the lining in their pockets...Campaign strategies the opposition used was money and it worked. Afterall the big financial crash held most in the nation mesmerized in fear. Why wouldn't it effect Hawaii as well? And it did!

But what is really comical to me is that the rail in Oahu is going to cost the State much more then the Concon. Secondly,the idea that the finances are coming from the Feds..so I was wondering if that meant the Federal Government or the Federal Reserve? And so my question to the rail is this how many local business are building raliroads and such here locally and since the answer is none..does that mean that people who will be building them are from out-of-state..?

So Peter, I guess we dust ourselves off and plan for next election..

[Kaunaloa]

To build off of Richard's excellent words, we need a NETWORK -- the kernel of which is right here. Trying to form/grow a party will actually limit us as by definition a party is a group that must share many common interests. One of our strengths here is that we shared but one common interest -- Giving a direct constitutional voice to the people. That interest can and should remain our core, and now since we have some amount of time until the next election cycle it can grow and morph as necessary, but hopefully not stray far from it.

Since the name "Hawai'i Alliance" was shamefully co-opted by a mainland group, I humbly suggest we simply call ourselves the "Hawai'i Network," adopt the principles and guidelines Peter utilized when he initiated this site, and see where the journey takes us ...

[Peter Kay]

Interesting inputs. If we're going to form some kind of network of which its common bond is to make changes to the constitution, then HawaiiConCon.org is perfect! ;) No need change it and it's relevant at least once every 10 years and in the meanwhile it's the central point for proposing constitutional ammendments.

Not a bad idea. I was coming at this from the point of creating a political body that uses electronic means to band and bond, think moveOn.org or DailyKos without the extremist elements.

But hey, it's "your site" anyway...so I'd love to hear more about what people want.

[Curtis Muraoka]

Peter Kay said:

But hey, it's "your site" anyway...so I'd love to hear more about what people want.

How about we just become dellaaubelattiforgovernor.org ?

I love the idea of becoming a site for working on constitutional amendments. We could organize petition drives and network under the radar by creating "member only" pages like the HSTA has.

Do it Peter!

[Frank]

The problem I came across in convincing people to vote YES was that there was nothing specific to offer. People would ask what specific needed to be done, and only general themes could be mentioned. So as a site and movement I like the idea that we work to create constitutional amendments during the next ten years. We can than have a platform to offer next time. We went to battle with good intentions but empty barrels.

[Peter Kay]

Frank, you hit the nail on the head. I couldn't agree more. You can't expect folks to vote yes on a concept. They have to vote yes to get something important to them. My wife kept telling me that.

So perhaps we make this site the platform for coming up with Constitutional Ammendments. Good focus. I like it. And we don't have to wait for 10 years.

[Hilo Kine Guy]

I was dismayed by the number of people that didn't understand how a ConCon works.

Nearly everyone I talked to who was against it believed that a 'yes' vote literally meant that 'some people somewhere' were going to immediately begin making arbitrary changes to the constitution behind closed doors. They absolutely did not understand that the people of Hawaii are ultimately the ones who vote for or against any amendments to the constitution.

I agree wholeheartedly with what Frank says. But I also believe that there needs to be a much stronger effort to inform the voting public of how a ConCon works.

[Richard B]

OK....looks like there are a few people on board already. Peter, you make a great moderator and voice of reason and I apologize if it seems like I am stepping on your toes, but I think it would help us all understand each other if we knew what specific issues caused us to want the con con in the first place. Then we would have a better idea of what direction we would want to go first.
For me, there were/are 2 areas that need to be addressed at the state level and thats education and local economy. In a way they go hand-in-hand with each other in that we can't get a better education model without more money. I have some ideas about what may or may not work and am willing to share them when the time comes. I would like to know what everyone else thinks and what is most important to them so we can maybe prioritize as a group or even break into smaller groups and brainstorm on all the issues.

[Peter Kay]

Richard,

One of the other things I hope you'll learn about me is I do my best to have little pride of authorship and love to see others taking the lead. I'm glad you did!

I would agree that education is #1 on my list too. Economy is as well but that's too broad for me to define in terms of constitutional changes. So I would put term limits and recall in addition to sunshine law for legislators.

And as a final populist piece: I would say that all elected officials must send their kids to their district public school.