It's your ConCon. What do you want to do with it? Learn - Discuss - Decide

Peter Kay's Blog (14)

The people have decided. Now we need to execute.

One of the characteristics of great companies is that the management team engages in spirited debates over key issues and may fervently disagree with one another but once the CEO makes the decision, everyone falls in line and works together as hard as they can to execute the choice as successfully as possible. This campaign was an amazing experience for me personally as I saw both sides work so hard and so skillfully to put forth their case to the public. It was a great, spirited debate. The “… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on November 5, 2008 at 10:47am — 11 Comments

A ConCon is a shareholder’s meeting

Although my involvement with HawaiiConCon.org is mostly from a technical and perspective, I could not help but try to come up with a “Computer Minute” of what a Constitutional Convention (ConCon) really is and why it is a unique government function. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far and I’d love to get your feedback on it by commenting on my blog at HawaiiConCon.org: A ConCon is very much like a b… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on June 16, 2008 at 8:30pm — 3 Comments

June 12, 2008 Member Update

This week we have a very hot topic related to Della’s question of the week #5 as it relates to addressing Hawaii’s energy needs. Can a ConCon help? Please join this extremely important discussion and give us your input. I hope you’re all enjoying the onset of the summer season. It’s extremely rewarding to see how the HawaiiConCon.org community is maturing. We’re at 150 members strong and growing. New video… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on June 12, 2008 at 10:27pm — No Comments

Forum format changed

Some of you may have noticed that our forums look a little bit different. The layout was changed to be chronological as opposed to threaded. I think this will make them a little easier to follow. Please feel free to leave your feedback comments here. Continue

Added by Peter Kay on June 7, 2008 at 8:03am — 2 Comments

Member update for May 28th, 2008

Aloha Kakou, Thanks to YOU, our demonstration of e-democracy is booming! As of today we have 134 members, more than the number of delegates in the 1978 ConCon. I would love to gather some kind of metric that compares the volume of discussions we’ve been having online to the ones that occurred in ’78 as I’m sure we will pass that milestone rapidly. If anyone has any ideas as to how to measure online vs. in-person activity, please let… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on May 27, 2008 at 11:40pm — No Comments

Does Barrack Obama's message apply to us?

Regardless of your political position, you can't help but be inspired by the movement known as Barrack Obama. I recently found this anti-ConCon web site which was apparently launched in response to ours (when in fact our web site officially does not take a position either for or against ConCon). I've made it a point to welcome all folks to our site regardless of their position, so I quickly went to their blog and… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on May 20, 2008 at 11:25pm — 10 Comments

Constitutional Points to consider

I suggest everyone read the excellent op-ed in the Time for a tune-up Advertiser by Jon M. Van Dyke, a constitutional law professor @ UH. Near the end of the article, he poses a collection of potential issues to re-examine. Thanks to the consistent urging of member Rick M. for "specific proposals", I thoug… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on May 19, 2008 at 12:00am — 3 Comments

Think Before You Write

I’m glad to see that lots of folks are sharing their ideas. If I had a choice between having a lot of discussion that I didn’t particularly agree with vs. having very little discussion that I completely agree with, I’d take the former. When I read some of the comments that some people leave, I wonder if their authors carefully considered their position before they wrote it. Some of the "proposals" are incredibly controversial and wouldn't have a snowballs chance on Kilauea to even be considered… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on May 17, 2008 at 10:04am — 21 Comments

Our 100th member joins!

We nearly have enough members (100) as there were delegates in the previous ConCon (102). A special Mahalo Nui to Keola who now is the proud (historic?) holder of that centennial title! You should walk on over and leave a message on his page. This is just the beginning folks. We're less than a month old and the ConCon discussion has just begun. Continue

Added by Peter Kay on May 13, 2008 at 10:52am — No Comments

They bicker over studying ConCon while we've already started a virtual ConCon.

I just read this article, "Two panels to review ConCon cost factors - Legislator criticizes Lingle's task force for duplication of effort" and reflected on how much fun we are already having and will have in the future. The two political parties have already begun criticizing each other over ConCon. While they bicker over how to conduct a study, our members have essentially already be… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on May 8, 2008 at 12:00pm — 1 Comment

ConCon activity update

Lots of wonderful things have been happening on HawaiiConCon.org. We’re now up to 54 members in just a little over a week since our “soft launch”. Folks are debating ConCon issues and proposing changes more than anyplace else I know of online. Topics like term limits… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on April 30, 2008 at 11:00pm — No Comments

Personal experience at ConCon 101 meeting

(Please know that this is my Personal view and does not represent the view of HawaiiConCon.org, which is a policy-neutral organization). I’m really glad I attended the ConCon 101 forum tonight. Hopefully we’ll get a video/audio of the event to share. I felt that I took away some extremely significant insights: ConCon delegates were regular people, not career politicians. I think the biggest thing that… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on April 28, 2008 at 11:56pm — 3 Comments

Historic day?

Today we sat in Jay Fidell's office while he let the video camera roll first on Ed Case, Burt Lum, me, Ryan Ozawa, and then Jay himself. After everyone left, Jay and I had a chat on camera about what this site means. I think I told this to Ryan as we were wrapping things up: I have a sense that this may be a historic moment. Of course historical kinda stuff can only be seen in hindsight, but there were, a seasoned politician, lawyer, and 3 geeks, all come together to share a dream of a better f… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on April 19, 2008 at 12:49am — 3 Comments

Features for this site

The site is still new/developing. The basic functionality is: Wiki: Like Wikipedia, everyone can participate to add information about ConCon Member Publishing: Membership is free and every member can publish their own blog and have their own profile page. Discussion Forums: Discuss and debate various issues related to ConCon and even informally propose constitutional amendments. Interest groups: Key potential issues like the Environment, Education, Taxes, and Land… Continue

Added by Peter Kay on April 16, 2008 at 8:50pm — 1 Comment