Page 8 RAIN February(March 1978 ISLAND POWER When I first heard that Hawaii is having a Constitutional Convention next summer, my reaction was similar to what yours probably is right now. Shrugging my shoulders, I wondered what difference that could make in the overall scheme of things. But the more I visited and talked with people there, the more I realized that whether or not the people succeed in ·writing a radi~ally or even a moderately new document, the process they have to go through has the potential of being a •very exciting one. If anything at all comes out of it, there will be some things here we ~an all learn from. The circumstances in Hawaii this winter are this: The 1968 State Constitution mandated that every 10 years a referendum be automatically placed on .the ballot to have the people de- • cide if they want another constitutional convention. That referendum came up in November 1976 and the vote was overwhelmingly in favor (over 75 percent) of calling one. The dates for ConCon, as it is being called, were then set for July 1978. • As Ted Becker, one of the people involved, pointed out, a constitutional convention has an interesting potential as a change agent because it is a "political arena that has no incumbents, no entrenched bureaucracy, almost unlimited power to solve any maj,or political process or substantial problem in the society, and superior power to the legislative, executive and judicial branches-even over their form." Ordinarily one would assume that the same old powers that be would get themselves electe·d and after much hemming and hawing and slaps on the back would hand to the public an ever-so-slightly modified version of the present constitu-. tions. They might have switched from a unicameral to a bicameral legislature or limited the terms of the governor, but the difference would only be in form. Very little of-substance would have changed and the chance would have been missed to re-examine, in Hawaii's case, their crippling dependence on a military and tourist economy or the import/ export patterns of the tiny island state. That's how you would expect it to be. But in this case, • / the people writing the rules last time _put in one major provision which could throw the whole thing open-could, that is, if the circumstances are right. The representation to this convention is to be elected by h.alf of a state house district or one representative for every 6-8,000 people. There are not even any representatives to be elected at large, which means that there will be so many little campaigns scattered about t}:ie islands that it will be difficult for the powers that be to do their usual media blitz for any particular slate or party line. This, then, provides a perfect arena for a real grassroots campaign. Interestingly enough, that is exactly what is happening. It .doesn't take much money to campaign at th~t level. All kinds of people, young and old, some with political experi-. ence already, are getting campaigns together. High school and college students, the native Hawaiians, the Japanese, the Chinese, the business people, longhairs and so forth. In each tiny district they are declaring candidacies right and left, preparing to ring door bells, attend PTA meetings and shake hands. Win or lose, the experience gained and the politization process will have been tremendous. Now none of this would make any real d'ifference if the political climate weren't ripe for change. But Hawaii is ready. An incredible growth boom in the last two decades has made many people aware that the idyllic island paradise they love is turning even the smaller islands into a mass of high rise condominiums and Sheraton~ and Waikiki Beaches. Prices are outrageous-often 50 percent higher than on the mainland. While the island water table is becoming dangerously low, the fertilizer- and water-intensive sugar cane and pineapple growers continue to get away with huge water sub-
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