Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Lawmakers Visit Waipahu

Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu hosted a "Lawmakers Listen" community meeting in his district of Waipahu Monday evening at Waipahu Intermediate. The gathering was informal, with residents and representatives forming round table groups for a more intimate conversation on what's important to this particular community.

In this group, George Yakowenko, a member of the Waipahu Neighborhood Board, No. 22, asked the status of any sunshine laws affecting neighborhood boards, and the need to make it easier for the board members to discuss business. HB1512 is still alive. The bill, introduced by Rep. Joey Manahan, who once worked for the Neighborhood Board Commission, allows two or more board members, but less than a quorum, to attend meetings related to board business. Mr. Yakowendo also had a question for lawmakers on whether they supported a Consitutional Convention. Both Rep. Kirk Caldwell and Rep. Roy Takumi indicated that, so far, they have not been convinced of the need for one, and that changes to the State constitution are major and should be well-considered.
Lawmakers who joined Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu were Kirk Caldwell, Pono Chong, Ken Ito, Roy Takumi, Ryan Yamane, Kyle Yamashita, and Senator Clarence Nishihara.

2 comments:

Doug said...

Please, tell me there was more than one "round table group" and more than one constituent/pseudo-politician in attendance!

James Gonser said...

Indeed, there were more people there, but the attendance was sparse in Waipahu. With all the talk about how difficult it is for working people to come to the Capitol during the day, you have to give the Reps credit for going out into the communities in the evenings, especially when they are heading into the busiest time of the session.

After attending a number of these, it seems that people show up when there is something controversial to discuss, or when they are unhappy about something. So, I guess you could say that a low-turn out might mean that people are either apathetic or copacetic.