A majority of voters oppose holding a constitutional convention, and three-quarters can’t suggest any issues to be on a con-con agenda, according to a survey cited by the House Majority Blog.

The question was put to a sample of voters by The People’s Pulse, a regularly quarterly survey sponsored by Hawaii Business Roundtable and Pacific Resource Partnership, and conducted by OmniTrak Group Inc.

The People’s Pulse report continues: “Rather than holding a ConCon, 71% of voters prefer to see Constitutional changes made by the Legislature and then approved by the voters. Across all voter segments, at least two-thirds prefer this alternative. Support for this process rather than a ConCon is due to cost, assuming that ConCon costs $5 to $9 million and the alternative, half a million.”

Further, “Opposition to ConCon is not surprising given that 78% of voters do not have constitutional issues to suggest for its agenda. Among the minority of 22% who have changes, fewer than 3% support any one issue, including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (both for and against it continuation); government reform; community issues like homelessness, civil rights, and illegal immmigration; the definition of marriage (both for and against same sex marriages); capital punishment and tougher crime sentences.”

I received a couple of emails in the past day or so with different reactions to Mayor Hannemann. Here’s one from someone who came away with a very positive impression.

Regarding Mufi, my husband I both voted for him via absentee ballot. We would have voted for him anyway, but he helped it along by stopping to shake our hands and say hello when he was striding through Pearlridge one day recently. We had just got off the elevator as he was passing by. My husband smiled at him and he stopped in his tracks, shook our hands, said hello and went on his way. I worked at City Hall from 1971 to 1981, and then at the State Capitol, from late 1987 through most of 1988. I never saw a mayor or a governor walking alone. Granted, the people who accompanied Fasi were often staff members who could not have protected him. Ariyoshi and Waihee, though, always had big, burly local men with them who were, I am pretty sure, “packing heat.” Waihee, in particular, used to look somewhat terrified as he walked around the Capitol. (I guess they received a lot of threats.) So to see Mufi walking entirely by himself was an eye-opener.

But another reader described her experience at this week’s mayoral debate this way:

I was at the debate and sat in the upper regions of the balcony in the middle because I was told that people who were there to see the debate – but were not on any side could sit there. Well, I was quite impressed with Panos – and he certainly took Mufi on quite well. Mufi was not that good at all – and I was really surprised when before the debate began a woman with a head-set walked out – went to the podium where Mufi was to stand and placed a substantial notebook on the dias, and checked to see that the microphone would not be touched should the book be opened and pages turned. As I said it was not a small notebook. When the show began the other candidates brought out their notebooks in their hands – but Mufi’s was lying in wait for him on the dias. I assumed that this was done so that the greeting of the TV viewers could be done with 2 hands raised.

The audience was pretty obnoxious – and from what I saw, it was the unruly Mufi people. All around you could see the City & County employees and the architects and engineers that showed up to support the current regime…..there was just enough Aloha shirts on display to know that these were people who were benefiting from all that design money……

You can watch the debate via KGMB’s web site (thanks to Blaine for pointing me to the link).

The Democratic Party of Hawaii has updated and revised its web site, and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono launched a new site this week as well.

Big Island Weekly took a look at campaign money flowing in to the Hawaii County mayor’s race, although the analysis was published just before the latest round of campaign reports filed this week. It’s hard to understand that publishing decision, since fresh data was available within a week.

The Big Island Weekly is the faux alternative published by Stephens Media Group, owner of the Hawaii Tribune Herald, West Hawaii Today and other local properties. Stephens is, of course, engaged in a long and rather ugly campaign of union busting at the Tribune Herald.

It’s Friday, again, and that’s my excuse for another round of Friday Felines. Nothing fancy this time around. Mr. Romeo takes the lead. He appeared under our house several years ago when the smoke of New Year’s Eve cleared. He lurked for several days, climbing the stairs to set at the edge of the deck and stare. I was finally able to trap him and he was a smelly mess. But a trip to the vet, a bit of surgical alteration, and another week or more of cage rest, and he was a new cat. When it was all over, I took the cage outside and opened the door, expecting him to bolt for freedom. No way. He walked to the edge of our yard, did one boundary patrol, and came back for dinner. He hasn’t left since.

As always, click for more photos.