Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 1, 1 January 1989 — ConCon Lays New Base For AHCC Future [ARTICLE]

ConCon Lays New Base For AHCC Future

The first constitutional convention in the 70year history of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs (AHCC) concluded Nov/ember 17 after two days of intense work that successfully resolved several long-standing club issues. Linda Kawai'ono Delaney, a member of the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club, chaired the AHCC Constitutional Convention (ConCon), whieh overlapped with the 29th annual AHCC convention held Nov. 16-19 in Keauhou, Kona. As outlined in the ConCon report to the Association convention, the major outcomes of the historic Con-Con included: • "critical clarifications regarding the taxexempt status of the Association and the nature of (association) activities;" • "the separation of Association's political action committee;" • "the creation of a mainland district eouneil. . .to formally establish a level of self-govern-ment and representation (for mainlandcivic clubs) on the Association board of directors."

• "An expansion of the purposes of the Association to clearly state our eommon heritage, its richness, and our responsibility to nurture its values and traditions as essential to our individual lives and of the mission of the Hawaiian Civic Clubs;" • "A redirecting of the scope and interests reflected in the composition of our standing committees — ranging from the explicit inclusion of the conventions committee to the creation of a new planning committee; and • Increased mutual responsibilities between the district councils and AHCC board of directors to encourage greater club participation and aeeountability, whether in the issuance of charters or in the ability of eaeh district to describe its own need for the number of meetings to be called annually or in the composition of its board." Delaney said the Con-Con was also historic because "(it) demonstrated the commitment, diligence, and extraordinary skill of the delegates who attended and worked together to produce these amended documents." She praised the 128 Con-

Con delegates for their "genuine cooperation, willingness to listen and to hear" during the long days and nights of work to hammer out amendments and compromises. Association president Jalna Keala said a major action of the ConCon was to formalize a number of accepted past practices that were previously not part of the constitution. She said she was impressed with the "democratic way things were done. . .There were full discussions, strong statements. . .but concensus was reached over and over again." The ConCon proposals were then referred to the Association standing committee on the constitution and bylaws for review. Furtherrefinements were made and then reported to the full convention where all amendments were adopted. Walter Rodenhurst of the King Kamehameha Hawaiian Civic Club then took the mike to thank Delaney and the convention responded with a standing ovation for allConCon delegates for ajob well done.