With the next election for governor and U.S. senator not until 2010, the biggest statewide issue voters will decide next year may well be whether or not to call Hawai'i's first Constitutional Convention since 1978.

Many community activists think the time is long overdue for a fresh look at the state Constitution, to be sure it positions Hawai'i to deal with a new generation of challenges that have emerged since the last ConCon and to get some fresh faces into the political process.

But the ConCon question always faces opposition from vested interests that prosper from the status quo and like the way things are just fine, as well as from civic groups that fear tinkering with the Constitution could make matters worse rather than better.

The Constitution requires that the ConCon question be put on the ballot every 10 years. A convention was approved a decade ago by a small majority of voters despite opposition from public workers who feared civil service reform, and groups such as the League of women Voters that worried a ConCon would be hijacked by "emotional issues" such as gambling, Hawaiian sovereignty and same-sex marriage.

The opponents prevailed when the state Supreme Court, ruling on a lawsuit brought by unions, overturned the narrow majority favoring a ConCon by decreeing that blank ballots must count as "no" votes.

The challenge of ConCon advocates this year is not only to gain enough voter support to surmount the higher bar set by the Supreme Court, but also to make sure that powerful special interests don't get control of a 2010 convention if they fail to stop it from happening.

This requires early and effective organization, and it's discouraging that none has yet emerged. Few prominent community leaders have yet taken up the ConCon as a cause.

The 1978 Constitutional Convention was considered a turning point in modern Hawaiian history.

Among some 40 amendments to the Constitution, delegates created the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, changed the way judges are selected and added the Intermediate Court of Appeals, gave the counties control of property taxes, required a balanced state budget and established term limits for governor and lieutenant governor.

As importantly, the 1978 ConCon ushered in a new generation of political leaders led by future Gov. John Waihee III, future Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris and a number of delegates who went on to become prominent in the Legislature.

The most compelling argument for a 2010 ConCon is that we can't count on needed change from a Legislature that's increasingly indecisive, overly politicized and controlled by special interests. Lawmakers simply refuse to seriously consider measures adverse to their self-interests or the interests of benefactors who get them elected.

It's doubtful that our state government is properly structured to achieve the economic and environmental sustainability we talk about, and only a ConCon could provide a fresh look.

A ConCon is also needed to address other vital issues the Legislature has ducked, such as breaking up our centralized school system to promote quality public education and reforming civil service and collective bargaining to give the state flexibility to keep ahead of changing times.

Legislators have repeatedly refused to provide for clean and fair elections, make voting easier, get special-interest money out of politics, promote open government or subject themselves to a strict code of ethics. A ConCon is the only real chance to make these things happen.

A Constitutional Convention is always a crap shoot if the wrong people get control, but our government is so stuck in the mud at this point that there's really not much risk things could get worse.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.