A former Michigan state senator thinks the process for amending the Michigan constitution should be made more difficult.

“It’s too easy to amend the document, which is supposed to be semi-firm,” said Tony Derezinski, the former state senator from Muskegon and director of Government Relations for the Michigan Association of School Boards. “It should not be amended easily. It should be a document of limited change.”

Derezinski was one of the panelists in a full Charles V. Park Library Auditorium on Wednesday night at the Griffin Policy Forum, which discussed the possiblity of forming a new Michigan Constitution.

The Michigan Constitution is up for review in 2010, when voters will decide whether to create a convention to rewrite it. The constitution was penned in 1963.

Four panelists spoke about the changes needed and how to achieve those changes at the once-a-semester forum hosted by the Robert and Marjorie Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government, the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences and the political science department.

If Michigan were to have a constitutional convention, it would cost about $30 million.

Rochester senior Brent McDermott said that price tag is too much.

“It seems excessive to me,” he said. “It makes me wonder if they need lunch catered by Domino’s (Pizza).”

Bob LaBrant, a panelist and the senior vice president for political affairs and general counsel for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, doesn’t think the common citizen would have much influence on a new constitution.

“If we accept the call for change, we will have the battle of the billionaires,” he said.

John Axe, chairman for the Citizens of Michigan, agreed, saying that middle class citizens would only vote on what they understand.

“Citizen democracy only works if citizens are interested in what’s on the ballot,” he said.

A committee should be formed to educate the public on important issues, Derezinski said.

Term limits of public officials also was a major topic in the discussion.

Currently, the governor is restricted to two four-year terms, and legislators are limited to three two-year terms.

“I would get rid of term limits,” Derezinski said. “I think it was a big mistake.”

Term limits were imposed to keep the same people out of the House of Representatives and the Senate, he said.

Stevensville senior Heather Chiarello said the discussion opened her eyes about the Michigan Constitution.

“I’m familiar with it, but I think I need to learn more,” she said.

news@cm-life.com

E-mail the author: defaultuser