A group of politicians and business leaders met in Burbank Friday to discuss if the California Constitution needs to be drastically rewritten for the first time in 130 years.

"The government system we've put in place is no longer able to react to the big stuff," said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, before the panel took the stage.

The "big stuff" he mentioned included financing the education system, clearing up the state's congested freeways, creating an efficient water system and reforming overcrowded prisons.

This was the second conference in recent months to discuss the possibility of rewriting the California Constitution.

The first was held in Sacramento in August after Wunderman, who leads a public policy organization, published an opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle that sparked the debate. Over 400 people attended the event in Sacramento to discuss reforming the two-thirds majority and term limits.  About 50 businesspeople and politicians came to the conference in Burbank.

In order to revise the constitution, citizens would vote on the November 2010 ballot whether or not to hold a California Constitutional Convention.

In 2011, delegates would be selected to examine the existing state constitution, identify problems and make changes. Their modifications would return to the Legislature for approval in 2012.

The selection of the delegates would be one of the biggest challenges in holding a California Constitutional Convention. They could be chosen by election, application, or through an anonymous jury pool.  

Wunderman said the jury pool would "de-Sacramento-ize" the process by using a system that brings together a "balanced group of folks with good intentions who don't have anything to gain."  

Small Business Action Committee President Joel Fox said he was "cautiously against" holding a convention. He argued that assembling an unbiased group of delegates would be nearly impossible. "I don't believe you can take politics out of policy," he said in an interview after the panel.

Fox said that he already sees the debate splitting down party lines. "Partisanship exists," he said, noting that Democrats seem to support the convention while the Republican Party is more hesitant.

Another chief challenge would be choosing which parts of the state constitution to examine and rewrite.

The California Constitution is one of the country's longest. Wunderman called it a "mishmash" and Fox agreed. "It would be better to have a simpler one," Fox said.

"You don't have to throw the whole thing open," Wunderman said to the attendees. He recommended sticking to sections about state function issues like budget, elections, and term limits.

Policy analyst for the Reason Foundation Adam Summers, worried that it could become a "special interest grab bag." He foresaw lobbyists using the chance to further their own agendas.

Others argued that it won't be the cure-all its supporters are promising. "I don't think rewriting the constitution would be the solution to the long list of ills we have in California," said California Senator George Runner (R-Antelope Valley) during the panel.

The panelists agreed that the likelihood of holding a California Constitutional Convention depends on whether economy continues to fail. "If the economy improves [the chances] are not high.  If we keep spiraling down, people will get angry," United Chambers of Commerce Chairman and event host Stephen Holzer said in an interview.

Wunderman agreed. "Voters will take more risk in tougher times," he said in an interview.  "People recognize that this is a crisis and it shouldn't be wasted."

Still, the discussion is relatively new and many people haven't made up their minds.

"It's like the earth in its initial form," said Holzer. "The continents aren't set yet."