Newsmaker
Monday, April 27, 1998
Name: Christen Mitchell
Age: 26
Position: SPAN research/education coordinator
Education: University of Georgia law school
Hobbies: Scuba, hiking
The current object of attorney Christen Mitchell's interest is a 138-kilovolt overhead power line being proposed by Hawaiian Electric from Kamoku to the Pukele substation in Palolo by way of Waahila Ridge. Her goal: Out of sight
She'd rather see the line go underground.
In her role as coordinator of research and community education for the Safe Power Action Network (SPAN), a coalition of various community groups, she says she wants to work with the affected community and Hawaiian Electric to make everyone happy. "I know that's difficult," she said.
The lawyer from Atlanta, Ga., is not profit-driven.
"Money's not as important to me as doing something that I believe in," she said. "Maybe it's just that I'm born that way. I just think it's more important for us to be thinking about our future and the way we'd like the world to be."
Before law school, Mitchell did undergraduate work at the University of Georgia as an English major. Law attracted her. "Basically, I guess it was because I wanted to learn more, just about the way things worked."
Mitchell visited Oahu and Maui before moving here. She came in August 1996 to clerk for U.S. District Judge David Ezra. She had the chance to apply for different clerkships, but weighed where she wanted to live and the type of cases she wanted to consider.
"That's basically how I ended up here," she said. "Hawaii's much like Georgia in that they're both warm places, and the aloha spirit is much like southern hospitality. People are especially friendly in both places."
She works out of the offices for the Outdoor Circle, one of the environmental groups that are members of SPAN.
"Within the Outdoor Circle, I'll be working for SPAN and in the larger issue of underground wiring statewide," she said.
Harold Morse, Star-Bulletin
