To Rep. Calvin Say it has been a 32-year education and he feels like he is not finished, both learning and teaching.

Say, the soft-spoken speaker of the House, was first elected in 1976 to the Legislature from Palolo Valley. He had a college degree and teaching certificate, but was also putting in time working in the kitchen at the Chuckwagon on Kapiolani Boulevard.

Say went from busboy to businessman, from vice chairman of the House Culture and Arts Committee to chairman of the Finance Committee to becoming, in 1999, the compromise candidate for speaker of the House.

Sometime after the November election, Say will sit with his fellow House Democrats to decide who will lead them next year.

During his tenure, Say has rarely caused a ruckus, instead preferring a steady, if somewhat conservative hand on state finances.

That's the experience he hopes to continue to bring to the state, but for the first time Say is peppering his comments about leadership with, “;If I am able to remain as speaker.”;

At the end of this spring's Legislature there was an abortive attempt to push Say aside, but House Democrats were never able to put together the needed 26 votes to elect a new speaker.

“;I have taken a much more Zen attitude,”; Say now says. “;If I have the 26, I am lucky, if not, I will probably step down and the two sides will have to come up with a compromise.

“;Whomever that is, I will be there to support that person,”; Say said in a recent interview.

Over the years Say had a few dust-ups with former Gov. Ben Cayetano because of the legislative leader's support for the hotel industry. Say himself is in the import-export business and judges the vitality of the local tourism business by how many cases of chopsticks he sells to Waikiki hotels.

As a word of warning, Say predicts tourism will not do well in the coming year, which in itself is not much of an insight to anyone who at least glances at a newspaper. Still, Say is betting that either by choice or necessity, we will all be learning how to grow our own in the coming year and he is bringing in a line of Japanese gardening tools.

Opposing Say are a somewhat amorphous group of House members aligned with Reps. Sylvia Luke, K. Mark Takai and Scott Saiki, all journeymen, if low-profile, House Democrats who did not respond to queries about the leadership tussle.

Say's conservative streak extends to counting his votes, and in past organizational battles he has insisted on organizing with not just the minimum of 26 but a majority of 34, so if it came down to a question of a veto-override, Say would know he held the cards to argue with both the governor and the Senate.

This year Say's mathematical abilities will be put to the test.