Maui’s Most Intriguing People
Maui may be a small island, but what we lack in size, we more than make up for with dynamic individuals who shape the way we think of ourselves, our community, and our island home. Maui No Ka ‘Oi has decided to launch an annual look at some of Maui Nui’s most captivating people; this year, in honor of our 10th anniversary, we're proud to present 10 profiles (of 11 people). They are the doers, the shakers, and the ones who remind us that life is fullest when we take a harder look at where we are and where we are going. They are the ones we love to talk about; sometimes because we are so proud of them, sometimes because they shake our version of reality. In short, they’re the ones we thought you’d like to know a little more about.
The Executive
David Cole
Since he arrived in late 2003 to lead a major restructuring of Maui Land & Pineapple Company (where he now serves as president and chief executive officer), David Cole’s actions have made him one of Maui’s most dynamic and controversial citizens.
At 53 years old, Cole brings to the helm of ML&P a history of leadership in conservation, organic farming, education, and philanthropy. He also brings a style charged with energy and ideas that shake the status quo and promise to affect the island for years to come.
From the plantation’s new emphasis on fresh pineapple, to plans to raze and replace Kapalua Bay Hotel; from the contentious sale (and surprise happy ending) of Kaluanui—Hui No‘eau Visual Arts Center’s home—to the unprecedented gathering of 600-plus citizens to design Pulelehua, a new residential development for working families; Cole’s style and the rapid changes it’s wrought have brought both optimism and trepidation to a community used to a gentler plantation management.
Critics express concerns about Cole’s tendency to disregard longstanding practices and relationships, both in the company he manages and in its community ties. “He makes it hard for some people to deal with him, because you have to do it his way,” said a Virginia consultant who worked with him earlier.
Still, Cole’s big plans and assertive leadership may be what’s required to turn around a company that has seen better days. Not one to be timid, Cole remarks, “What I do takes courage and longterm perspective.”
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“These Type-A personalities come with rough edges,” says Lois Reiswig, a Kapalua neighbor and IBM management retiree. “I’d work for him. He’s a guy that gets things done” who could perhaps use a “softer approach to implementation.”
“I think he’s a brilliant strategist who has a grasp of present and future problems of Maui and a unique ability to visualize the future,” says Tom Rosenquist, president of the new Maui Preparatory Academy. ML&P donated 15 acres and an 18,000-square-foot building to the school, one of several contributions and partnerships established under Cole’s leadership.
Cole says he sees progress toward turning around the struggling company that chief stockholder Steve Case tapped him to revitalize. “We have seen tremendous improvement. Our vision for a holistic and sustainable approach to community development will continue to challenge conventional wisdom, but we believe that Maui’s residents want to live in a community that thrives on cultural, environmental and economic diversity while remaining true to the unique heritage of this special place.”
—Jill Engledow
Go-Getter
Gladys Baisa
“I can learn anything and I’ll work my butt off for you.” That’s how Gladys Coelho Baisa got a nursing job with Dr. Alfred Burden. And it’s pretty much been her mantra ever since. As a child in Skill Village, Pa‘ia, she dreamed of becoming a librarian. That hasn’t happened—yet. Newly retired from Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc., after 37 years of service—including 22 as executive director—she’s now eyeing the Upcountry seat on the County Council. It would be her fourth career, not counting marriage to Sherman Baisa and rearing three children.
“I love a challenge,” she explains. Case in point: fresh out of Maui High School, and two years into a nursing program on O‘ahu, she “got distracted” by a handsome marine in dress blues. So she dropped her scholarship and passed the exam for licensed practical nurse.
The marriage didn’t last. She returned to Maui with two small children, and went to work for Dr. Burden. Later she used her high-school bookkeeping skills to take a billing job at the hospital. In 1969, Mayor Elmer Cravalho called and asked, “Hey, Gladys, how are your bookkeeping skills?” An interview with Joe Souki, a longtime state representative who was then director of Maui Economic Opportunity, resulted in her becoming MEO’s first staff accountant.
It was right up her alley. A private, nonprofit agency, MEO was chartered in 1965 to help disadvantaged persons and to encourage the general public to become self-sufficient and enrich their own lives and their community. MEO manages this through an array of services that touch over 20,000 people every year. But she was looking even higher. “I want his job” was Baisa’s reaction to the interview. She took over as director in 1984.
Small in stature, Baisa has an easy smile that belies her determination. A ready talker (“I’m pure Portuguese!”), she loves to recall programs that made positive changes on Maui: 20,000 people a year, many of them elderly and disabled, now ride the MEO bus fleet, grown from 7 to 90 vehicles under her leadership.
It’s not the numbers that make her eyes light up. It’s the stories. It’s Kids’ Day at the Maui Community Correctional Center, uniting moms and children in a classroom outside of the jail. It’s Head Start centers, with specially credentialed teachers. It’s getting money for Mauians harmed financially by 9-11. Baisa is blessed, or cursed, with phenomenal energy. And, at 65, she’s still young enough to go for yet another career.
—Emily Bott
