Crusader

Walter Briant, 79, the former county water engineer and community activist who stood up to politics when it brought government down, died of cancer Friday at his home in Koloa.

Born April 20, 1929, he had become progressively ill with multiple myeloma and was unable to recover from injuries sustained after a hang gliding accident on Sept. 7 in California.

“Life wasn’t worthwhile (to him) if the wind wasn’t blowing,” Carol Ann Davis, his wife of the past 30 years, said yesterday.

Davis, an artist and photographer, said in recent years her husband was known as the “oldest living windsurfer.” Maha‘ulepu, his favorite spot, was one of several places on the island that he fought to preserve.

Briant, a San Francisco native, moved to Kaua‘i more than three decades ago.

He started off his career here by building Kaua‘i’s present water system as the first manager of the semi-autonomous county Board of Water Supply. After 20 years of service — thought to be the longest of any county department head — he resigned amid political pressure.

The board hired him in 1960 to “undo the mess that was primarily caused by many years of politically motivated actions and non-actions,” Briant says in his Oct. 17, 1980, letter of resignation.

“I have personally resisted the pressures to ‘play ball’ with the present administration,” he says in the letter. “I was asked whom I supported. I reiterated my position of keeping the Department of Water out of politics. I did not support any candidate.”

After he confirmed rumors that the mayor planned to oust him — and his credit union denied him a loan over his job uncertainty — he decided to move on but maintained his mission to make government more like a business.

In 1981, he became a founding member of Lawa‘i-based Aqua Engineers. The company’s services include engineering, construction, operation, maintenance and management of water and wastewater systems throughout the state. Some of these services are provided by subsidiaries, Briant Construction and Kaua‘i Precast.

Ian Kagemoto, who worked with Briant at the county Water Department, joined Briant in founding the company along with Seichi Oyama and Frank Kiger.

“Walt was not your typical engineer,” Kagemoto said yesterday. “He would take projects that other people would not be interested in and look at them as a challenge and come up with interesting solutions to the problems.”

Maybe part of it was because he was a Berkeley grad, he said, noting Briant as “innovative,” “forward thinking” and someone who saw the “big picture.”

“He was an inspiration, certainly,” Kagemoto said. “He gave us a little different perspective on things.”

Briant reentered county government last year after being appointed to serve on the Charter Review Commission. There he introduced a controversial amendment to let voters decide in November if the island should switch from a strong mayoral form of government to a county manager system.

Although the commission rejected the measure, citing a need to study it more before placing it on the ballot, his action stimulated public dialog.

“He loved Kaua‘i and wanted to get this county running,” Davis said. “They need a CEO for the county to run a multi-million dollar business. With 60 percent of the country already using this form of government, why is there a need to study that? Politics shouldn’t enter into it.”

“Walt and Carol Ann are crusaders,” Kagemoto said. “They have causes. They put their heart and soul into everything — whether it’s county manager, Maha‘ulepu or protecting trees.”

The pair lived on the South Shore for more than 30 years. They traveled extensively to such places as China, Australia, Europe, Africa, Cambodia, Thailand, Canada, Japan, Greece and New Zealand. Last summer, he went hang gliding in Umbria, Italy with members of the Dutch and Italian teams.

“Walter had a zest for life,” Kagemoto said. “He was very active all the time.”

Kaua‘i County Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said yesterday that Briant was a “very great person” and “public servant.”

“People will remember him most for his love of life and his advocacy for the county manager form of government,” she said. “Underlying that was his great belief that government could be much more professional and much more effective in serving the community and its customers.”

Briant left a lasting impact on the people he touched, both long-time friends and new acquaintances.

“I only knew Walter Briant for a year but I couldn’t have had more respect and admiration for this caring and devoted man if I had known him all my life,” Kapa‘a resident Glenn Mickens said. “Walter Briant was a very unique individual — a fighter and man of integrity, not often seen in today’s world. We who knew him best will greatly miss him and value the time we had to spend with him.”

Mickens, a former baseball standout and government watchdog, said he exchanged “jock” stories with Briant at commission meetings.

“His favorite story was that he once beat the great Olympian Bob Mathias in a track event which meant more to him than his successfully starting the well-known company Aqua Engineering,” he said.

Instead of pursuing track, Briant became a flying midshipman and served during the Korean War. He returned to the University of California in 1953 to earn a mechanical engineering degree.

Lawa‘i resident Ranney Warburton, a long-time friend and hang gliding partner, said Briant was an inspiration to the water sports community.

“Never complained. He’d get knocked down, but he’d get right back up,” he said. “He was really looked up to as a role model. We hope we can all be living life with the same joie de vivre at that age.”

Briant served as president of many organizations, including the Hawai‘i State Water Works Association, Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce, Kaua‘i Community College Advisory Board and Kaua‘i Branch of the American Heart Association. He was also a founding member of Hale Opio, a youth rehabilitation organization.

Davis, who noted her husband’s love of parties and dancing, said there will be a celebration of life from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Dec. 13, at Kekaha Boathouse.