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Hawaii’s World
I have no insider information at all on what the fate of Lanai island will be now that David H. Murdock, mostly California-based, has the near-complete ownership he needs to call the shots single-handed. You can bet on
Murdock to improve
life on LanaiI have met Murdock and know he is a crisp bantam rooster, an up-from-the-bottom Horatio-Alger-type of guy, who has made it big through wise investments and hard-headed business calls.
My happy guess is that he will seek to improve Lanai, which he shifted away from its dying pineapple industry to a new life in posh tourism -- and that a lot more of its 3,000 residents will approve of what he does rather than will disapprove.
Full ownership will not make him a king, as with some fictitious kings of fictitious South Sea Islands. He will own 95 percent of the land but still will be subject to the laws of the United States, the state of Hawaii, and the county of Maui with all the water reserve, environmental protections and restraints against over-development that go with them.
The 5 percent he won't own includes the harbor, the beaches up to the upper reach of the waves, the airport, the main roads and much of Lanai City amid pines at the cool 1,500-foot-level heart of the island.
When he tried to block access to some of these areas for the wedding of his friend, Bill Gates, he had to pay damages for going too far.
He seems to love Lanai, perhaps even more than did Jim Dole, who made it the Pineapple Island. Murdock is 77, an age when people reflect on what they will leave behind.
My guess is he will try to improve Lanai, within the given environmental and water supply restraints, and will want to leave it far better than he found it -- a process already started with its two world-class resorts -- Manele Bay by the beach and manicured Koele Lodge in its cool 1,700-foot midland.
I don't believe any changes will be at the expense of the quality of life of Lanai City's present residents, maybe just the opposite. He probably will push his already-started development of more part-time homes for the wealthy and full-time, more modest home ownership for the residents. This should be an income plus for the shops of Lanai City.
After Murdock first invested in Hawaii in 1985, he was named to the international board of governors of the East-West Center. He soon came up with $300,000 to start a program to bring greater familiarization with Asia to U.S. school teachers.
He also, in his role as owner of the Dole Corp., talks about his visions for Hawaii and the Pacific. The message I get is that he really likes Hawaii, cares about its future and may use his "kingship" of Lanai to further demonstrate it.
He hardly will be folksy about it. More likely he will try to be a friendly autocrat. Allegedly when he told a woman that her children seemed to be afraid of him, he got the sweet reply: "David, everyone is afraid of you."
Even if that story is fiction the thrust of it rings true -- except for the rich and famous with whom he likes to consort. This list included President Ronald Reagan, when Reagan was healthier.
When Murdock spends time on Lanai, which he does several times a year, his employees have to be ready with sharp answers to his questions and probably are a little afraid, too.
But my few visits to Lanai suggest the grumblings are more specific than general -- and that his overall dream, of making Lanai a superb retreat for the rich, has acceptance. He recently donated several acres of land to the state to join in improvements at the small harbor through which Lanai's supplies flow. Good sign.
A.A. Smyser is the contributing editor
and former editor of the the Star-Bulletin
His column runs Tuesday and Thursday.