LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Disbelief was the common sentiment yesterday among those who knew and worked with Kaua'i Mayor Bryan Baptiste, as the late leader was praised for building affordable housing, fighting illegal drugs and improving the county park system.

"He was loved by everybody. It's a huge, huge loss for the island," said Kaua'i County Councilman Mel Rapozo.

Baptiste died Sunday afternoon after suffering a heart attack at his home in Kapa'a. He was 52. Nine days earlier, he underwent heart bypass surgery at The Queen's Medical Center on O'ahu and had returned to Kaua'i on Saturday.

"Not too many people I know loved the island more than him," Rapozo said. "He was always trying to reach consensus and to make sure everybody is a winner. ... He really sincerely wanted the public to have participation in (the government) process."

Julie Souza, an aide to the mayor, fielded hundreds of condolence calls yesterday but still couldn't believe he was gone.

"I keep expecting him to walk in the door any minute," Souza said.

Funeral arrangements for Baptiste are still pending, and his family declined comment yesterday.

baptiste's legacy

"He was a man that cared for everyone — it didn't matter who you were," Souza said.

And across the island yesterday, it was hard to find anyone who wasn't feeling the void.

Councilman Tim Bynum, who counts Baptiste as a mentor, said he thinks "Kaua'i's going to understand over the next few weeks how great their loss is."

Baptiste "went into realms that it's easy for a county mayor to leave alone, like homelessness and drug abuse," Bynum said. Largely through Baptiste's efforts, "we have two homeless shelters in operation where before we had none. And under his leadership, we have anti-drug programs and strived to open an adolescent treatment center."

Being concerned about people came naturally to Baptiste, said Beth Tokioka, director of the county Office of Economic Development.

"To him, people were more important than anything," Tokioka said.

Tokioka moved to Kaua'i in 1992 and never knew the close-knit Kaua'i that Baptiste grew up in. But she saw him attempting to mediate in a community with split opinions on issues such as bringing in "big-box" retailers, the arrival of the Hawaii Superferry or developers cutting down monkeypod trees for a shopping center.

"He was just all about people and community," Tokioka said. "One of the things he really agonized over in recent years was a lot of the divisions we've seen in our community."

Baptiste was a master motivator, who could get hundreds of volunteers to help the cash-strapped county with park renovation projects, Tokioka said.

"To him it was as much about getting out there and working together as the physical work," she said.

Councilwoman JoAnn Yuki-mura said she credits Baptiste for the coastal path along Kaua'i's east coast. "When I see all the people on the path, getting fresh air and getting exercise and walking with their family, friends and children," she thinks of Baptiste, Yukimura said.

"He was a grass-roots mayor."

MaBel Ferreiro-Fujiuchi, chief executive officer of the Kauai Economic Opportunity community action agency, praised Baptiste for "enlisting in our war on poverty" and committing help to establish homeless and transitional housing on Kaua'i.

Baptiste "brought together police, park rangers, people like us that provide services," and addressed ways to help the homeless and the larger community, Ferreiro-Fujiuchi said.

One day, Baptiste went to talk with some homeless people living on a beach, and "he returned in tears," Ferreiro-Fujiuchi recalled yesterday. "One person he talked to was a classmate of his."

prayers welcome

Baptiste welcomed various pastors to pray with him at monthly prayer meetings in his office. He held an annual mayor's prayer breakfast and visited many churches as part of his community outreach, said Roy "Rocky" Sasaki, president of Kaua'i Island Ministries, a cooperative movement among Christian churches.

"He was a very, very sensitive person to the needs of Kaua'i," Sasaki said.

His death "is like losing a brother, like a family member. I felt really broken when I heard about his death. He's done so much."

Councilwoman Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho pointed to Baptiste's leadership in the nuts-and-bolts areas of affordable housing development and strategies for solid waste.

"He was a regular guy who wanted to do something good for the people. You could just feel that out of him," said Ron Agor, interim chairman of the Kaua'i Republican Party.

"He gave everything he had to this job and the people of Kaua'i. He loved it," Tokioka said. "He lived his life the way he wanted it — 110 percent. He never let up."

Reach Diana Leone at 808-245-3074 or dleone@honoluluadvertiser.com.