Read the Responses for candidates from MAUI COUNCILMEMBER (WAILUKU-WAIHEE-WAIKAPU)

Ashley Awakea Lindsey

Key quotes from Ashley Awakea Lindsey’s questionnaire:

Livability and affordability

“A livable and affordable Maui County means our kamaʻāina — teachers, nurses, farmers, small business owners, our kūpuna and our keiki — can actually stay here.”

“It means a family can find a home they can qualify for, a job that pays enough to cover the cost of living, and the infrastructure in place to support both.”

“Right now, too many local families are being priced out or driven to move away, and that is not the Maui I want to leave for the next generation.”

“My priorities are: (1) building housing that is genuinely matched to what local residents can afford, not just what pencils out for a developer”

Housing supply and affordability definitions

“What is the definition of “affordable”?”

““Affordable” has come to mean, to most people, whatever they personally can afford at their current pay and lifestyle.”

“The public needs to understand that planning and development definition and where they fall within it — their AMI, or what 30% of their gross income actually represents.”

“And they need to understand that the cost of living in Hawaiʻi is exorbitant to begin with, driven by shipping, logistics, and supply limitations that no single housing policy can fully offset.”

Infrastructure and county process

“Infrastructure capacity and funding includes water treatment and management.”

“The access and egresses of water and waste flow into a project changes and defines its capacity.”

“Streamlining processes means improving coordination among county boards and commissions and departments.”

Infrastructure funding

“My approach would be to collaborate with private entities to further streamline the types of housing we need most similar to 201H and to pair growth with the infrastructure that supports it — using impact fees and developer.”

“I would also push to be more aggressive about pursuing state and federal infrastructure grants, and to use tax revenues strategically for capital infrastructure rather than only operating costs.”

“And I'd prioritize phasing existing infrastructure investment to match where our community plans already call for housing growth.”

201H and 2.97 housing process

“Having served on the Maui Planning Commission, I've seen firsthand how much time qualified housing projects lose to duplicative, sequential department review.”

“The single most impactful change would be moving to a true one-stop, concurrent permitting process for 201H and 2.97 projects, with clear administrative rules and timelines so applicants know what to expect and departments review in parallel rather than one after another.”

“That alone would shorten the runway from approval to occupancy — which is what actually gets local families into homes sooner.”

Owner occupancy and wealth building

“In terms of wealth-building opportunities, absolutely.”

“This comes down to simple economics: low supply and high demand.”

“But wealth-building only tells half the story.”

“If a developer builds a product that's conducive to local lifestyle and culture, and the project is truly local in character, people will want to stay there for generations rather than sell into that equity.”

“That's where long-term owner-occupancy has to be strengthened — by encouraging genuinely local projects, not just qualifying units on paper.”

Zoning and land use reform

“I support automatically updating zoning maps to conform with adopted community plans, so that land identified for housing or mixed use in a community plan does not require a separate, duplicative rezoning process and include/identify where more housing types can be adopted.”

Fast track affordable housing

“Disagree”