Brunswick Area Indivisible Newsletter #21
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"We are a grassroots organization of concerned residents of Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell” Newsletter for April 6, 2026 Brunswick Area Indivisible Action Calendar: Democratic Candidates for U.S. Senate Debate Saturday, April 11, 3:00 – 5:00 Orion Performing Arts Center (OPAC) May Day National Day of Action, May 1st. Details to be announced. The May Day Strong site has more information about the event. BAI Monthly Meeting Wednesday May 6, 6:00-8:00 pm. Brunswick United Methodist Church, 320 Church Rd, Brunswick.Join us at 6:00pm to socialize, the meeting begins at 6:30pm. Just in time for the Primary June 9th our guest speaker will be Ed Erickson, a native Mainer, is a Brunswick-area specialist in communications and public affairs, with graduate training in political science. He is the president and founder of Erickson communication group, which works with political candidates to craft campaign messages. His expertise is in the nitty gritty of engaging voters with effective campaign communications strategies. BAI Book Discussion: Monday May 11 4-5:15pm. Topsham Public Library. Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks. Discussion will be led by Roy Underhill. All are welcome. Recurring Events (Brunswick) Tuesdays, 5:30 pm Brunswick Maine Street Route 1 Overpass Rally - Bring your signs and flags. Wednesdays, 12:30 pm Brunswick Town Mall Cosplay protest. Meet at the Gazebo- costumes optional Saturdays, 11:00 am to 12:00 - ICE OUT! Brunswick, Maine St. on Rt 1 Overpass. Bring banners, signs. Mark your calendar: The Town of Brunswick’s Earth Day Festival, Saturday April 25th 10am-3pm rain or shine. Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, 44 McKeen St. Brunswick. Free admission for all. Fun activities, talks, an all species parade, electric vehicle show and tell, bike tent, wheelbarrow races, live music, and more. The Brunswick Sustainability Committee looks forward to meeting with residents at the festival. BAI Monthly Meeting with Guest Speaker Hannah Pingree Wednesday May 27th 6:00pm. Brunswick United Methodist Church, 320 Church Rd, Brunswick. Join us at 6:00pm to socialize. At 6:30, Hannah Pingree will discuss her run for the Democratic Party's Nomination for Governor. She is a former school board chair, former speaker of Maine's House of Representatives, and current Director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. She advocates for Maine Won't Wait - Maine's Climate Action Plan, which has won national recognition. Postcarding, before the Monthly Meeting. Wednesday, May 27th, drop in, starting at 4:00pm. Brunswick United Methodist Church. Help write news boosting postcards, informing Mainers about how national news, they may be unaware of, affect them. All supplies will be provided (postcards, names , pens and stickers ). Donations for the cost of stamps are most welcome. For More actions and events, visit Activate Maine No Kings IIINo Kings III was the largest single day of protest in US history. Dozens of other rallies were held across Maine and an estimated 1000 people filled the Brunswick Mall last Saturday. There were excellent speeches, music and fabulous signs. Here are impressions of the event from some attendees:
What’s Next After No Kings III?NO Kings III was the largest protest in American history; 8-9 million people participating in 3300 coordinated protests across the country. Protests alone are not going to make the needle move, they are one part of an overall strategy to organize and resist fascism together. The leaders of Indivisible stressed the need to recruit more people to build a strong resistance and strengthen our communities. We should continue our efforts to protect immigrants and look to the recent events in Minnesota for inspiration on how to come together to fight back. There is a nationwide strike being planned for May1st. Ezra Levin called it a ‘tactical escalation’, an economic show of force. “On May Day, we are saying, No business as usual, no work, no school, no shopping. We’re going to show up and say we’re putting workers over billionaires and kings.” For more Information: https://indivisible.org/events/may-day/ BAI April Monthly Meeting Report52 folks attended the April BAI meeting. Again, a post-carding session prior to the meeting had been organized by Karen Parker. A dozen folks, from membership, state/local and education working groups enjoyed great snacks while card-writing and visiting. Amanda, a member of the Education Working Group, opened the meeting with a pithy quote. She then turned to Brunswick Representative and BAI member Poppy Arford, who introduced our speaker, Maine’s Attorney General Aaron Frey. Maine is the only state where the state legislature elects the state Attorney General. Mr. Frey described his job as the state’s lawyer, giving legal advice to all levels of state government as well as intervening in the cases where the state citizens’ interests (writ large) are in need of representation. The regime of Trump II has been a particularly troubling time. Maine has joined in 44 cases with other Democrat-led states in federal court, has provided 80 amicus (friend of the court) federal cases and filed 4 cases as a single state. Mr. Frey noted that his office has created an email account—CitizenReporting.OAG@maine.gov—which will be monitored for documentation of potential violations of the Maine and U.S. constitutions, as well as state laws, including the Maine Civil Rights Act. Other details regarding the AG office can be found at: https://www.maine.gov/ag/about/message.shtml Poster PartyOn March 25 about 15 folks gathered to make posters for No Kings III and to continue creating community. Susan Gallant and Steve Hayes organized the event. Susan reports: “We had a few laughs, and managed to produce some awesome art! Lisa Parker helped set up and provided snacks. Thank you to all who participated.” Gubernatorial Debate ReportDid you miss the candidates’ forum on March 21st? The Orion Theater in Topsham was filled to capacity for the event, attended by all the Democratic candidates for governor. Watch the event here. Maine Native Sovereignty as a Gubernatorial IssueIt is impossible to achieve a just and equitable society if any group or individual is denied legal rights. The issue of sovereignty for Maine tribes must be key in this year's elections. The Mikmaq Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot Nation have struggled for decades to gain their Constitutional right to full sovereignty. Restrictive state statutes passed in the 1980's resulted in repeated denials of these rights. The next Governor must be willing to take decisive steps towards justice for Maine tribes and for all Maine people. At a recent candidates' forum organized by the Wabanaki Alliance, Democrat and Independent candidates were asked how they would handle the issues if elected. The history of tribal rights in Maine is long and complicated. The Wabanaki Alliance, the leading advocacy organization for the state's tribes, provides background on the issue and details on what sovereignty could look like. Where the Candidates are on Taxing Millionaires?The proposal for a millionaire tax has become a central defining issue in the 2026 Democratic primary for Governor. The millionaire tax is generally defined as 2% surcharge on income over one million dollars. While all major Democratic candidates now express support for the concept, their specific plans vary. Shenna Bellows has made the millionaire tax a cornerstone of her 'New Deal for Maine' economic platform. She explicitly calls for a tax on millionaires to fund a broad affordability package. Her plan aims to use revenue to lower property taxes for primary residences and expand the state housing fund. Nirav Shah has made ‘tax fairness’ a pillar of his Affordable Future platform. He wants to use the revenue generated to be invested directly into food assistance, MaineCare and property taxes relief. Hannah Pingree supports the current millionaire tax proposal and has stated that the wealthiest should pay their fair share. Her campaign emphasizes making the tax code more progressive. She has proposed shifting more of the property taxes relief burden onto non-residents in addition to direct property tax relief. Troy Jackson has been very vocal about using the millionaires tax to distinguish himself from Mill’s fiscal conservatism. He has pushed the tax for years to fund labor and tribal initiative's. Angus King III has joined the above consensus and reports using the tax to fund to public investments emphasizing targeted spending over broad subsidies, with a focus on modernization and reducing costs for Maine residents. While the Democratic field is united in support of the tax, their primary debate now centers on how high a rate should the millionaire tax be set and exactly how the money should be spent. From the Government Working GroupThe BAI Government Action Focus Group has been busy these past few weeks. Our group has identified three issues that are important to the greater Brunswick area
We drafted questions for the Gubernatorial Debate and the one on education drew heavily from our wording! The group is fortunate to have a dedicated State Representative in Poppy Arford who arranged a visit for us to the State House on Tuesday, March 24. The visit coincided with BAI member Carolyn Ecklund’s Opening Prayer at the House Session that morning. We had an introduction to the House Democratic Caucus, a tour of Senator Mattie Daughtry’s office, and opportunities to lobby legislators in the hallway outside the House Chamber. Democracy at work! The highlight of the trip was a private meeting with Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. Secretary Bellows provided us with a detailed description of Rank Choice Voting, where the issue stands now, and next steps based on the determination of Maine’s Superior Court as to the constitutionality of Ranked Choice Voting. Once the Superior Court hands down its decision we may have an opportunity to lobby our state legislators to pass and enact Rank Choice Voting for the general election of our governor. Stay tuned! Secretary Bellows then gave us a brief history lesson, from the balcony of the State House overlooking Capitol Park, on how Maine went from a majority to only needing a plurality for the election of its governor. A key person in the transition was our native son, Joshua Chamberlain! The Government Action Focus Group is hosting a potluck on Wednesday, April 22 at 6:00pm at Carolyn Ecklund’s home. RSVP to eklundgrace@comcast.net for more information and directions. We continue to meet at Curtis Memorial Library on the second and fourth Thursday of the month at 5:30. Please join us - we are a fun group and we take field trips! From the Steering Committee
From the BAI Book GroupFifteen readers gathered for an engaged and lively discussion of Ann Applebaum’s Autocracy, Inc. at the Topsham Library on Monday afternoon, March 23. While we were all sobered by the complexity and global interconnectedness of autocratic power that Applebaum unfolds in the book, we also felt we’d read something essential for our times—that the information was key to an understanding of the way autocracy works in the here and now. The next book discussion will be on May 11, when we will discuss Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt by Arthur C. Brooks. -Brunswick Area Indivisible As always, if you have an upcoming action, article, legislative issue or story that you want to go out on the Brunswick Area Indivisible email list, send it to communications.bai.me@gmail.com Have you missed a newsletter, want to look back, or want to share a past issue? The most recent 6+ newsletters can be found on the BAI Posts page. |