"We are a grassroots organization of concerned residents of Brunswick, Topsham and Harpswell”

Newsletter for June 28, 2026.

Brunswick Area Indivisible Action Calendar:

Saturday, July 18, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm 18 — Let Good Trouble Live On Rally, Brunswick Mall. A national day of action with a slate of speakers and a band. Details below.

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 Brunswick, Maine St. on Rt 1 Overpass. Bring banners, signs.

Mark your calendar:

BAI Book Discussion to be scheduled in October. Details to follow in August. The next title in the discussion series is You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History For Our Times by Howard Zinn.

For More actions and events, visit Activate Maine and Mobilize​

The BAI JOHN LEWIS DAY RALLY Let Good Trouble Live On

Brunswick Mall Gazebo • Saturday, July 18, 2026 • 11AM to 1 PM.

This rally is sponsored by 5 neighboring Indivisible groups :

Brunswick Area Indivisible

Indivisible Sagadahoc

Greater Freeport Indivisible

Harpswell Indivisible

Lincoln County Indivisible

The program at the Gazebo will feature speakers and music for the first hour,
​Protesting and marching on Maine Street for the second hour.

The focus of the rally will be:

• The 1st Amendment

• Voting Rights

• Civil Rights

•Trashing the 'Save Act'

With our own Catherine (Cat) Whitaker emceeing, speakers will be Lee Chisholm of Freeport , State Rep. Rafael Macias, Bowdoin College Prof. of Government, Jeff Selinger. Keynote speaker will be Shay Stewart-Bouley, anti-racisim speaker and author of the blog "Black Girl in Maine."

Joe Niemczura and The Huddled Masses will be the event band.
Sound engineers will be Chris Mills (Brunswick) and John Egan (Freeport).

We expect this event to be very important and well attended.

Action Working Group

​actions.bai.me@gmail.com​

Why Rally? A view from No Kings III I am so full right now. I went to No Kings 3 in Brunswick today and I don’t even have words. But I’m going to try. At peak, both sides of Maine Street were lined from the church all the way to Pleasant Street. The mall was packed tight. I have no idea how many people were there but it was a SEA. In our small town. I am still in awe. And did I mention it was COLD? Maine cold. The kind of cold that makes your fingers go numb and your nose run. And people showed up anyway. In droves. Bundled up and determined and absolutely not going anywhere. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about this moment, I don’t know what will. I didn’t take a single picture. I was too busy being present in it. The signs. Oh my god, the signs. Witty and sharp and creative and some of them stopped me dead in my tracks. And the costumes… people came dressed and ready and committed and it was absolutely spectacular. This community does not half-ass anything and I love that for us. I met the greatest humans today. Including Eileen, a veteran who had organic doggie treats tucked in her pocket the whole time, passing them out to anyone who wanted to spoil the dogs. And there were MORE dogs than ever, which honestly feels like a sign that we are doing something right. ​ The younger generation showed up and showed OUT. I was so impressed. The energy was contagious and loud and joyful and exactly what this movement is supposed to feel like. I had the pleasure of hearing Angus King speak. I got to meet Dr. Nirav Shah, who I hope with everything I have will be our next governor. ​ The swing band kept the drums and horns going and honestly if that’s what democracy sounds like, I will take it every single time. Local businesses walked through the crowd sharing food and drinks. No agitators. So many honks. Just community, showing up for each other, doing the thing. Oh and I started my day with a breakfast burrito from Taco the Town and I am HIGHLY recommending that to everyone immediately. You’re welcome. Brunswick filled my cup today. This community filled my cup today. ​ And now I am home. Buried under my electric blanket, thawing out one layer at a time, scrolling through reels of demonstrations from across Maine, across the country, across the world. And I am giddy. I cannot wait to see the numbers. I have a feeling today was something historic and I am so proud that Brunswick was part of it. This is what it looks like when people decide that showing up matters. I hope you feel it too. --Aubrey

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WE WON!!

Just a note to highlight BAI’s Education Committee which made it possible for us to host 3 of the 5 Democratic gubernatorial candidates (Shah, Bellows and Pingree) and one of them won! After 4 rounds of ranked choice voting calculations. View all the official primary results at the Maine Secretary of State’s website.

Pingree is the preferred candidate to lead our state and we should do all we can to get her elected. Our BAI community meetings in the past months have also made it clear that we need to work hard to keep Maine’s House and Senate BLUE!

Upcoming events of interest (courtesy of the current Harpswell Indivisible SCOUTING REPORT:

• An Evening to Support the Maine Senate: Monday, June 29, 5:30–7:00 p.m., Moderation Brewery, 21 Town Hall Place (very cool new venue!), Brunswick. Maine Dems hold their narrowest legislative majority since 2010, and national Republicans aim to flip the Maine Senate in Nov. Join Senate President (and Moderation co-owner) Mattie Daughtry for an evening of food and drink and to hear about the issues that matter most — and how ME Senate Dems are standing up to the Trump administration. RSVP through this link.
• An Evening to Support the Maine House: Monday, July 13, 5:00–7:00 p.m., Moderation Brewery. House Democrats currently hold a slim three-seat majority in the Maine House of Representatives — which was secured by just 60 votes statewide in 2024! Join our local House representatives to learn what’s at stake and to support the House Democratic Campaign Committee — the only organization dedicated to maintaining a Democratic Maine House majority. RSVP and donate via this link.

BAI @ Brunswick, Maine Pride 2026

SO MUCH FUN!

This year, BAI tabled at Brunswick, Maine Pride 2026. What an event! With over 100 non-profits, organizations, and businesses represented at the event, there was no shortage of things to see and do! On the main stage at the gazebo, riveting performers Testkept pride-goers entertained. The Pride Choir, drag performances, and story hour were some of the highlights.

BAI had buttons! Representatives of all five working groups gave away hand-made buttons (thanks, Action!), children's books, and No-Kings merchandise. Plenty of people took the opportunity to design and make their own buttons.

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A group of kids came and snatched up some of the 'free merch ', and the next person in line covered their donation. We raised $250 at our table (and maybe 37¢). Half of that was donated directly to Brunswick Pride. The rest was used within the organization for operational costs.

We had lots of conversation with folks, and it was interesting to see how differing perspectives presented our organization's purpose and goals. We signed about 25 new members, and they have all received welcome letters from Membership. (Some of the signers were illegible, and didn’t get registered, unfortunately).

This was a terrific event. People were smiling, happy, and helpful. Music and art everywhere. Information was plentiful. Thanks, Brunswick Pride, for a great day!

Shout-Out to BAI’s Diana Seidel

On June 17th, Robert Reich posted on Substack: ‘The Platner Paradox’, in which he used the example of the race for the senate in Maine as a peek into what will motivate voters in the upcoming midterm elections. Reich’s thesis was, are we willing to vote for someone who represents our ideals, warts and all, or are we more concerned with purity tests for candidates? "How important are attributes such as personal history and character relative to a candidate’s political party or willingness to fight Trump and for economic justice?"

To find out the answer he conducted a survey. The question was asked:

“My main criterion for supporting someone for congress in the upcoming midterms is:”

• Taking back congress
• Opposing Trump
• Their own history and character
• Other

In his June 21st follow-up post, he presented the results of his poll. Out of all the respondents who wrote comments, he chose a few who got the most positive response to quote, and our own Diana Seidel was one of them. Here’s what she had to say:

“I’m also an old white woman (78) living in Maine and will happily, enthusiastically vote for Platner. He speaks to all the issues I care about.”

Great answer, right to the point, Diana! You make us proud.

By the way, the results of the poll were

• Taking back congress - 53%
• Opposing Trump - 34%
• Their own history and character - 8%
• Other - 5%

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Scam Spam

At a recent BAI Communications meeting the topic of Scam Spam was discussed and how it targets senior citizens to give political donations. The immediate thought is illegal grifters manipulating the system to steal money from a vulnerable population. A majority of the spam requesting money for political candidates are legal with the possibility of only 5-10% actually going to the candidate or political organization.

The tactics employed by legal spam PACs are similar to those used by financial scammers who have targeted seniors for decades. The use of high pressure and alarmist language with artificial urgency and deadlines are common. Guilt tripping and social shaming such as, “We noticed you have not stepped up yet” or insinuated you are letting the party or candidate down. Also they craft pitches around the imminent destruction or saving of Social Security and Medicare.

What can be done to protect senior citizens from this legal predatory system before it erodes the trust in donating to legitimate candidates and organizations? New rules were added to the “ActBlue” policies that prohibit aggressive, unethical, or deceptive fundraising behavior that abuses donor trust. Unfortunately the rules are in place but the Democrats are not enforcing or taking a stand to stop this practice.

We need to pressure our democratic leadership to protect our senior citizens by abiding by the protections stated by ActBlue. A strong statement from the party leadership would highlight the rules and send a clear message to all fund raising vendors the era of exploiting donors is over. Also party leaders could blocklist vendors using predatory tactics. We must advocate with Democrats to follow their own guidelines to ensure the trust in the system and end the eroding trust in it. For more on the topic:

​nonprofitnewsfeed.com Article-Political Fundraising Texts Have Become a Self-Licking Spam Machine

​data4democracy.substack.com Article-Spam PACs Raise Money by Deceiving Seniors
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Brunswick Area Indivisible Restructuring

The BAI Coordinating Council firmed up the new structure of our organization at the June retreat.

Like the democracy BAI strives to defend, the Council is set up with decentralized leadership represented by members of each working group. The goal is non-hierarchical, with autonomous self-supporting teams that follow goals and guidelines set forth by the Coordinating Council.

Members (yellow background) are indicated within the BAI circle (purple) and can belong to any working group, or perform actions in more than one group.

The illustration depicts all five working groups (pink stars), Action, Communications, Education, Government and Membership. Those groups are formed from interested members. There is nothing to prevent members from forming an additional working group if energy and representation dictate. Groups are free to communicate across the organization, as needed; collaborating with other working groups on various projects and goals.

The Coordinating Council (center pink star) is currently made up of ten members. There are two members from each working group. The working group determines who their representatives will be at the monthly meetings. At each council meeting, group reports are made and issues are presented and debated.

BAI (purple circle) is one chapter of the Maine Coordinating Network of Indivisible (orange circle). A minimum of one BAI member is represented at each State meeting.

And finally, BAI and the Maine Coordinating Network fall within the auspices of Indivisible (national) (pink circle).

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Working Group News - Membership

Brunswick Passes Mobile Home Park Rent Control Measures

In a move to protect mobile home park residents from rising rents and cuts to services, the Brunswick Town Council passed an ordinance linking rent increases to an affordability index and creating a review board. This measure, coming after an extensive study and a year-long rent increase moratorium, is a step forward in providing housing security for park residents, some of whom have seen outrageous rent hikes, water system breakdowns and neglected maintenance. The measure was developed with extensive participation by park residents, and the project was monitored by BAI's Government Working Group.

-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
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Want to support BAI? We welcome your time and talents. Contact communications.bai.me@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities. Donations are welcome at our meetings and online through ACT BLUE.