Thank you so much to the voters in central Brunswick’s House District 100 for electing me as your state representative for the next two years. It’s difficult to describe right now just how enthusiastic I am to take on this new role in service to the community I love.
Whether you voted for me, left your ballot blank or wrote in “please, literally anybody else,” it’s an honor and a privilege to be working for you. After emerging from the primary back in June, I faced the strange situation of moving ahead without a general election opponent. That’s why you didn’t see any of my signs out this fall.
It’s been important to me to use the extra time well. I’ve been able to stay focused on some major issues before our town council, enjoy being with our two children, have longer policy conversations with community members, hold meetings with experts in a variety of fields and develop and narrow down my list of bills so that I don’t spread myself to thin once the Legislature gets going.
My priorities for the next two years are both universal and specific to Brunswick.
We face a housing shortage and housing prices that are mostly unaffordable. Maine is also struggling with a workforce shortage in most professions, but especially in health care, human services, education and the trades. Our tax code still disproportionately harms property taxpayers, a small but significant piece of the struggles we all face to get by and provide for our families.
No matter which direction the economy turns in the coming months, we must come together to pass a budget that continues to send Mainers short-term inflation relief but also makes long-term investments to help us solve these challenges and more, from the cost of electricity to access to health care and nutritious food and the means to heat our homes.
Locally, I want to make sure our state government helps Brunswick with a variety of projects. On Brunswick Landing, our former naval air base, we have an aging stormwater system riddled with PFAS contamination. This is a challenge Brunswick and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority should not have to meet on their own. We need the state to both help us directly and to push the Navy to take as much responsibility as possible for remediation and replacement.
Brunswick is also a major connection point for future recreational trails that make use of retired rail corridors, and we must follow through on existing legislation to complete that work and other vital projects. I will continue to promote mass transit, advocate for state funding to help build out public water and sewer lines to underserved parts of the town and work to increase existing state funding for school repair and replacement projects so that property taxpayers don’t get stuck when we eventually replace our junior high school. Finally, I want Brunswick and other communities to have the ability to lower speed limits in certain areas of town without having to deal with state-level bureaucracy.
Some of you might already know me from my service as an at-large member of the town council. While it’s a bit unusual for me to serve in both our Town Council and the Maine Legislature, it isn’t unheard of and in fact the two-way advocacy can provide our community with some advantages as we compete for attention and resources. That said, I will not seek to return as council vice chair next year and will not be running for a third term on the Council in 2024.
Before I end, I hope we can all acknowledge the work of my predecessor, Rep. Ralph Tucker, who spent the last eight years as one of Maine’s best environmental policymakers, as well as a steady and respected leader among all of his colleagues. When his term expires on Dec. 7, he will be leaving incredibly big shoes to fill.
Finally, I will be launching a new semi-regular e-newsletter to keep you all connected to the latest from Augusta and to make sure you get timely alerts around deadlines for state-level events and programs that might help or interest you. It will be a lot like the newsletters I do as a town councilor, only this time I’ll have help from our intrepid legislative staff. If you want to sign up, please write to me at dankeles@gmail.com or call me at (207) 756-3793. Thank you all again!
Dan Ankeles is the representative-elect for House District 100, which includes central Brunswick. He is also serving his second term as an at-large member of the Brunswick Town Council.
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