Jennifer Hicks

Nonpartisan

Brunswick Town Council, District 5

Nonpartisan

Previous Offices Held


Currently serving first full three-year term on Brunswick Town Council. First elected in a special election in February 2023, then reelected in November 2023.

Top Three Priorities


Ensuring that Brunswick is responsive to the needs of its residents, supporting opportunities for meaningful community input in town decisions, and countering the impacts of misguided and harmful federal actions.

Why are you running?


I've enjoyed serving as a town councilor, and I would like to continue in the role and participating in decision-making to represent Brunswick voters.

What is the biggest challenge facing your town/county? The biggest opportunity?


Challenge: Finding ways to make Brunswick affordable while supporting our schools, responding to the climate crisis, and providing quality services to our residents, such as road upgrades, trash pickup and snow removal. This will require working on a regional level and asking our state delegation to advocate for increased assistance. Opportunity: Over the next year, the council will be choosing our next town manager. This will be an opportunity to identify a long-term vision for the town and establish a path forward.

If you could change one thing about how the town/county functions, what would it be and why?


Brunswick is a "service center" and doesn't rely on county services as much as other towns do. However, over the past several years, county taxes have increased at a much faster rate than our town's taxes. I'd like the council to become more involved in decision-making on the county level and find ways that Brunswick can cut costs by identifying opportunities to share resources with the county.

Do you support more development – i.e. more housing construction and business building in your town/county? Why or why not?


I would like the town to focus on redevelopment opportunities — especially in Cook's Corner — and increasing density in the growth area. I was pleased that we were able to pass ordinances that refined development in the rural area to maximize landscape protection while also passing a zoning text amendment that creates an overlay on Maine Street that encourages more housing on redeveloped properties. I want to see more approaches like that to address our housing needs.