A day after presenting a budget proposal that would close a $10-12 million budget gap, Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak joined Vermont Edition to discuss the details of her plan. She also addressed concerns over public safety, drug use and Burlington Police Department bodycam footage from the Mar. 11 ICE raid in South Burlington. A few hours after this interview was conducted, BPD released the footage.
City budget and workforce
Mulvaney-Stanak's plan to close the city's budget gap involves eliminating or not immediately filling 27 vacant positions. This comes a year after 18 city work were laid off, also in an effort to address budgetary issues.
Burlington has about 700 year-round employees. The mayor said the city added about 100 positions in the 10 years prior to her mayoral term, which began in 2024.
"We had to start going deeper into the budget to really ask ourselves critically, what are those core services? What programs and services do we need to prioritize? What do we need to let go of?"
The budget also includes a voluntary furlough program for city workers.
Mulvaney-Stanak also pointed to dried-up one-time funding sources as another reason behind the city's present day budget gap. Those state and federal funds covered positions like community safety liaisons that worked closely with the police department.
“We were becoming over-reliant on one-time funds, building out programs and positions that we needed for today's reality in the city, including community safety-related positions,” Mulvaney-Stanak said. “However, as a city, we have to look at what else do we have that are not as core and essential anymore today.”
The Burlington City Council will vote on the mayor’s budget on Jun. 15.
Police bodycam footage
On Wednesday afternoon, the Burlington police department released body camera footage from a federal immigration raid in March.
A major ICE operation in South Burlington on Mar. 11 drew more than 200 protesters and involved state and local law enforcement response, including BPD.
The footage had not been released when Mulvaney-Stanak appeared on Vermont Edition. She explained the delay by saying the city has different review policies than other agencies. She said interim police chief Sean Burke was "probably within about two weeks of having a final determination" about when to release the footage.
The Burlington police department received more than 100 citizen complaints regarding the Mar. 11 incident.
Public safety
Mulvaney-Stanek said the “trifecta” of homelessness, substance use and mental health “are not solvable by just a mayor of a city.”
She said her staff is working closely with the Scott administration to address public safety concerns in Burlington. A community accountability docket in the Chittenden County court system has resolved about 700 backlogged cases, many of which involve individuals with more than five dockets.
“So many times, people were getting cited [and] brought to court, but then stepping right back out into the streets because they were not getting their day in court,” she said. “The court system was so backlogged since COVID and not getting the resources to resolve cases."
The mayor cited a number of other developments that have positively contributed to public safety, including the hiring of Interim Police Chief Sean Burke and increased funding for the Howard Center's street outreach program.
Today's show also included a conversation with Betzy Bancroft, author of the new book "Herbal Pharmacy: The Science and Magic of Preparing and Administering Plant Medicine."
Broadcast live on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message or check us out on Instagram.
