Burlington City Council president launches bid for mayor

BURLINGTON — City Council President Ben Traverse is running for mayor, potentially setting up a contest with the incumbent, Progressive Emma Mulvaney-Stanak.

The mayor said Friday, in a statement via her political director, that she will make an announcement about her reelection plans in the next few days. 

Traverse, a Democrat, launched his campaign Friday, vowing to work collectively across the political aisle and with neighbors and businesses “because we all have a stake in Burlington’s future.”

“I’m here today because I love Burlington, because I believe deeply in this city’s future, and because I believe if we work together, our best days are still ahead of us,” Traverse, 42, said to applause at the Battery Park pavilion where dozens of people gathered, many of them carrying signs in support of his campaign.

Traverse first won the Ward 5 seat representing the South End neighborhood in 2022 and has been reelected twice. He became the council president in April 2024 when Mulvaney-Stanak won the election to become the first woman to hold the city’s top job.

Traverse has often clashed with the Progressive mayor, most recently on a proposed public safety resolution called Burlington Forward. The proposal, introduced by Traverse and other council Democrats, was tabled until Dec. 7 after heated debate. It aims to expand police presence downtown and support both businesses and those who threaten or break the law in a compassionate way. 

The mayor and the Progressives on the council called it “Burlington Backwards,” criticizing its approach toward drug use and homelessness downtown, and said it wouldn’t do enough for the problems facing Burlington.

After a recent deadlock, a new ad-hoc committee was formed to rework the proposal. It includes the mayor, Traverse and other Democrats and Progressives.

Vermont’s most populous city has faced significant challenges in recent years, including homelessness, public drug use, theft and continued staffing issues at the police department. Some businesses have said they struggle to survive downtown.

Traverse on Friday criticized the mayor as having failed to address these issues adequately and said he couldn’t name any initiatives that have moved forward recently.

“Burlington is stuck at the moment,” he said to reporters after the press conference. “And yes, it has been a growing level of frustration.”

Mulvaney-Stanak recently appointed a new police chief, although Traverse said that move came too late given that the last police chief left two years ago. He also called her plan to open an overdose prevention center downtown a failure, but did not go into specifics.

Traverse declined to say whether he will support the police chief appointment at Monday’s meeting. He did say police staffing would be one of his priorities as mayor and that he would like the number of police officers in the city to be closer to 90 than the current 54.

The mayor and her political director did not respond to questions beyond a brief statement.

Traverse vowed to practice an inclusive style of leadership if elected.

“Too often in Burlington, we are divided by those who use wedges for political gain,” he said at the press conference. “Ward against ward, homeowners against renters, business owners against workers, our police officers against the communities they serve — as though one person’s success has to come at the expense of another’s. I reject that kind of politics and believe the success of our community depends on lifting everyone up. Because the truth is, we’re all in this together.”

Traverse is a labor lawyer for the University of Vermont Health Network. He previously worked in the labor and employment division of the New York City Law Department and has clerked in Vermont courts. 

Prior to being on the City Council, Traverse was chair of the Burlington’s parks and recreation commission. He also served on the Housing Board of Review and the Ward 5 Neighborhood Planning Assembly, according to his campaign website. 

Supporters who attended the campaign launch included Ranjit “Buddy” Singh, a Democratic South District city councilor. Singh credited Traverse with leadership on the council, from working to present creative solutions around housing to his commitment to the South End Innovation District.

The mayoral election will take place on Town Meeting Day in March.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington City Council president launches bid for mayor.