New mayoral candidate again apologizing to city attorney

By Ted Cohen.

The council president in Vermont’s largest city, himself a lawyer, has an awkward habit of protecting Burlington's legal beagle from answering the simplest of legal questions.

The latest incident occurred at Monday night’s council meeting when president Ben Traverse asked the city attorney for an opinion on rules of order.

“I don't mean to put you on the spot,” Traverse told Jessica Brown, whose salary is $128,828.

Traverse has also previously publicly apologized to the top municipal legal conscience with the same words: “I don't mean to put you on the spot.”

And it's not like this isn't becoming a pattern.

Twice recently two councilors - Traverse and Evan Litwin - came up with their own legal opinions while the alleged city attorney had her nose buried in her legal binders grasping for the most basic legal opinions.

So what is Brown being paid for if city councilors are scooping her on simple legal questions?

Exactly who did Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak hire, actually, and why, when she put Brown on the taxpayer dime?

Traverse - who last week announced he’s going after the mayor's job come this spring's elections - has got to be asking himself the same question.

The mayor hired Brown two years ago, based partly on her resume and partly on race. She’s the first black woman to serve in the post, Mulvaney-Stanak proudly pointed out.

Brown claims nearly 25 years of experience as a public defender in Vermont and New Hampshire and formerly served as an assistant professor and director of the Center for Justice Reform at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

“Those who know Jessica describe her as a collaborative and creative leader with a deep commitment to equity and justice,” Mulvaney-Stanak said when she announced Brown's appointment.

Not legal skills, mind you, but a quote “commitment to equity.”

You know where this is going…

“This is historic and notable as we know that representation matters, and the perspectives of women, people of color and folks with other marginalized voices in our community have for too long been unheard of in significant positions such as mayor and city attorney,” Mulvaney-Stanak said two years ago, underscoring the public suspicion of why Brown was really hired.

So, what exactly are her legal skills, not that being city attorney has anything to do with legal skills lol.

Just months before she joined the city payroll, Brown was a finalist for a lifetime appointment as Vermont’s U.S. District Court judge, according to sources quoted at the time by Vermont News First.

Brown, who didn't get the federal judgeship, was a Chittenden County public defender for ten years, having previously held a similar position in neighboring New Hampshire.

The mere fact she was considered for a federal judgeship is a professional benchmark any lawyer would covet - and in fact put high up on her resume.

Judging from her curriculum vitae, she certainly purports to have the legal skills necessary for answering simple questions from the city council.

If she's worth $128,828 in taxpayer money, city councilors ought to feel comfortable leaving even the simplest legal opinions in her skilled hands.

So why aren't they?