Joe Burns is the Democratic nominee for city of Binghamton mayor. Burns is a current city council member and has worked on major projects including the sewage treatment plant during his time in office. Burns is a Binghamton native, and has family ties to local politics — his father was the mayor of Binghamton from 1958 to 1965. Prior to entering politics, Burns worked in the film and television industry for 25 years.

In your opinion, what is the most pressing issue for the City of Binghamton and why?

“The most pressing issue for the city of Binghamton is housing. It is one of my top priorities to revitalize the city’s neighborhoods and to partner with Senator [Chuck] Schumer, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and County Executive Jason Garnar. I have had meetings about this very subject and they are on board to work together to help our housing crisis. We have a housing shortage for families to live in, [and] we have slumlords who are not held accountable in keeping their properties up to code. We have children coming down with lead poisoning from lead paint from decades ago and landlords who don’t agree to fix their properties until a child is sick. This can’t continue. The current administration knows this and yet has done nothing. They have not made housing a priority, and I will. My opponent now says he has a plan, but the fact that he had to make a plan for this election is proof within itself that they have done nothing to alleviate the situation. I will create strategic partnerships to build affordable housing units as homes and apartment units. My opponent talks about the [Broome] County Land Bank but that’s not a solution, it’s a resource. They aren’t run by the city and only average fixing up two properties per year. This is a start, but we need to do more. This administration refuses to work with the county executive, Jason Garnar, who runs the [Broome County] Land Bank and decides what properties are taken off the auction list. I will work with him to advance on this and beyond. We need a full comprehensive solution where we pool our resources, apply for grants and integrate all key partners and players into helping our community.”

2. What motivates you to run as Binghamton mayor and public office in general?

“I love Binghamton and want to help serve the people here. I grew up on the West Side of Binghamton as a paperboy. My family has roots in Binghamton that go back six generations. I was elected to city council in 2019 and I have become more aware of all the people who feel left out and forgotten. The people of Binghamton have experienced this administration’s exclusive leadership style. There are people who feel their voices are never heard, whose neighborhoods are never catered to. In my administration, everyone will feel included. I’ve seen the division in Binghamton firsthand, and I’m running for mayor to move our city forward, leading our diverse communities together as one city. As the only proven bipartisan candidate and only elected official in the race, I feel uniquely qualified to bring people together. I spent 25 years working in the private sector as an assistant director for film and TV. I was in charge of keeping multimillion dollar productions on budget and on schedule, which is similar to running a small city. I have the life and work experience needed to lead our city in a collaborative way. I believe in the future of our city. I will create a transparent, inclusive and collaborative administration that gives everyone a voice. I will use my private sector background to create strategic partnerships to facilitate affordable housing and infrastructure projects. I will bring back opportunities long-lost, and create new ones. And that is what my ‘One Binghamton’ slogan is all about.”

3. What do you view as the biggest shortcomings of the previous administration, if any? What would you change and/or improve upon and why?

Their exclusive approach to everything is ‘my way or the highway’ and that will change. For instance, the $46 million that we received from the American Rescue Plan is money that was granted to us to help the people of our city recover from this pandemic. It was given to us by Senator [Chuck] Schumer and the Democrats in Congress. The local Republicans are refusing to let the Democrats on city council have any say on what we should do with the money. The Democratic minority had a public hearing with the community about what to do with the money, to find out what the community needs. This administration went on a four-month spending spree and spent more than half of the money and never once asked one constituent what they believed should be done with the money. All of this was just so Mayor [Richard] David could get his name on buildings instead of building back our community better. This is the way that they’ve acted the full eight years of this administration and they don’t include anyone in their decision-making. They ignored a $150 million plan approved by the [New York State Department of Environmental Conservation] for the joint sewage treatment plan, ran up a nearly $300 million bill on that project in the long run and never asked their constituents once about doubling the cost. And all those jobs were created without project labor agreements, so the money paid to workers and contractors didn’t even stay in the community to help create jobs locally. This led to 6 percent sewage hikes this year for residents. That’s not an administration who tries to spend your tax dollars efficiently and effectively. This management style and fiscally irresponsible behavior is going to change with my campaign.”

4. Many Binghamton residents have concerns about housing. What would you do to address homelessness and the housing inequality residents believe is perpetuated by slumlords?

“In regard to homelessness, I would seek out all city, county, state and federal resources as well as all pertinent [nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)] and other partners that we can work with to mitigate this problem. We need to partner with mental health organizations, the [United States Department of Veterans Affairs], the [Broome] County Department of Social Services, local shelters and other specific groups to make sure that we alleviate the short-term problem of people living on the streets and out of their cars. But in the long term, we need to address the root causes of poverty, income inequality, joblessness and other deeply rooted economic and social issues that lead to houselessness and the underhoused.

Absentee and derelict landlords need to be addressed seriously. We need to strengthen code enforcement and make penalties strong enough that this would legitimately, financially affect these slumlords.

We need to revitalize our neighborhoods by partnering with all relevant parties, both private and public. Public safety is about people feeling safe in their houses. We need a rental registry in the city so that before landlords can rent to anyone, the premises must be inspected and be certified as ‘up to code’ so that everyone is safe and feels like the city cares about them. This protects families and students alike.”

5. Since the last mayoral election, the country has seen an awakening in movements relating to issues of race and police reform. How would you balance reform and accountability within the police force while also maintaining and further improving safety within Binghamton neighborhoods?

I do not have to choose between supporting police and supporting police reform. I served on our community’s [Binghamton Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative], unlike my opponent. The police collaborative studied issues of policing in the community and the relationship between the area and ways to diversify the force and listen to residents and their complaints with officer conduct. We need to ensure that the police department has proper policies in place about discharging weapons, the proper training techniques, racial sensitivity courses and, of course, we need to diversify the police department. All these things we tried to address in the police collaborative. However, this administration, which had almost a year to begin this state-mandated collaboration, wasted six months of time they could have spent listening to constituent concerns about policing. But they refused to begin the police collaboration when they were supposed to, because they were not interested in police reform. I was also on the committee to appoint an officer dedicated to diversifying the police department. We also created a partnership with the [Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier] that brings them on call with the police department to assist with mental health calls.

It’s important that we build a bridge with all community organizations, but particularly with those led by people of color, into the new administration. I’d make sure we have proper police complaint procedures in place that rectify issues quickly and efficiently. I will make sure that every complaint internally is investigated by internal affairs and corporation counsel when needed.

When we talk about safety, we have to think about the entire city of Binghamton. People should feel like the police are protecting everyone. We need a good police force that is involved with the community in other ways well. I would like to require the police to have their new recruits required to live in the city of Binghamton for five years, just like the city of Syracuse. This past David administration just passed a law that allows the Binghamton police to never live in the city itself, meaning that they’re not policing the place they call home. Having police live in your neighborhood should be normal. Police should feel like they’re a part of the neighborhood, not just a job where they pay taxes in a different district. Police are a massive part of city employees’ budgets and all this money is leaving our city. Our residents are constituents and taxpayers who deserve to feel safe and represented by the police in their community.”

6.What is your opinion on the current state of Binghamton’s infrastructure? What would you do, if anything, to improve the city’s infrastructure?

“Binghamton is an old city and its infrastructure is old. I will work with our engineering department to prioritize projects and ensure that infrastructure is cared for properly. I will be responsive to the needs of the city. We need to make sure that we have a fund balance with enough in it for any emergency projects that come up. Like what came up two weeks ago on Morgan Road on the South Side, with old storm drains leading into the Ross Park Zoo causing sinkholes. We must be ready for anything. We must also properly utilize public grants to support infrastructure development. I spoke to [Schumer] two weeks ago about the new infrastructure bill in Congress and I will work with all parties to get as much as possible for the city of Binghamton. I will also make sure that any such projects lead to the creation of local jobs. It’s important for all these infrastructure projects to have project labor agreements so that our local union members will be employed and we can keep our money here rather than sending jobs out of town.”

7. As reported by WNBF Binghamton, Binghamton High School has seen a series of violent incidents from brawls to shoot-outs leading to the school being shut down multiple days and an increased police presence. What do you believe is needed to address violence among Binghamton youth and set them up with better opportunities for their future?

The first thing this past administration did was do away with the [Broome County] Youth Bureau, in which we solved youth issues and listened to our young constituents, creating opportunities for them and their futures. I would bring back the [Broome County] Youth Bureau as a top priority of my administration. This administration also plans to spend $7 million into a youth center with no funding for staffing or programming just so [David] can get his name on another building … We can use those funds smarter and stretch them to include programming and plan for the future of a youth center with staying power. We also need to bring back our youth gang prevention programs that this administration never held as a priority.

This administration thinks that police are the answer to every crime problem. It’s true that we’ve seen an increase in violence over the David administration, but this is with more cops on the street. This proves that we need community policing and long-term multifaceted plans to get at the root of such problems. Like income inequality, housing issues, jobs and more. This goes back to giving people hope. We need to make this a city where people are thrilled to live and raise their families. We must revitalize neighborhoods. It’s important to give children hope in their lives, which this administration has failed to do.”

8. Students have had varying reactions to the “Social Host” ordinance. What is your opinion on it, and students partying in Downtown Binghamton overall?

“I’ve raised three kids through their college years and college students should feel like this community is also theirs. We already have laws about the drinking age, littering, vandalism and sound ordinance. This ‘Social Host’ law isn’t about vandalism, it’s about judging behavior and criminalizing people for activities they may not have participated in. The law says that everyone with a room on a lease is responsible for their roommates having parties. If you’re at the library, you’re still to blame for the parties. This is government overreach and it’s anti-student. Students and this university are the backbone of our economy in Binghamton. We should be finding ways to support their endeavors and not criminalizing unproven behaviors. A student who leases with people they’re not familiar with should not be legally responsible. Students should feel cared for in our community.”