Binghamton voters will elect a mayor in November. Miles Burnett was the first candidate to publicly announce his intent to run on the Democratic ballot. He launched his campaign on Feb. 17 and is hoping to replace the current mayor, Jared Kraham.
Kraham, a Republican, has not yet publicly announced his intent to run for a second term.
Burnett previously worked as deputy chief of staff for state Sen. Lea Webb (D-52), whose district includes Binghamton. He also worked as a community organizer and as an aide to New York City Council Member Andrew Cohen.
Burnett grew up in the city’s Southside neighborhood.
“So many of the barriers that I saw holding us and our city and our residents back when I was young, they still remain challenges today,” Burnett said. “That's why I'm running for mayor, because I believe that I have the experience, the vision and the love for our city that we need to build a better Binghamton for everyone.”
As mayor, Burnett said he would focus on addressing the city’s housing shortage.
“We need to build more affordable housing. That's number one,” Burnett said. “We need to hold absentee and out-of-town landlords accountable. I think we have many great housing providers and small landlords here. But in many cases, our student housing landlords have driven up our displacement rates and caused rents to be too high for people who live here, who grew up here.”
He said he would also work to support small businesses, improve mental health services in the city and invest in code enforcement to fix up blighted properties.
“I think that Binghamton should not be a place where our young people, who are incredible, are moving away for opportunities somewhere else,” Burnett expressed. “Also, so many of our amazing local business owners tell me that they are struggling to stay afloat, and that is not right, not in our community, not anywhere.”
He said he also wants to update the city’s garbage collection system. The current "blue bag" system requires people to purchase bags from the city to dispose of their trash. Residents pay per bag, so the total cost depends on household size and how much trash is produced. Bags range from $2.50 for five small bags to nearly $11 for five large bags.
“We need to take a common sense approach to handling the trash in our city,” Burnett said. “I hear from people everywhere that they are so frustrated by the blue bags, and I agree with them.”
Candidates begin collecting petition signatures to get on the ballot this month.