Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and her wife, who came under fire for accepting free dinners

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak and her wife, who came under fire for accepting free dinners from community members because they are busy doing their city jobs, issued a statement Wednesday trying to defend the behavior. Mulvaney-Stanak, who became mayor on April 1, and her wife, Megan Moir, the head of water resources, had been quiet for more than 24 hours and avoided responding to press inquiries and public comments. The silence broke as the Mayor doubled down Thursday afternoon on having the meals prepared for her family when she and her partner make about $250,000 a year, and she is busy as the city’s new CEO. Mulvaney-Stanak gave no comparison to how her predecessor, Mayor Miro Weinberger, his wife, who worked fulltime, and their two young children were able to apparently survive without community meals being donated.