Politics
In 1966,Burns ran successfully for a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. He served four terms,from 1967 to 1975. [7] He was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1974. he finished in first place,with 66,942 votes to Republican candidate T. Garry Buckley's 60,962 and 6,484 for Liberty Union Party nominee Arthur Deloy. Since Burns fell 256 votes short of the majority required by the state constitution,the contest was decided by the Vermont Legislature,which voted for Burns by a margin of 161 to 20. [8] He served from January 1975 to January 1977. [9]
Burns was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 1976 Vermont gubernatorial election,losing a three-way race to State Treasurer Stella Hackel. [10] Hackel went on to lose the general election to Richard A. Snelling. [11]
After leaving the Lieutenant Governor's office,Burns was employed as New England Director for the Farmers Home Administration. [12] [13]
Burns was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1985 Burlington mayoral election,coming in second in a three-way race that was won by Bernie Sanders. [14] In 1988,Burns unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Vermont Senate. [15]
From 1989 to 1993,Burns was a Program Manager for the Northeast Rural Water Association (NERWA). [16] While in this position,he also completed a Master of Public Administration degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. [17]
Conviction
In 1995,he was convicted of three counts of fraud for having claimed to be working full time for NERWA while he also claimed to be attending Harvard University full time,a requirement of the degree program. [18] According to investigators,Burns misrepresented his work hours on daily NERWA time logs and used $5,000 in federal funds to pay for an apartment and $7,000 for travel expenses,in addition to $30,000 in salary while attending Harvard. He was sentenced to six months in jail and four months of home detention and ordered to pay restitution and court costs. [19] He appealed but his conviction was affirmed. [20] [21]
