John Hollar announced on Tuesday that he is running for mayor of Montpelier.
Hollar, 51, has lived in Montpelier for two decades and for the last eight years has served as the chair of the Montpelier School Board. He is a managing partner of one of the state’s largest law firms, Downs Rachlin Martin, and he is a frequent presence in the Statehouse where he lobbies for high profile clients.
About 50 people turned out for the announcement at Onion River Sports. A number of local pols were in the crowd, including Rep. Warren Kitzmiller, D-Montpelier, and Washington County Sens. William Doyle, a Republican, Ann Cummings, a Democrat, and Anthony Pollina, a Democrat/Progressive.
Hollar is a Democrat who says he is a fiscal conservative and social liberal. As the school board chair, Hollar built his reputation on finding ways to cut costs and make improvements to the educational system.
Montpelier faces significant financial challenges, he said, that stem from the city’s reputation as a high tax municipality. The city, he said, has the highest property tax rate burden per capita in the state. Meanwhile, municipal infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate over time as officials have deferred maintenance projects, he said, and consequently the city’s roads, sidewalks and water system are all in sore need of repair. In his view, these two competing factors will be his biggest challenge.
There is no one reason why the cost of maintaining government services is higher in Montpelier than elsewhere, Hollar said. One factor is residents’ willingness to support well-staffed city departments, including police, fire, planning and administrative functions.
In an interview, he said state government has had a positive economic impact on the city, but it also costs money to support services for the daily influx of 7,000 people associated with the Statehouse and government offices. He said a study might help the city understand, for example, the relationship between the size of the police force and the public safety needs related to state government.
Hollar also mentioned that he is pleased with the state’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes program for the complex of buildings on State Street, River Street and elsewhere in the city, which contributes about 80 percent of the actual property tax bill for state buildings. The payment, he said, could always be higher.
He compared the role of mayor to that of school board chair — because the city manager is responsible for day-to-day operations, the mayor is chiefly responsible for working with the city council to make policy decisions that set a direction for the city.
Hollar grew up in Oklahoma. He graduated from Oklahoma University and obtained his law degree from Georgetown University in 1989. In Washington, D.C., he was a legislative assistant and legislative director for former U.S. Representative Mike Synar. He met his wife, Jennifer Prescott, a five-generation Montpelierite in D.C. The couple moved back to her hometown in the early 1990s. Jennifer Hollar is the deputy commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development. She was appointed to the position by Gov. Peter Shumlin last year.
Mary Hooper, the current mayor, also a Democrat and a member of the General Assembly, is not seeking re-election. At this time, Hollar is running unopposed. Petitions for getting on the ballot are due in mid-January and the election will be held on Town Meeting Day in March.
