RUTLAND — Mayor Chris Louras will face at least one challenger when he seeks a sixth term next year. Mike Coppinger, the executive director of the Downtown Rutland Partnership, announced his bid for the office Wednesday.
In a news conference at a restaurant, Coppinger said he was looking forward to a “positive issues-oriented campaign.”
“I do not run for the office of mayor merely to oppose any one person but to propose new ideas and be a fresh new voice for City Hall,” he said.
Coppinger cited his experience with the Downtown Rutland Partnership, a nonprofit that works with business and property owners in the city’s special benefits district. He has been executive director for nearly 10 years, during which time downtown occupancy rates have reached a 15-year high and a number of new businesses have opened.
Coppinger said that in the last five years close to 100 jobs have been created in the district, a designation that allows the city to apply for tax credits and grant funding for special projects. In addition, since 2014 property owners have added more than 30 market-rate apartments to the downtown area, Coppinger said.
“Downtown is a vibrant location for special events, dining and entertainment and very much the envy of other communities around the state,” Coppinger said. “But more importantly downtown is once again the source of pride for Rutland residents.”
Coppinger, 39, graduated from Rutland High School and studied history and political science at the College of St. Joseph in Rutland. He has been recreation director in Pittsford and Killington and was a member of the Board of Aldermen from 2001 to 2007.
From 2005 to 2007 Coppinger worked for General Motors Acceptance Corp., the manufacturer’s financial arm and mortgage lender.
He ran for mayor in 2007 and came in fifth of six candidates, with about 6 percent. Louras won with more than 30 percent.
Coppinger landed his current job after that election.
As mayor, he said, he would work to strengthen ties between the city and educational institutions like Castleton University and the College of St. Joseph; promote public-private partnerships to restore blighted properties; and expand the workforce. Coppinger said half of Rutland’s workforce is older than 45 and that in 10 years a quarter or more of the working population will retire.
Coppinger said he had told Louras he would run because he felt the city needed a fresh start. At his news conference, Coppinger alluded to friction between the Board of Aldermen and the mayor’s office. Louras proposed the city as a refugee resettlement site without the knowledge of most of the board.
Asked about his position on refugee resettlement, Coppinger said he thought Rutland could absorb 100 to 200 refugees based on conversations he’s had with business owners. The city was approved in September to resettle up to 100 Syrian and Iraqi refugees this year, a number that could change in later years.
Over a five- to 10-year period, Coppinger said, he doesn’t think the city could handle continued resettlement at that rate. “I don’t believe with the delicate balance we have right now that we could support that kind of influx,” he said.
He also said the Board of Aldermen should have played a bigger role in the process.
“I’m frustrated with the manner in which the mayor went about bringing the issue to the city,” Coppinger said. “Something of this magnitude should have had the inclusion of the Board of Aldermen.”
Louras has acknowledged that the rollout could have been done differently but believes that refugee resettlement will help revitalize Rutland, boost the city’s workforce and reverse years of demographic decline.
Louras said he is concerned another mayor would tinker with initiatives that have proved successful over the last several years, such as Project Vision, neighborhood stabilization programs and the city’s data-driven policing model.
“The reality is the only reason an individual challenges an incumbent is to make changes,” Louras said.
Candidates need only 35 signatures on a petition to get on the ballot. Elections will be held on Town Meeting Day in March.
