The two candidates for mayor of Rutland appear to agree about the city’s biggest problems but diverge on the path toward solutions.
At a candidates’ forum on Wednesday night, Mayor David Allaire and his challenger, Alderman Mike Doenges, named public safety, lack of housing, population decline, homelessness and economic slowdown as some of Rutland’s most pressing problems.
The city has seen several killings in the past year, along with a rise in property crimes. Its population has steadily declined since the 1980s, yet there is not enough housing to bring the influx of new residents the candidates deem necessary to spur economic revitalization.
Meanwhile, through a coronavirus-related state program, local motels have housed an increased number of people experiencing homelessness — a situation the candidates say is related to the rise in crime. Homelessness could become even more common later this year when eligibility for the state’s emergency housing program is expected to grow narrower.
Allaire and Doenges lauded the Rutland City Police Department’s work amid a shortage of officers.
Allaire, who is seeking a fourth term during Town Meeting Day elections on March 7, said the police department is down 13 officers from a high of 41 and continues to actively recruit members. But, he said, a crucial systemic weakness is that the state’s bail laws allow defendants in low-level criminal cases to easily get out of jail and reoffend.
“That is really to the point of ridiculousness,” Allaire, 67, said during the forum, which was sponsored by the Rutland Herald and PEG-TV. “Not only do we got to continue to arrest the bad guys, which we’re doing, but we’ve got to change the bail laws.”
Doenges, the president of Rutland’s Board of Aldermen, sees a solution tied to the judiciary. He said city leaders could talk to local judges about putting on the fast track defendants who have multiple outstanding criminal cases, so a court resolution could more quickly be reached, such as keeping defendants off the streets or getting them into treatment.
Allaire said he has been collaborating with various organizations on a solution to the problem of homelessness in Rutland. But, the mayor said, state government should also pitch in, arguing that it was the state’s emergency housing program that created what he described as a “wild, wild west” in the city.
Hundreds in Rutland take part in the motel program, including individuals who have come from other states specifically for the opportunity to get free lodging for weeks, Allaire said.
“We got to help the legitimately homeless,” he said. “The folks that are there creating havoc, they need to go.”
Doenges believes Rutland cannot wait for the state to take an active role in dealing with the local problem of homelessness. He said the city should move fast on its own plans.
He said municipal leaders should work with local organizations, such as the Homeless Prevention Center, on coming up with short- to long-term transitional housing plans.
“Someone in this region needs to take leadership, and I believe that should be coming out of the mayor’s office,” Doenges, 42, said during the hourlong forum. “Let’s take the opportunity right now and start developing that plan right now.”
Establishing a master plan for Rutland is a campaign cornerstone for Doenges, who is in technology sales and entered public office in 2021. He believes that having a master plan — spanning 20-25 years — is key to revitalizing the city, which was Vermont’s second largest municipality for most of the 20th century.
“When we take this document, this city master plan that has a targeted population growth attached to it, we can use that document as a way to go and market our city,” Doenges said.
He said the plan would make it easier for Rutland to attract real estate developers, who would know there would be a steady market for their building projects. And the construction of new housing in what’s currently a tight residential market would draw more workers to the city, including highly skilled professionals, which he said would in turn grow the business sector.
Rutland’s population shrank in the past several decades while that of the state grew. Between 1970 and 2020, according to U.S. census data, Rutland’s population went from 19,300 to 15,800, an 18% drop. During the same period, Vermont’s population rose by 45%, from 445,000 to 643,000.
In an interview, Allaire said that Doenges’ talk of formulating a master plan or vision for the city appears to suggest the incumbent mayor doesn’t have one.
“I've had a vision all along, and I put it into action,” Allaire said, referring to past and ongoing projects, such as the Rutland Recreation Community Center and the redesign of the city’s Center Street. “Maybe I haven't called it a vision, but that's what it is, and I think people realize that.”
Doenges told VTDigger he was not aware of the mayor’s existing master plan, which he would know about as the head of the Board of Aldermen.
Allaire said he was offering voters trusted, experienced leadership with a track record, whereas Doenges said it was time to end the status quo so Rutland could reverse the decline it has seen in recent decades.