Rutland has a new mayor. Alderman Michael Doenges unseated three-term mayor David Allaire on Tuesday, according to unofficial city election results.
Doenges beat the incumbent in a campaign season that cast a spotlight on Rutland’s rising crime, lack of housing and population decline.
In an interview after polls closed at 7 p.m., Doenges said he is excited to begin attacking the problems faced by Vermont’s fifth-largest municipality.
“All the hard work starts now,” he said while surrounded by supporters. “What you’ll see is, over the next few years, with me as mayor, we’re going to change that direction. We’re going to start to grow again. We’re going to become a city that people want to live in, come spend time in and enjoy their lives in.”
Doenges, whose mayoral bid was only his second run for public office, campaigned on revitalizing the city through longer-range planning. His overarching goal is to help Rutland innovate and redevelop into a place where future generations will choose to build their lives.
His priorities include growing the city’s decades-long shrinking population, creating more housing and attracting new businesses.
Allaire conceded on Tuesday evening and wished Doenges well. He also thanked the voters of Rutland for his six years as mayor and a combined 25 years before that as an alderman and state representative.
“I have no regrets,” Allaire said. “Very proud of everything I’ve done.”
Like Allaire, Doenges believes Rutland’s rising crime rate is among its most pressing problems. The city has seen several killings in the past year, along with a jump in property crimes. The Rutland City Police Department is aggressively recruiting officers as it confronts a staffing shortage.
Doenges believes the solution to Rutland’s public safety problems is tied to the judiciary. He said city leaders could talk to local judges about fast-tracking 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.
Through a state program bolstered by coronavirus-related funding, local motels have housed an increased number of people experiencing homelessness — a situation both mayoral candidates said is related to the rise in crime. Homelessness could become even more common this year when the state motel voucher program ramps down at the end of May.
While Allaire believes the state government should take an active role in solving Rutland’s problem with homelessness, Doenges said the city cannot wait for the state to move and should act fast on its own plans. He said municipal leaders should work with local organizations on coming up with short- to long-term transitional housing plans.
Establishing a master plan for Rutland was a campaign cornerstone for Doenges, who works in technology sales and entered public office as an alderman two years ago. He believes that having a master plan — spanning 20 to 25 years — is key to revitalizing the city, which was Vermont’s second-largest municipality for most of the 20th century.
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 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.
Doenges said he decided to enter politics in 2021 after hearing that Allaire might not seek another term this year because of his bout with esophageal cancer. With the mayor’s office on his radar, Doenges ran for the Board of Aldermen — his first elected position — and sought the board presidency in March 2022.
Allaire said he has not yet decided on his next step after leaving the mayor’s office this month.
“I’m gonna just take a little bit of time off and regroup and figure out what I want to do,” he told VTDigger.
Doenges received approximately 1,700 votes to Allaire’s 1,300, according to unofficial figures confirmed by both candidates. Two of the city’s four polling places didn’t post their unofficial results on their door Tuesday night, as City Clerk Henry Heck had said. The official election results are expected to be released Wednesday.
Rutland voters also approved all three infrastructure bonds Tuesday.
The first, focusing on street and sidewalk repairs, asked voters for $3.5 million, including $1 million for street paving, $1 million for sidewalk repairs, and $1.5 million for the completion of two culvert replacement projects on Grove Street and Lincoln Avenue. The bond passed by 2,323-633, as reported by the Rutland Herald.
The second bond, which asked for $2.5 million to replace outdated water mains, passed by 2,386-543, the Herald reported. Public Works Commissioner James Rotondo said the city has 22 miles of outdated pipes that the funds will go toward.
The third bond, for $1.85 million, will be split between two projects. The first, asking for $750,000, is the Combination and Piedmont Pond Improvements Project, which aims to lower the temperature of the Moon Brook watershed, according to Rotondo.
The second project within the bond, asking for the remaining $1.1 million, is the Meadow Street Combined Sewer Separation Project, designed to separate 14 catch basins that feed into the city’s sewage-treatment plant in order to reduce sewage overflows during heavy storms. The bond for the two projects passed 1,895-1,043, the Herald reported.
Dominic Minadeo and Pearl Bellomo contributed reporting.