By Lani Duke
Rutland City voters returned Christopher Louras to the mayor’s office for a fifth term. He received 1,863 votes to David Allaire’s 1,341 votes. The third candidate, Kam Johnston, received 99 votes. Louras campaigned that he had put the city in a position to make major improvements and that changing leadership would stop that momentum, while Allaire’s campaign claimed that the progress made was insufficient.
Voters also returned Ed Larson and Tom DePoy to the city’s aldermanic board as well as Matthew Bloomer and Melinda Humphrey. They elected first-time candidates Chris Ettori and Jon Skates as well. This changes the board’s makeup, as there are now four people in their 30s on the board, and six under age 45.
The $49,508,872 school budget received voter approval, 1,885 to 1,423. Also approved were $46,140 for Marble Valley Regional Transit (“The Bus”), $65,980 for Regional Ambulance, $27,500 for Boys & Girls Club, and Rutland Area Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice services totaling $86,000. However, Mentor Connection apparently slipped from public favor; its request for $12,000 failed by a narrow margin and was the only social service appropriation that was denied approval.
