By Evan Johnson
RUTLAND CITY—The third third time was the charm for David Allaire. The 19-year veteran of the Rutland City Board of Aldermen successfully unseated sitting Mayor Chris Louras by a wide margin.
Initial results on Tuesday evening showed Allaire taking 2,196 votes to Loura’s 1,420.
Allaire, who could not be reached for comment after the results became available on Tuesday evening, ran unsuccessfully for the job in 2013 and 2015.
Allaire has sharply criticized what he perceived to be a lack of transparency on the part of the mayor. Five-term mayor Chris Louras was an outspoken supporter of resettling refugees in the city, an issue that proved to be quite divisive.
Rutland welcomed two families from Syria in January and had planned to welcome more until a travel ban ordered by President Trump brought at least a temporary halt to the refugee resettlement program. Allaire had advocated for withholding support for the refugee program until the board was given more information and championed an investigation by the city’s attorney to decide whether the Louras’s actions had violated the city charter.
The Board of Aldermen also had clashed with Louras over the city budget and the fire department. Allaire received the endorsement of the Rutland City Fire Department in February.
Mike Coppinger, the executive director of the Downtown Rutland Partnership, said at his campaign announcement in November that Louras had mishandled the refugee resettlement issue and touted his business experience. He took 559 votes.
Kam Johnston, who ran for four offices including mayor, took 54 votes. He did win a seat on the Rutland City School Board.
New aldermen announced
Tom Depoy, Lisa Ryan, Tim Cook, Melinda Humphrey, Chris Ettori and Rebecca Mattis were the top vote-getters in a crowded field of 17 candidates, several of whom were running for the first time.
Allaire’s winfor mayor also vacates a seat that will be filled.
Photo courtesy of watchdog.org.
