By Polly Mikula
Rutland re-elects Doenges as mayor, ousts three incumbent aldermen
Incumbent Mayor Mike Doenges beat challenger Alderman Henry Heck 2,075 to 1,581. The mayor’s race saw about a 20% bump in turnout compared to 2023 but Doenges took about the same percentage of the total vote in each election: 56.5% in 2023 and 56.7% in 2025.
While voters granted Doenges another term, they did not act accordingly with the aldermen, rejecting three incumbents: Alex Adams, John McCann and Carrie Savage — all from the Rutland Forward group. Instead city voters chose to re-elect former aldermen with strong name recognition.
Former Mayor Dave Allaire was the top vote-getter with 2,058 votes. Tom Donahue came next with 1,936. Paul Clifford came in third with 1,776. Larry Cupoli was fourth with 1,769. Longtime Alderman William Gillam came in fifth with 1,681, and first-term Alderwoman Kiana McClure won reelection with 1,656 votes.
Voters strongly supported the budget and down-ballot articles.
Pittsfield approves 1% option tax
Pittsfield voters approved Article 7, which asked “Shall the town assess a one percent (1%) tax on rooms and meals and alcoholic beverages pursuant to V.S.A. § 138(b)?”
The motion to accept the article was made by Ann Kuendig, who stated that the town would be joining 28 other communities who impose a 1% tax on meals and rooms and alcohol. The town keeps 70%, the state takes 30%.
“Every $1.00 we gain from the local option tax a property owner will save $.70 in property tax,” Kuendig said according to the town minutes. “Our effort is to try to diversify our revenue and reduce taxes.”
The majority were in favor by voice vote and the article was approved.
Four of five area towns vote to eliminate town listers, auditors
Votes to eliminate auditors for public accountants were on the ballot in Reading, Ryegate and Woodstock, while requests to trade listers for professional assessors were on the ballot in Albany, Bridgewater, Hartland, Lincoln, Reading, Shrewsbury, Westminster, Williamstown and Woodstock.
Locally, voters in Woodstock, Reading, Hartland, Shrewsbury and Bridgewater all authorized the elimination of the office of town listers. Professionally qualified assessors will now be hired to assume those duties.
In Woodstock the article to eliminate listers passed by paper ballot 105 yes to 10 no.
In Reading voters approved eliminating listers 110-35 with 3 blank) and eliminating auditors 114-27 with 7 blank. There were no candidates on the ballot for any of the positions.
In Hartland voters passed Article 9 to eliminate listers 66-32.
Shrewsbury voters also approved replacing its listers with a hired professional assessor, 146-61.
Bridgewater, however, bucked the trend and voters rejected a motion to eliminated the office of the town lister and moved to a professional assessing system. It failed 86-53 in a paper ballot vote, after a residents moved to switch the vote from a floor vote. Opponents argued that the town’s current listers are more familiar with the town and that there is no reason to get rid of the office folks are willing to do it.
Killington ousts two incumbents, expands Select Board to five
Killington voters decided to shake up both the members of its Select Board and its governing structure. Voters elected to expand its Select Board from the current three-member board to a five-member board. Voters also chose to oust both incumbents who were up for re-election. Rick Bowen defeated incumbent Robert Hecker for a 1-year term (215-114), and Patrick Cushing defeated incumbent Christopher Karr for a 3-year term (196-131).
Residents interested in running for the additional Select Board seats must file petitions to be considered. A special election will be held at a date TBA in May.
Killington was not the only town that voted to increase from a three- to five-member board at this year’s Town Meeting. Winhall (near Stratton) also voted to expand its board to five via a floor vote, March 4 (42 yes, 27 no). Westmore voters (in the Northeast Kingdom), who voted last year to expand to five, had an article on this year’s ballot to move back to a three-member board — the measure was voted down by a count of 36 no to 23 voting yes, so the five member board remains.
3 or 5? Select Boards split in both Windsor and Rutland Counties
Windsor County
Baltimore – 3
Barnard – 3
Bridgewater – 3
Hartland – 3
Plymouth – 3
Pomfret – 3
Reading – 3
Rochester – 3
Sharon – 3
Stockbridge – 3
West Windsor – 3
Andover – 5
Bethel – 5
Cavendish – 5
Chester – 5
Ludlow – 5
Norwich – 5
Royalton – 5
Springfield – 5
Weathersfield – 5
Weston – 5
Windsor – 5
Woodstock – 5
Hartford – 7
Rutland County
Ira – 3
Mendon – 3
Mount Holly – 3
Mount Tabor – 3
Pittsfield – 3
Shrewsbury – 3
Tinmouth – 3
Wells – 3
West Haven – 3
Brandon – 5
Benson – 5
Castleton – 5
Chittendon – 5
Clarendon – 5
Danby – 5
Fair Haven – 5
Hubbardton – 5
Killington – 5
Middletown Springs – 5
Pawlet – 5
Pittsford – 5
Proctor – 5
Poultney – 5
Rutland Town – 5
Sudbury – 5
Wallingford – 5
West Rutland – 5
Mountain Views School District voters okay $30.8 million budget; Werner newly elected to the board
Voters in the seven-town Mountain Views Supervisory Union School District (MVSU) overwhelmingly approved a $30.8 million school budget on Town Meeting Day (1054 yes, 653 no, 3 blank) — 61.8% to 38.2%. Voters in six of the seven towns (Barnard, Bridgewater, Plymouth, Pomfret, Reading, and Woodstock) approved the budget, with only Killington voting against the proposed expenses. However, the measure failed by only39 votes this year (149 yes, 188 no) — last year it failed by 129 (186 yes, 315 no). The per pupil spending is $17,230, which is 1.03% higher than per pupil education spending for the current year.
There were six three-year slots open on the MVSU School Board but only Woodstock had a contested race — a three-way race for two board seats. Incumbent Matt Stout was reelected, and newcomer Sarit Werner was chosen for the second seat. The open seat was vacated by Ben Ford, who did not seek re-election for personal reasons.
Incumbents Carin Ewing Park, representing Barnard, Lara Bowers in Bridgewater, and Elliot Rubin in Plymouth, were all reelected by voters without opposition. An open board seat in Reading went unfilled.
Otter Valley budget passes by one vote
On Town Meeting Day, the Otter Valley Unified Union (OVUU) school budget passed by a single vote: 817 yes to 816 no. Expenditures for the 2025-26 year totalled $28,022,099, a 4.53% increase.
According to Brandon Town Clerk Susan Gage, the ballot-reading machines had initially tallied 815 yes to 814 no, a margin so slim that a manual recount was undertaken. During the recount, four ballots were revealed to have stray marks that had rendered them unreadable to the machines — two of those were in favor of the budget and two were opposed, bringing the official totals to 817 yes and 816 no.
Slate Valley district budget fails
Slate Valley voters defeated the district’s $32.1 million budget at Town Meeting Day by 318 votes. The tally was 789 yes – 1,107 no. With the proposed budget, four of the district’s six towns (Castleton, Fair Haven, West Haven, Benson, Hubbardton, and Orwell) would have seen a tax rate decrease, given the projected yield.
The budget called for a 5.2% increase in spending over the current year; the education spending per pupil totaled $11,782.98 — among the lowest in the region.
Wells Springs Unified Union district passed with a 8.45% increase over last year for a $13,100 per pupil cost and Mill River went up 5% for a $13,570 per pupil cost. Rutland City School District passed its budget of $67.2 million with a per pupil spending of $12,197 — 1.75% lower than last year. Mountain Views School District, which includes Killington, passed a per pupil expenditure of $17,230.
Voters in Rutland County endorse combining high schools
At Town Meeting Day, March 4, the three-town school district of Quarry Valley overwhelmingly approved a non-binding article endorsing the possibility of closing a school. The district currently operates three high schools: Proctor, West Rutland and Poultney. While no specific school has been identified for potential closure, voters showed support for the idea, 471 for to 365 against.
