Rutland Mayor Chris Louras, who endured months of withering criticism for his plan to bring Syrian refugees to the city, lost his reelection bid on Tuesday.
In unofficial voting results, David Allaire, a city alderman and leading critic of the resettlement, trounced Louras, a 10-year mayoral incumbent, by a 776-vote margin, according to results cited by the Rutland Herald and WCAX-TV.
“I’m simply wishing him luck and I’m moving on,” Louras told Seven Days Tuesday night. He declined further comment, saying he would “not hazard a guess” as to what the election results say about Rutland’s support for refugees.
Allaire did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
While Louras campaigned on a series of issues, and touted a reduction in many categories of crime, along with an improved downtown business district, the refugee debate has dominated political life in Rutland for the past year.
Louras had beaten Allaire in two previous mayoral elections.
A Rutland native, Louras reached out to refugee resettlement officials in late 2015 and hatched a proposal to bring 100 refugees from Syria and Iraq to the city, which has been losing population for decades. The mayor pitched the plan, without consulting the Board of Aldermen, as a humanitarian imperative and economic development initiative.
He faced a fierce backlash from many residents and aldermen, some of whom engaged in nativist rhetoric. Reporters from across the state and country descended on the city.
After months of conflict, Louras in September appeared to have scored a legacy-defining victory when the U.S. State Department announced that Rutland had been approved as a resettlement site and would begin accepting refugees. But President Donald Trump’s executive orders cracking down on immigration from Syria and other Muslim countries scuttled the plan. Only two Syrian families made it to Rutland.
Allaire always insisted he is not anti-refugee, but he led the charge to investigate whether Louras broke any laws in his handling of the proposal.
“We’ve had a difficult time getting any information from the mayor’s office or the refugee resettlement folks. It seems to be all cloak and dagger, behind the scenes,” Allaire, a sales manager for Interstate Batteries, told Seven Days last month.
To varying degrees, all three of Louras’ challengers opposed his refugee plans.
Mike Coppinger, head of the Downtown Rutland Partnership, garnered 559 votes, and perennial candidate Kam Johnston earned 54 votes.
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This article appears in Mar 1-7, 2017.
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What a shame.
Wow, even less reason to ever visit the place I was born. I didn’t know that you could do that, Rutvegas.
Amazing. The people of Rutland finally proved they have some brain cells left.
Rutland showing signs of neurological activity.
Congrats Citizens of Rutledge. Job well done. Make Rutledge Great Again!
Styxhexenhammer666 brought me here!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P5wX0EQ46w
It’s a damn shame.
Xenophobia and ignorance go hand in hand in the ghetto that calls itself Rutland.
I don’t think it is fair to characterize the mayor’s race as a “referendum on refugees”. According to the Rutland Herald “Two candidates who were outspoken in their opposition to the refugee resettlement in Rutland won election to the Rutland Board of Aldermen on Tuesday, while four who were supportive of the resettlement won as well.”
This can lead to a number of conclusions including 1. Voters were not voting strictly about one issue (refugee resettlement) 2. If they were voting strictly on one issue they are in favor of refugee resettlement. Probably a mix of the two.
Chris had a few missteps this year one of the biggest was the way that the rollout of the refugee resettlement program was sprung on the general public after being kept under wraps. Many people who were in favor of refugees in Rutland were opposed to the way it was handled or at least that was the rationale that they used in their continued opposition. Personally I am in favor of the refugees and was willing to look beyond the way it was handled. Some people would be against refugees no matter how it was handled.
Chris was also a chief proponent of changes in the Fire Department that rubbed many people the wrong way. He is also the first to admit that he is not the greatest politician more of a policy “wonk” than a hand-shaker / baby-kisser so as these things piled up he was not well equipped to reverse the trend. So run those things together and you have a little more realistic explanation for why the Mayoral vote went as it did while the Alderman race went 4-2 pro-refugee. Rutland, like many relationships, is “complicated”. I commend Mayor Louras for many advances that he made during his tenure and wish him luck in his future endeavors.