Rutland鈥檚 mayoral race has taken several twists this month.
Members of the city police department say false statements made by one of the candidates made them look greedy and negatively impacted the department鈥檚 contract negotiations.
Local unions are weighing in, and the race is also colored by the work history of the two men running for the job.
Both Rutland Mayor Michael Doenges and his challenger Henry Heck are well known in the city, and both men describe their relationship as professional.
But there鈥檚 no love lost between the two.
The challenger
Heck, a 62-year-old Rutland native, was a manager at Applebee's and a city alderman when former mayor Christopher Louras tapped him to be city clerk in 2008.
Heck held that position for more than 14 years until Doenges dismissed him shortly after being elected mayor in 2023.
鈥�As mayor, you get to build your cabinet,鈥� Doenges told 开云体育 in a recent interview. 鈥淎nd the people who were in line with my vision stayed and the people that were not aren鈥檛 here anymore.鈥�
When asked for his side of the story, Heck shrugged and said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 Mike鈥檚 decision.鈥�
But now, Heck, who was reelected to the Board of Aldermen last year, says it鈥檚 time for Doenges to go. 鈥淚鈥檓 definitely not a disgruntled employee ... but Mike is part of the problem.鈥�
Heck sees taxation and crime as the two biggest issues affecting Rutland. He said his supporters are upset by the way the city has handled homelessness, a proposal to move the library and traffic flow changes made to local roadways.
Instead of returning a more than half-million dollar surplus to taxpayers in 2023, including an executive assistant.
It鈥檚 not sustainable, Heck said. 鈥淲e are going to out-tax the normal Vermonter who wants to be here. They are not going to be able to afford to live here.鈥�
To make Rutland more affordable, Heck said officials at city hall need to make tough choices.
鈥淵ou got to be frugal,鈥� he said.
But while Heck talks a lot about the high cost of living in Vermont, he doesn鈥檛 offer many specifics as to what he would cut or new ideas on how he鈥檇 tackle Rutland鈥檚 challenges except to say he鈥檇 do a better job as mayor at making locals feel heard.
鈥淩eally, going into the neighborhoods, knocking on doors, asking people what they're doing, meeting them within their little communities or their neighborhoods ... and to let the bad guys know that they're not welcome here.鈥�
The incumbent
Michael Doenges, the 44-year-old incumbent with a background in tech sales, said after two years as mayor, he鈥檚 just getting started on his mission to make Rutland more welcoming, affordable and exciting.
鈥淵eah, we focused heavily on certain initiatives, and one of them is housing," he said. "Housing drives economic development in this community. Housing drives lower rent prices if we have more of it.鈥�
Doenges said the city was able to bring in $8 million of state funding for a program called . 鈥淭his allows people to get low interest loans to invest in market-rate and above market-rate housing," Doenges explains. "The idea is we're bringing investment to the city without costing the taxpayer any money.鈥�
He said $6.5 of that $8 million has already been applied for.
More from 开云体育: Rutland wants to fix their 'housing log jam'
He said his office is also focused on public safety. Doenges said he鈥檚 lobbied state lawmakers for retail theft initiatives that add teeth to repeat offender laws and minimum sentencing guidelines for crimes involving certain drugs that he said have become rampant in Rutland.
鈥淎nother thing that we're doing is something called the neighborhood stabilization initiative.鈥�
This is a program Doenges said the city started about a year ago to target drug houses. 鈥淲e're going in, and we're able to, with our building inspection team, with our fire department and our DPW and our rec departments and PD, close these houses down, get everybody out, get them in a stabilized situation, and take that drug trade out of that neighborhood."
An offending comment
Policing Rutland became a flashpoint in the mayoral campaign earlier this month.
Heck, whose Honda pickup has a pro-police thin blue line flag flying from the back, made disparaging comments about a local police officer and alleged salary demands during a campaign interview.
鈥淭hese guys, in regards to their new contract, they want to be paid for 60 hours and work 40 hours,鈥� Heck said on Feb. 2, during a Facebook Live ride-along event streamed by Rutland City Patrol, a community watch group.
Heck鈥檚 comments outraged members of the police department who are in the midst of contract negotiations with the city 鈥� negotiations that union officials said were brought to an impasse.
Police Chief Brian Kilcullen expressed his anger at a Feb. 3 .
鈥淎lderman Heck鈥檚 claim is untrue, irresponsible, inappropriate and contrary to his oath as a member of the board to represent things truly as they come to his knowledge," Kilcullen said. "His claim is irresponsible in that it has the likelihood to erode trust in members of the police department and may adversely impact police encounters with the public."
Heck has , but claims that his comments as a member of the Board of Aldermen had derailed contract negotiations.
He attended the most recent meeting of the Rutland City Police Commission and personally apologized to Commander Charles Whitehead, the Rutland city police officer he had disparaged during the Facebook event. 鈥淚 fully take responsibility of what was said. I don鈥檛 know how I鈥檓 going to repair this or mend this, but I鈥檓 here, offering an olive branch.鈥�
Doenges said he recused himself from the incident, but said amid contract negotiations it was important for city officials to maintain confidentiality.
Last week, unions representing more than 130 Rutland municipal and school department workers they were endorsing the incumbent.
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