According to the city clerk's office, he first served as Flint's mayor in 1975, was re-elected in 79 and held office until 1983.
He was then was elected again in August of 2002 for a partial term that ended in November of 2003. Rutherford was Flint's chief of police from 1967 to 1975.
Rutherford was considered Flint's first "strong" mayor since.
Then in 2002, he was more of a caretaker or interim mayor leading the city after the recall of Mayor Woodrow Stanley and the state appointment of Emergency Financial Manager Ed Kurtz.
He stayed on until November of 2003. Rutherford then took on the job of director of the Flint Downtown Development Authority.
Larry Ford, the current director there, says he had just retired about six months ago.
In June, the James W. Rutherford parking structure on the corner of Kearsley and Beach streets in Flint was dedicated with hundreds of people in attendance.
