Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton: "It's Going to be Difficult"

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton made his regular appearance on the Ethan and Lou show this morning, and reiterated that things will be difficult even as we start to slowly reopen the state.

As Boughton explained, the Federal government has not yet come through with any kind of stabilization dollars for municipalities and counties, so each city, town and county is on its own to figure things out. "We're expected to do the same job with less revenue, so it's going to be difficult."

Noting that the restaurant industry has been hit particularly hard, he encouraged residents to continue supporting their favorite restaurants for takeout. Danbury has put together a Virtual Restaurant Week next week, with various restaurants doing special packages.

As to what will happen with specific businesses when the reopening phases start on May 20, he acknowledged that there are many unanswered questions right now even for business owners in those categories. "What happens is, he'll make the pronouncements, and then within a week or so, we'll get detailed finite plans about what can open, who's included, who's not included. So we're ready for a lot of that guidance."

Boughton went on to talk about service industry businesses that don't get much talk right now but are also struggling, such as tent rentals and catering halls. "There are a lot of these industries that rely on people, that are out of business right now, and even to get them back into business is going to be hard. Without a vaccine, who is going to risk going to a gala fundraiser? I'll write the check to the non-profit, but I'm not going."

You can hear the entire interview embedded below. Listen for Mayor Mark most Tuesday and Thursday mornings on the I-95 Morning Show.