Connecticut's Phase 3 of reopening begins today. Danbury Mayor, Mark Boughton, talked about what this will mean for restaurants throughout the Nutmeg State when he joined the Ethan and Lou Show (10/8/20).

One of the things Phase 3 means is that CT restaurants can now have 75 percent indoor seating capacity. I remarked that restaurants owners in the state are on "life support" and then I asked the Mayor how realistic it is to enforce these capacity percentages, and this was his response:

I think you are right, the owners have been on life support since March. I think this will help, though, because we are going to let them keep whatever outdoor facility they've created, the tent, whatever, at least in the short term they are going to be able to keep those up.

So, between that and the 75 percent indoors, you might get to having 100 percent of your tables and in terms of enforcement, you are absolutely right. I mean, there's always these Karen's that are calling in and texting in about how Johnny Jones doesn't have tables, the tables are too close in his restaurant and you need to go over there right away.

But, unless we get a real hard complaint, there's not a lot we can do about it, nightclubs, though, are not allowed to be open.

He added:

One of the things I've learned in this whole, horrible mess is that these restaurants, these are locally owned, many of them. It's not paycheck to paycheck, it's not week to week, but it's definitely month to month in terms of being able to stay open, that's how tight of a margin they operate on.

Even one or two big storms throws them way off in terms of being able to pay their bills. So, anything we can do to help them out, we'll keep them open. I was on the show with you in March or April and I told you that I thought 50 percent of the restaurants in the area were going to close, you know, will be closed permanently after this is all over and I'm still holding to that figure. I still think it's going to be 40-50 percent.

That's a scary figure and hopefully the Mayor is wrong. If you are able and comfortable with dining out locally, do so and safely. Our local businesses, not just restaurants are struggling to stay alive.

Below is the full Phase 3 portion of today's interview with Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.

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