Danbury Mayor Talks COVID Guidance + Responds To Eversource

There's always a lot of things happening in the city of Danbury, and every week, Mayor Mark Boughton fills us in on what's going on.

This week, Mayor Mark talks about the COVID-19 spike, Thanksgiving guidance, and he responds to Eversource's e-mail to the show.

COVID-19 is spiking big time in the city, what are the numbers looking like this week?

"The last two weeks we've accumulated about 400 new cases, we also had a couple of deaths as well, so it's been kind of a rough time. We are encouraging people to follow the guidance, please don't go out after 10 PM unless you have to. We're going to keep working as hard as we can to make sure people get that message. We are out a lot with inspection teams at various restaurants, and places of business to make sure our residents stay safe."

What about the local schools, I know most Danbury schools are on distance learning until at least the start of 2021. What update can you give us for all those parents that are going nuts?

"I am optimistic with the two new vaccines that should be available in the coming months and be able to offer some protection. After that, we are hoping to get the schools open, we're committed to doing that. We want our kids in school and realize that's a priority for parents, and it's a priority for Dr. Sal and the Board of Education".

There's been a lot of rumblings around the state about lockdowns, what have you heard?

"That would be a decision made by the Governor, who, by the way, has been asked to quarantine himself after one of his staff members tested positive for the virus, so at this point, I don't think that any decision has been made about that. Going forward, it's possible we may see something like that. I will tell you that Thanksgiving would be a good time to adhere to the guidance and try and keep the number of people you have over to a minimum. Don't have the big Thanksgiving dinner, unfortunately it's just not safe right now."

Finally, last week we talked about the Eversource rate hike that would go into effect on January 1. I got an e-mail from Trisha from their Media Relations office and she tried to explain that the rate hike is not a rate hike. Here's what she had to say, "The rate change that goes into effect on Jan. 1^st is not an Eversource rate hike, the rate that is changing is the generation rate which is the price of the electricity that we are required to buy on behalf of our customers with no profit to the company". There's the official word from Eversource, do you buy all this?

"Sounds like an Eversource rate hike to me. Look, even if that's the case and it's the supplier that's raising the rates, Eversource should smooth out that increase by dipping into their pocket and making sure that our residents, during a difficult time, don't experience a 14% rate increase. They need to take a hit on the chin, they keep passing these increases along, even if it comes from the source, the generation of power, to our residents, who at the end of the day, are the most stressed. The CEO of Eversource making $19 million a year is not stressed, the senior staff making 2 million each is not stressed. It's the little guy, the business owner, the small shop keeper, those are the people that are stressed, and those are the one's that need help from our public utility. It is a utility for the public, of the public, and should be treated as such."