'Hard To Say No:' Danbury Mayor Says New Gig Comes At Right Time

DANBURY, CT — Mayor Mark Boughton said his goodbyes to staff and residents in an impromptu Facebook livestream Friday afternoon.

In true Mayor Mark Boughton fashion, he said he would be back for another livestream on Monday, to discuss his favorite Netflix shows.

On Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont named Boughton to be commissioner of the Department of Revenue Services. City Council President Joe Cavo is scheduled to be sworn in as Danbury mayor on Thursday night, in compliance with the city's bylaws.

Boughton, serving his 10th term, said he made the decision not to run for reelection earlier this year, and had been doing some soul-searching over the past six weeks regarding what direction his career should take.

"I wasn't worried about whether I could win (reelection) or not, I felt confident I could win," Boughton said. "Our polling is the highest it's ever been."

The navel-gazing coincided with the offer for the commissioner gig, made by Gov. Ned Lamont.

"I think Governor Lamont is a good, honest man," Boughton said. "Certainly we have differences in policy views, and that's not going to change for me. I'm still a Republican."

Lamont has promised Boughton "the freedom to be me," the mayor said. "He wants to hear divergent ideas."

The governor will likely find that muse in Boughton, who ran for his party's nomination for governor in 2018 on a platform that called for a phase-out of state taxes.

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Boughton will replace acting tax commissioner John Biello. The position of commissioner was most recently held by Scott Jackson, who resigned earlier this year to accept a role in the administration of New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker.

Boughton said Lamont told him, "'I need you. The state needs you. This is the right thing to do in a very heated time in politics, not just in Connecticut but across the country, a Republican and a Democrat working together for the betterment of the residents.' It's hard to say 'no' to that."