Former Danbury Mayor Calls Out Local Cinema's 'Disaster' Conditions

DANBURY, CT — A local cinema cleaned up its act after a former Danbury mayor rallied his followers — and the Health Department — on social media.

"Quite a night at AMC theaters. Place is a disaster," Mark Boughton posted Sunday morning on Facebook.

To support his argument, the former mayor and current commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services included a photo of space behind the food counter at 16 Eagle Road that appeared ankle-deep in trash.

"I understand the staff works really hard, but it's a mess," Boughton commiserated. He also complained there was "no popcorn, no food, no soda, bathrooms are disgusting," before calling upon the City Health Department to "take notice."

Which they did. Health and Human Services Director Fernanda Carvalho told Hearst in an email that the Health Department "responded promptly," cleaned the mess, and "will be conducting follow-up inspections.

Boughton's commentary triggered a firestorm on the social media platform, with most of his Facebook followers chiming in their agreement:

"I took my fam to see Moana2 there yesterday. Most shows were sold out, crowds were unbelievable, staff overwhelmed and yes, the place was a complete disaster. 100% managements fault, poor planning and understaffed."

Others showed some sympathy:

"Listen guys, they're short staffed like everyone, just lost a manager, & nearly every showing for 4 days straight were almost sold out. They got slammed & did their best. The lines for concession were at the door every day. A little grace during the holidays."

Both sides were, for the most part, careful not to blame the staff, taking aim at targets higher:

"Corporate higher ups think cutting payroll is the best idea ever, so they put pressure on managers to keep staffing low. Then the staff that's there get burnt out way faster, especially on a big holiday weekend with big movies that just came out. Corporate doesn't care about the employees that make them a ton of money and this is the end result."

Boughton, hardly a social media shrinking violet, said he reached out to "corporate" to complain. The cinema chain apologist instructed Boughton to send along additional information in order that the AMC Powers That Be might "review further."

In May, Variety reported that AMC was still recovering from its "brutal" pandemic year, and still struggling with $4.5 billion in debt.