Mayor Michelle Wu indicated assist for a rat czar rent in Boston, however mentioned the creation of this new place might take a backseat to different pest-control methods which might be already underway within the metropolis.
Designating an worker to supervise Boston’s pest-control operation, as proposed by City Council President Ed Flynn, is an “important” thought, Wu mentioned, and one that’s being mentioned within the context of getting a extra coordinated strategy to tackling rats and different points that almost all frustrate residents.
“I don’t know that we are necessarily going to immediately create a czar position because we’ve been having lots of conversations about rodents and pest control in general,” Wu mentioned Thursday after an unrelated press convention. “And we’ll continue working on that.”
These discussions have concerned getting departments to work extra carefully collectively to focus on the foundation explanation for the town’s rodent drawback. Some efforts which might be already underway embrace eradicating the rats’ meals supply, by extra correctly securing dumpsters, and inspiring builders to submit a rat mitigation plan for development that includes digging into the bottom, the mayor mentioned.
These methods differ from the ineffective strategy the town has taken up to now, Wu mentioned, which has been to set traps in areas the place residents had complained rats have been current.
“It’s barely putting a Band-Aid on the situation,” Wu mentioned of this previous answer.
Although not significantly forceful, Wu’s remarks on Thursday represented the primary time she’s spoken publicly about her stance on the creation of a rat czar place in Boston, which Flynn first talked about in an early April council assembly.
The mayor’s assist might get the ball rolling on Flynn’s proposal, which might create an workplace of pest management headed by a rat czar. The thought, which Flynn mentioned could be modeled after New York City’s pest-control operation, drew widespread assist from his council colleagues finally week’s assembly.
New York employed its first rat czar final month, a place that pays $155,000.
Today, pest management is dealt with by a variety of metropolis departments in Boston, together with inspectional companies, water and sewer and public works.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”