Special to the Gazette
Councilor Ed Flynn will be holding a hearing on his ordinance to create an Office of Pest Control in the City of Boston on Tuesday, April 9th, at 10am. This hearing will be the first step in the process towards establishing a standalone office dedicated to pest control, and will bring together City Councilors, city officials, and residents to discuss this proposal. The hearing will be chaired by Councilor Coletta in the Committee on Government Operations.
In a key effort to tackle the persisting issue of rats in the City of Boston, Councilor Flynn filed an ordinance in January to create an Office of Pest Control to lead rodent mitigation operations. This follows a number of hearings last year in which Councilor Flynn and his colleagues discussed the City’s multi-pronged approach towards tackling pest control with officials at the Inspectional Services Department, Public Works, and Code Enforcement.
Last year, Councilor Flynn had the opportunity to speak with Kathleen Corradi, New York City’s first new Rat Czar, to get her insights and to learn about her operations. He has also spoken with Mayor Wu about the creation of a pest control office.
Pest control has become a major quality of life issue for residents for many years, and was exacerbated by the pandemic when food sources moved away from restaurants to residential areas. There has been an uptick of rodent sightings across all neighborhoods in Boston and the issue of pest control has become a top constituent complaint.
“Pest control is a serious public health issue and a top quality of life complaint I get when I talk to my constituents. I believe that an Office of Pest Control can help us better address this issue,” said Councilor Flynn. “We should have a centralized point person in the City that has overall authority and responsibility on all matters relating to rats and rodent mitigation, and an Office of Pest Control would provide that attention and oversight. I look forward to this Council hearing and working with my colleagues on this issue.”
To watch the hearing, you can go to boston.gov/city-council-tv. To submit written testimony or request to testify at the hearing, please reach out to Meghan Kavanagh at Meghan.Kavanagh@Boston.gov. For more information, please visit https://www.boston.gov/public-notices/16107511.