Boston City Council mulls appointing 'rat czar' to tackle rodent problem
BOSTON - The Boston City Council is now officially considering the creation of a new department to tackle a growing rodent problem.
The so-called "Rat Czar" would head up a department focused on containing and regulating the rat population in the city.
Councilman Ed Flynn introduced this proposal at Wednesday's City Council meeting and said currently, the city had multiple departments that respond to calls over rodents. His proposal would streamline that work.
"We need to think about how we can coordinate resources and coordinate services and eventually, in my opinion, come up with a city department to recognize how significant this public health and public safety quality of life issue is to so many residents," Flynn said.
Although the proposal was introduced by Flynn, support was expressed by at least four other city councilmembers Wednesday. Councilwoman Gabriela Coletta was one of them. Coletta represents the North End and East Boston. The North End was cited Wednesday as one of the parts of the city with the worst rodent issues. "This is probably one of the top issues folks call my office on," Coletta said.
This proposal comes just weeks after New York City announced a similar program. Flynn said he hoped to travel to New York to meet with the team there within the next month.
The Boston proposal is making its way to a committee to be researched and debated. If approved in committee it would head back to the city council for a vote.