Boston City Councilors blamed the city’s rat infestation on new sewage lines and students at a meeting yesterday.
According to Councilor Michael Ross (Back Bay, Fenway), long-time residents throughout the Back Bay and Beacon Hill areas have complained about the sudden spike in the rodent population.
“We have community members who have lived here for 45 years who have never seen them like this,” Ross said. “There are different kinds [of rats] in bushes, in planters, all over the place.”
Ross said the rat issue calls for immediate examination, suggesting the formation of a committee to investigate the link between the rats and a new water and sewer project in the city. He guessed the rats may be following the sewer lines.
Ross blamed the contractors of the project, whom he criticized for not lay enough traps and bait.
“It is the equivalent of not giving a dental patient Novocain,” he said.
Council-At-Large Felix Arroyo agreed, saying he also received complaints from residents in other parts of the city.
“Folks in the Allston-Brighton area will be relieved to hear that rats really are a problem everywhere and not just in their areas,” he joked.
Arroyo also blamed the problem on the sanitary habits of college students, who account for a large percentage of Boston’s population.
“We are close to so many students who aren’t sure how to store outdoor trash,” he said.
The Council voted in favor of forming an investigative committee that will look into all of these possibilities. Although the committee will focus primarily on the link between rats and the water and sewer treatment plant, they will also look into whether or not proper inspectional services are in place to monitor the situation.
The Council also discussed implementing a forum to promote negotiation between landlords and tenants in Boston. Councilor Robert Consalvo (Hyde Park, Roslindale) and Councilor-At-Large Sam Yoon proposed the forum to allow tenants and landlords to decide upon guidelines for rent and tenant costs to prevent future disputes, by way of collective bargaining.
Councilor Jerry McDermott (Allston, Brighton) said the elimination of rent control in Boston made it increasingly difficult for tenants and landlords to discuss their monthly payments, adding that the proposed forum would create a good checks and balances system.
“We have wonderful landlords, and not so wonderful landlords,” he said. “We have outstanding tenants, and some who throw their trash out their windows.”
Councilor Chuck Turner (Dorchester, Roxbury) said the forum also would assist low-income tenants who cannot afford property taxes.
“No landlord has ever said they pay the property tax, it is passed toward the tenants,” Turner said.
The Council agreed on the importance of communication between tenants — who are often college students — and landlords.
“We need to listen to both sides, it is how negotiation works,” Yoon said.