I think they’re just people, and like the people we know who are exposed to bedbugs or are the friends, relatives, coworkers, etc. of those who are exposed, some people are just incapable of empathy — or like we see sometimes in some of the people who are not allergic, they just don’t get it.

We hear what some council member staff tell people who call, for example, and some of it is astonishing. So, some don’t care, some are just not aware, and others are aware and care but think their hands are tied. It’s going to be our job to educate them and persuade them, which is a daunting prospect, actually; I’m not sure how we’re going to do that but that is what we’re going to have to do.

The reaction in Franklin County seems to have a lot to do with being able to see the warning signs, being able to react to a problem before it is enormous and out of hand:

County officials held an educational summit on bedbugs today that brought together social workers, landlords, pest controllers and school representatives. Health and code-enforcement officials came from state, county and city governments.

Guests from Cincinnati arrived and had attendees squirming in their seats with horror stories.

Every fire station in Cincinnati has bedbugs, the city has spent more than $10,000 on protective suits for employees and a room in an assisted-living complex had 30,000 bedbugs in one room, said Ken Sharkey of the Cincinnati Health Department.

“He got my attention,” Clinton Township Fire Chief John Harris said. “I thought it was scary.”

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Why don’t NYC officials see the writing on the wall? Why aren’t they listening to reports from those who know, the way the Franklin County folks are?