Council Member Gale Brewer sent out a public email notice of the hearing and an update on her efforts so far. Notable is the clarification that one needs to contact a City Council representative in order to schedule a Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) community bed bug seminar. The letter also mentions a November 2006 roundtable with city agencies.
Council Member Brewer’s continued leadership on this issue is amazing to us. Her original bed bug bill was introduced before bed bugs were even on our radar.
Dear New Yorker:
Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of a bedbug task force. It is also a shared goal of mine to develop a pragmatic strategy to address the bedbug epidemic, and its physical, mental, and financial impact on a growing number of New Yorkers. To address these issues, I introduced Intro 57-2006 which prohibits the sale of reconditioned mattresses and calls for the formation of a bedbug task force. Furthermore, I recently introduced Intro 872-2008 requiring the NYC Department of Sanitation to provide City residents with large plastic bags and brightly-colored “Caution! This Bag May Contain Bedbugs” stickers for furniture intended for curbside pick up, to better contain the spread of bedbugs. Finally, to boost consumer awareness, I have introduced Intro 873-2008, establishing a specialized training program to instruct exterminators in eliminating bedbugs in an urban environment, and requiring that a list of these qualified exterminators be available to the public. These bills are accessible on the New York City Council website at www.council.nyc.gov .
I am pleased to announce that a public hearing is scheduled on my proposed bedbug legislation for Tuesday, February 24 at 1:00 P.M in the Committee Room of City Hall. The focus of the hearing will be Intros 57-2006, 872-2008 and 873-2008. Members of the public are welcome to attend. If you would like to give testimony, you may sign up with the sergeant at arms upon your arrival.
In addition to legislative actions, there have been several intergovernmental meetings regarding bedbugs. At the September 18, 2006 hearing of the Council Committee on Consumer Affairs it was concluded that the State is responsible for establishing standards for sale of reconditioned mattresses and that the State had not promulgated the rules for treatment of these mattresses. I have continually urged the New York State Department of State to put these rules into effect. I also hosted a roundtable meeting with the Mayor’s office on November 28, 2006, where representatives from various City agencies including the New York City Housing Authority, Department of Buildings, Department of Sanitation, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and Department of Consumer Affairs presented their respective efforts in addressing the bedbug problem. The overarching theme of the meeting was the need to educate the public to identify and effectively exterminate bedbugs. I have worked with the Mayor’s Office and HPD since last year to establish a city-wide education program in all boroughs, and these free HPD-led seminars were launched in January 2008 and attended by hundreds of residents. Attached is a list of the seminars that have taken place. You may contact your local representatives to request a forum in your community.
Together we can improve the coordination of all relevant agencies, and help to create methods to control and eradicate bedbugs. I encourage you to vocalize your concerns to your public officials, and participate in the public hearing process. If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate contact my office.
Sincerely,
Gale A. Brewer
These pages may be of related interest:
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
i had sent a comment but it seems to have got lost due to time out i guess..
brief comment
this sounds great.. excellent directions but i don’t think that the additional training of pest control service providers (exterminators) is appropriate. Treating bed bugs is not technically challenging but requires time and a meticulous approach, and of course, proper preparation and co-operation. Good firms have well trained staff and there is a great resource of material from NPMA and others providing education. I am sure your local New York Association also provides these opportunities. There is more need for training of property standards regulators, property management and social support agencies in how they can help in the bigger picture.
There is a need for educating these groups in what a good service means and is about and what is needed to enable this to happen so that selection of good firms to do the work is the rule not the exception. Historically, the problem has been low bidder and poor services and that is not just bed bugs..
There is a need for more education in what IPM means and how important this concept is in control and in protecting human health..
I don’t agree with special training for exterminators. This is needed in technically specialized areas such as termite control, or fumigation or mosquito control, but there is nothing technically challenging about treating for bed bugs. The challenge is getting full co-operation and paying a reasonable fee to get a reasonable job..
that is where the problem lies and creating another focus of training is not going to solve that. the good firms have well trained people ,, and what is needed is ongoing updates on knowledge, not a specialized training to tell what is already know ..
Firms need to be certified in terms of their practices, levels of customer satisfaction and if their prices are reasonable.. and let the consumer know who does a good job.. that would have much more impact..
Sam
Sam
Please forward any further info regarding bed bugs. Thank you
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