From TENAC
Feb. 18th, 2008 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
leftyjewThe whole text is in the cut, but I thought this line in particular was pretty funny: RATS 3 – BEDBUGS 1
The above is not a baseball score, but an update on District rat and bedbug infestation. Regarding rats, we are talking about their proliferation in public parks, notably Dupont Circle Park, under the control of the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Park Police, but surrounded by land administered by the D.C. government. This anomaly raises key problems of jurisdiction, or who controls what. Rat and bedbug curtailment city-wide, except for federally-controlled land, is the job of the D.C. Department of Health and the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs (DCRA). Rat abatement on federal lands falls to the NPS. Bedbug infestation in apartment buildings is now becoming pandemic in the District, and is an increasing public health concern, to say nothing of the rat problem.
The city is trying, which is more than can be said for the NPS and the U.S. Park Police who are “absentee landlords” in Dupont Circle Park and other parks under federal control. All are gravely understaffed and poorly cared for. NPS has done little on rat control, and the U.S. Park Police do little more than wake up homeless people on park benches. The District should control all public land in the city, except for clearly demarcated federal property.
NPS’s dereliction of duty is also nationwide, including the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty Park. Locally, there have been reported sightings of the NPS and the U.S. Park Police in Dupont Circle but they have not been independently confirmed. Rats in Dupont Circle Park are having a field day and the Chinese have not helped by declaring this the “Year of the Rat.” Rats are celebrating everywhere. In Dupont Circle Park, they hold a banquet every night. All are invited. The only problem is that we are on the menu.
The NPS, the U.S. Park Police, and the District Government must cooperate on rodent control. District home rule enhancement is key. Bedbug control must become a top District priority. Landlords charged with infestation should be fined heavily and rents reduced in affected buildings. The District needs greater power all across the board.
The above is not a baseball score, but an update on District rat and bedbug infestation. Regarding rats, we are talking about their proliferation in public parks, notably Dupont Circle Park, under the control of the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Park Police, but surrounded by land administered by the D.C. government. This anomaly raises key problems of jurisdiction, or who controls what. Rat and bedbug curtailment city-wide, except for federally-controlled land, is the job of the D.C. Department of Health and the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs (DCRA). Rat abatement on federal lands falls to the NPS. Bedbug infestation in apartment buildings is now becoming pandemic in the District, and is an increasing public health concern, to say nothing of the rat problem.
The city is trying, which is more than can be said for the NPS and the U.S. Park Police who are “absentee landlords” in Dupont Circle Park and other parks under federal control. All are gravely understaffed and poorly cared for. NPS has done little on rat control, and the U.S. Park Police do little more than wake up homeless people on park benches. The District should control all public land in the city, except for clearly demarcated federal property.
NPS’s dereliction of duty is also nationwide, including the Washington Monument and the Statue of Liberty Park. Locally, there have been reported sightings of the NPS and the U.S. Park Police in Dupont Circle but they have not been independently confirmed. Rats in Dupont Circle Park are having a field day and the Chinese have not helped by declaring this the “Year of the Rat.” Rats are celebrating everywhere. In Dupont Circle Park, they hold a banquet every night. All are invited. The only problem is that we are on the menu.
The NPS, the U.S. Park Police, and the District Government must cooperate on rodent control. District home rule enhancement is key. Bedbug control must become a top District priority. Landlords charged with infestation should be fined heavily and rents reduced in affected buildings. The District needs greater power all across the board.
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no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 01:22 pm (UTC)[/irony]
That sucks about the bedbags though.... I feel bad whenever I hear about other people having to deal with it. That shit was NASTY.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 06:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-19 06:48 pm (UTC)Today a Latino mother left her child in a stroller for an instant to discard an empty coffee container into the rubbish barrel nearby. In a split second, a rat, probably smelling the infant formula in the baby’s milk bottle in the bottom of the stroller, promptly jumped into the stroller. Fortunately several eyes were trained on the rat, including yours truly, and our yells and foot stamping scared the rodent, but apparently not too much, since his departure from the carriage was very much on the leisurely side. I have no doubt that absent the bystanders and their response, the rat would have attacked the child. Rats, after all, like human cartilage and have been known to eat the ears and nose off an infant in very short order. Horrified, the mother almost panicked in her haste to leave the park. My entreaties to her to report the incident fell on deaf ears, since her English was very limited, and, if she was undocumented, she unfortunately probably feared reporting anything to the authorities. Consider if the situation had been different, however, and the endangered infant belonged to a vocal, outraged citizen. In that case, if the infant had been bitten or worse you can imagine the kind of lawsuit the District would incur. You may also rest assured it would have TENAC’s total support.