Though it's not a warm and fuzzy topic that most of us want to think about during the holidays, I recently chaired a meeting of the City & Neighborhood Services Committee to discuss the rodent problem in our city.

Boston is beautiful, charming, historic and fun, but we also battle the same issues that other large urban centers face and one of those issues, we must admit, is rats. The city's age, dense neighborhoods, proximity to the water and abundance of construction projects all contribute to the rodent problem.

While talking with my constituents, I've had a number of people, especially residents of the North End, express concerns about rats, so I called the committee meeting to hear from those who work for the city in the areas connected to this issue, including inspectional services, public health, trash collection, code enforcement, and water and sewer.

As a city councilor, part of my job is oversight of the various departments of our municipal government, and some of the questions I routinely ask city employees are: What are we doing to combat this problem?; Do you have the resources that you need to do this job correctly?; Are there things that other cities are doing that we should be doing here in Boston?; Is there information that we need to get out to the general public that will help you do your job?

At the hearing on the rodent problem I heard about steps that the city is taking to deal with this matter, as well as some ideas that are being considered. Street sweeping, public trash receptacles, trash pick-up and code enforcement were all discussed, as well as the dangers that might result from an increase in the number of rodents in the city, such as some diseases that are usually unheard of in Massachusetts.

The first step in this battle, and one that we can all take, is to make sure our trash is secure and that rats cannot get at it. If individual residents increased their effort in this area it would make a difference. Double bagging garbage in thick plastic bags would, according to one city employee, go a long way toward cutting off human refuse as a food source for rodents.

When I worked to mitigate the effects of Big Dig construction on our neighborhoods back in 1999, controlling the rat population was one of our biggest concerns. The Big Dig spent a significant amount of money to deal with rodents that were roused by all of the digging and vibrating involved in that project, but that funding is gone. It's now up to the city to keep this problem in check, and I pledge to continue to follow up and to push the city because I know that we can do better.