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Council members cite DOHMH staffing gaps and limited remediation capacity
Summary
Council leaders said they were concerned DOHMH had vacant water-ecologist posts (quoted as "0.333" vacant) and that the city had not hired inspectors budgeted for this season; they also said only a few companies perform tower remediation, raising questions about surge capacity.
Council leaders raised questions about DOHMH's technical capacity and the local remediation market. Speaker Menon said "more than 0.333 of water ecologist positions in the Department of Health are vacant," and Council Member Lynn Schulman said the department was supposed to have twice as many inspectors this season under the budget but had not yet hired them.
"We have to make sure that the and that they have the resources they need," Schulman said, and council members pressed for a public accounting of inspector hires and the number of remediation contractors available. Council Member Mercedes Narcisse said remediation is not costly in her view and suggested that prophylactic cleaning of towers would reduce illness.
Council members said they will seek DOHMH records on technical staff vacancies and contractor rosters at the oversight hearing to assess whether the agency has the capacity to mount faster, broader disinfection when outbreaks are identified.
