Officials need to take a bite out of bureaucracy

It always astounds us when the needs of human beings are held hostage by the decrees of bureaucracy. Case in point: We have a group of residents, many senior citizens, who live in an apartment complex inundated with a proliferation of feral cats. In turn, the cats bring fleas. The problem is so bad that the residents are taking extraordinary steps to ensure their homes do not become infested. The U.S. Post Office, which is known for delivering mail under extraordinary conditions, has opted out of this one and will not deliver mail there because the postal workers have been bitten too many times. Residents too, are suffering from a large number of flea bites as a result of the infestation. One 90-year old woman in particular is afraid to leave her home and has had difficulty collecting her mail on a regular basis.

Despite all of this, there is no resolution. The owners of the complex have brought in an exterminator to kill the fleas, but can do nothing about the cats that bring the fleas, they say. The Nassau County Health Department says it has no jurisdiction. All it can do is encourage people to refrain from feeding the cats and fine the management firm if it does not hire an exterminator.

Sorry, not good enough. Rules, regulatons and bureaucratic red tape should serve the people and not vice versa. What we need is for some level of government with the gumption to take the lead on this, go in there, trap the animals and haul them away. Then they should work with the property management team to ensure that the problem is resolved. And, if any public official, at any level of government, needs some incentive to work to resolve this, we have a 90-year-old woman they can talk to. Please, let's get it done.