Graffiti Wars

So I get a call from a local businessman, Bill. He owns industrial buildings in Tremont and Ohio City that have been 'tagged' - repeatedly - with graffiti. He has met with new Ward 14 councilman Joe Santiago and he's terribly concerned; and now Bill wants to 'do something' about it.

*Sigh*

I wish I knew the answer to this. I will try to be helpful.

The graffiti in Tremont is mostly tags - little squiggles of semi-readable letters or initials. It's not the super-creative stuff that looks like a Zen master artist crossed with visual hip hop that you see in the Bronx, or maybe along the RTA route in Cleveland...no, this is just words like 'spend' written over and over; some kid saying "I am here"...

...it's found on utility boxes, garage doors (mine included), mailboxes, blank walls...and unfortunately, on occupied, beautiful, unpainted brick buildings, like Bill's, which takes up a whole block, and is now irrepairably damaged.

Paint it over, I tell him. The city no longer has an anti-graffiti program, so it's DIY. ASAP.

He's done that. Five times. What now?

Merrick House sponsors a mural program for teens; it's staffed by Rocky Melendez. Rocky is tall, with heavy metal hair and an easy, tough-guy manner. The kids respect him. Under his supervision they paint and maintain the International Flag murals under the highway overpass in Tremont. I call him up. Yeah, he says, there's some new kid tagging in Tremont. He's not one of ours; our kids don't know him. Must be a busser, the tags run along bus routes. He has no respect, he's an outsider. We'll keep an eye out, he tells me.

I tell Bill to call Marianne Ludwig, owner of Scoops. She and her husband Jon have spent many weekends painting out graffiti. Originally councilman Cimperman purchased paint for them and helped out, but now I think it's just mostly Marianne, Jon, and any of their friends or family 'lucky' enough to be roped in. Call her, I say - she and her husband can tell you exactly what shade of brown to paint a traffic light control box versus the perfect green for an SBC router. Bill is excited that he's not the only one concerned with this issue. But he doesn't want to spend every weekend painting out graffiti.

Bill has called the police, who just don't seem that interested. I can understand - they're short staffed, these kids are hard to catch, there are more serious crimes in the Second District. But we both remember that suburban kid who was caught, fined and sentanced to community service, painting out graffiti - wasn't that in Cleveland Heights?

Clark Metro is installing security cameras - maybe that is the answer. Although I hate to think we are living in Geroge Orwell's '1984.' But it's an avenue to explore. They're expensive.

Some years ago, a book was published that urged city planners, police, politicians and bureaucrats to address small issues quickly to prevent their spread and growth into bigger issues. It was called, "Broken Windows."

But in an era of limited government, limited budgets, and overwhelming problems, who will keep the small problems from growing into bigger ones?

Last summer, I worked with Court Community Service to paint out graffiti, clean up the streets and sidewalks. We worked every saturday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Some days, I'd be driving down Scranton a half hour after the crew had completed work and the area we had cleaned would already be full of trash. It never ends.

Someone once characterized American society as notable for it's "private opulence and public squalor." Some days, it strikes me that we have become the Third World - trash filled vacant lots, boarded up windows, gang graffiti. So I guess the choice is - go out there and clean it up - or turn your eyes from it - or move to a cleaner, wealthier neighborhood.

Private opulence. Public squalor.

Does it have to be one or the other?

Bill tells me he's lost tenants who see the graffiti and flee. His property has lost economic value, and so has the neighborhood. Bill wants to share his frustration, and to look for answers.

Meanwhile, the graffiti blooms like urban flowers in winter.