Neighborhoods complain about graffiti; Mayor continues to "review"
The Chronicle has posted two "This Week" stories that cover Houston's worsening graffiti problem.
Kim Jackson reports on discussion of the problem at a Spring Branch meeting:
Spring Branch civic association members, police and government officials agreed last week to join forces to discourage the spread of gang membership and graffiti.
About 75 residents and a panel of state and local officials threw out several ideas and potential solutions to the problems at a town hall meeting focused on curbing the spread of gangs and graffiti in and around northwest Houston.
First on the list, several said, is the total elimination of graffiti, which often attracts other blight, and gang activity into an area.
"I am the father of a son who got sucked into the gang culture and it almost ruined his life," said Greg Rudichuk, a Spring Branch Oaks resident.
"All parents out there should know we must clean up our neighborhoods and keep them clean in order to keep the gangs out."
Tom Manning reports on the problem in the Heights:
Dean Swanson's bus route is getting shorter and shorter.
Since his retirement, Swanson, a Heights resident, has been operating Houston Heights Historic Tours, a bus tour of the neighborhood that gives visitors a chance to see some of the historic buildings in the Heights and hear the stories behind them.
But lately, Swanson said he has been forced to alter his tour routes because of the increase in graffiti that's been appearing on buildings in the Heights. It's a problem that continues to increase, he said, and one that he wants to see stopped.
"I'm getting ashamed of what I show people," said Swanson, who lives in the 800 block of Harvard and is also the Restoration-Historical Committee Chair of the Houston Heights Association. "I have to avoid certain places because there are things people don't need to be seeing."
In August, Swanson said he sent a letter to Mayor Bill White's office with some 20 addresses of buildings that fell victim to graffiti vandals in the previous two weeks. Not only did he say that he hardly received any response to his inquiry, but since then, the problem has gotten worse.
"The only response I got was from the former captain of Central Patrol, who said he forwarded it to the new captain and the gang unit," Swanson said. "I just wanted to see what they can do, but I haven't heard anything."
Graffiti eradication simply isn't a priority for Mayor White and his Council.
Both "This Week" stories cite HPD Assistant Police Chief Brian Lumpkin on the matter. Here's Manning's version:
When graffiti is reported to police, they forward the report to both the police department's Neighborhood Protection Corps and the city's Anti-Gang Office.
Graffiti that is reported by residents via the city's 3-1-1 Help Service Line is also reported to those entities.
"We're responsible for giving notice to buildings that have graffiti," said Assistant Police Chief Brian Lumpkin, who runs HPD's Neighborhood Protection Corps. "We play a role in identifying graffiti on private property, particularly property that doesn't have anyone there."
Once notice has been given on a property, the owner has 30 days to remove the graffiti. If that doesn't happen, the city will step in and remove the graffiti and, according to Neighborhood Protection's Web site, a lien will be placed on the property in order to recover the cost of doing so.
Judging by the explosion of ugly graffiti all over town, this system is obviously not working. And given the amount of graffiti that now covers the public infrastructure of the city, one would think it might become a priority for Mayor White, his Council, and his police chief.
If only they could figure out how to turn it into a revenue-stream possibility!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/28/05 04:21 PM | Print |
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