In an effort to remove existing graffiti and cut short the thrill for the artists, Charleston Mayor Danny Jones’ office is working with an East End revitalization group to put together a graffiti-removal team.

The group of volunteers would try to remove graffiti within 24 hours, hopefully discouraging the perpetrators, said Lori Armstead-Brannon, project manager with Main Street East End.

“It removes the bragging rights of the taggers. They have nothing to show to their friends,” said Jim Snyder, president of the East End Revitalization Council.

The group would focus on the East End, particularly the commercial corridors on Washington and Smith streets, and would stretch as far as one block past Ruffner and Elizabeth streets and the Clay Center.

Brannon said about 140 East End volunteers have already shown an interest in helping out with renewal projects. They would like to increase that number to 500, he said.

A consultant from Main Street West Virginia would train the team on how to remove graffiti without doing more damage to historical buildings, he said.

After volunteers are organized, Brannon said, the group would probably have a kick-off cleaning event, where they would try to tackle as many of the old graffiti spots as possible.

The event could include painting a mural on a heavily tagged building, as studies have shown taggers tend to stay away from public art, Brannon said.

“They have their own code of ethics,” Charleston Police Detective Duke Jordan said. “They don’t see it as personal when they tag a business. They see it as canvas.”

The group hopes to borrow expensive equipment, like a power washer, from the Public Works Department to keep their costs down. They are trying to find money to buy cleaners that would best protect the integrity of the East End’s historical structures.

The project is too important to pass up, Jones said, and if the team can supply the manpower, the city would help pay for the materials.

“I’ve learned on the back of a truck that crime and bad property are connected,” Jones said, referring to his days as an assistant director with the Refuse Department.

The group has talked about partnering with Columbia Paint, a Smith Street business, Brannon said, and hopes other businesses would join since the program is to the businesses’ advantage.

Charleston’s code regarding graffiti puts the responsibility of removing graffiti on the property owner. Once a new tagging incident occurs, the city manager’s office is supposed to send a notice to the business owner to have it removed within 30 days.

Many business owners don’t follow through, and the city has been lax in enforcing the code.

“We have some graffiti that’s been up for at least a year and a half,” Jordan said. “It creates a problem, because now we don’t know what’s new and what still needs to be taken care of.”

Jordan said Charleston has always had the random “Joe loves Susie”-on-an-overpass kind of graffiti, but graffiti tags didn’t take off until about two years ago. Two groups started a tit-for-tat tagging war on an alley in Kanawha City, Jordan said. It spread from there, right onto downtown buildings.

The police department has a short list of about 25 suspected regular offenders. The artists, Jordan said, are for the most part young white males from well-to-do families.

“We have some very prominent names on this list,” Jordan said. But police can’t bring up charges against them unless they are caught in the act, he said.

Besides the volunteer group, Jones said he might consider bumping up the legal consequences for taggers that are caught. Offenders caught now are expected to either clean up the graffiti or pay restitution to the property owners, Jordan said.

For information on the graffiti team, call Lori Armstead-Brannon at 345-1738.

To contact staff writer Mandy Rorrer, use e-mail or call 348-5163.