Wednesday, July 16, 2003

When vandals sprayed their multicolored versions of alphabet soup on his warehouse garage door in Lawrenceville, Perry Sigesmund repainted the door.

The spray-scrawlers returned.

Sigesmund repainted the door.

When the visual trespassers struck a third time, the Pittsburgh businessman left the evidence in place.

"Why bother?" he said.

Because the city says so, that's why.

A city inspector spotted the defaced door. Two weeks later Sigesmund received a one-page form letter from the city's Bureau of Building Inspections.

The letter said Sigesmund had 10 days to repaint the door or be subjected to a fine of up to $250 a day plus costs for every day the graffiti remain.

It was a pay if you do, pay if you don't problem.

"It was adding insult to injury to get that letter," he said.

Fortunately, another city government agency intervened before Sigesmund contacted the guy who had become his on-call painter.

"They painted it," he said, referring to a Graffiti Busters crew from the city's Public Works Department. "I couldn't believe it."

So who called Graffiti Busters? Was it Bill Murray? Dan Aykroyd?

No one knows.

I called Guy Costa, the city's public works director. He said the city has two Graffiti Busters crews, comprised of three members each. The crews remove graffiti from public and private buildings. The property owner must sign a release before the GBs can go to work. There is no charge, but there soon may be.

"We spend about $250,000 a year on labor, materials and equipment to remove or paint over graffiti," Costa said. "It's gotten to the point where we're spending about 50 percent of our time taking care of private property. We're evaluating whether we can continue this service because of budget constraints."

Costa yesterday told representatives of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership that the city may start to charge for graffiti removal or cover up. The city's anti-graffiti law says property owners are responsible for removing graffiti. If residents want the city to remove it for them, to help them do it or to show them how to do it, they should call the Mayor's Service Center at 412-255-2621 and ask to have a Graffiti Busters form sent to them.

"It's a one-page form that is easy to fill out," Costa said.

The city has set up a reward fund whereby individuals, organizations or others will receive up to $500 for providing information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of any individual(s) violating Pittsburgh's anti-graffiti law. Call 412-255-2175.

Filthy underpass

Martha Helmreich of Allegheny West has a problem with the Federal Street Underpass.

It is a prime gateway to and from Downtown, PNC Park and the North Side. It is used by thousands of pedestrians and vehicles every day as they head to and from Downtown, PNC Park and Allegheny Center.

"It's in an absolutely filthy state," she wrote.

So it is. There is litter everywhere. Pigeon droppings coat the steel pipe railings that connect the 10 steel columns that support the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks above. In addition to installing new railings and lighting, the city painted the columns black and green and trimmed them in red.

It's time for a major cleanup.

"Although the railroad is supposed to maintain the underpass, one of the Graffiti Busters crews will clean it up [today]," Costa said. He also said a second trash receptacle will be placed on the Downtown side of the underpass.

Maybe it will be used.