03/25/04

The Argus

Once the sun is out on a more consistent basis, graffiti likely will become more present around Hillsboro.

The city's police department has teams of volunteers who take care of graffiti when it pops up. A few Hillsboro city councilors want to add another tool to the chest: an ordinance requiring property owners to take the initiative.

"It's really encouraging to see the great things the city is doing," said Councilor Ed Dennis. "But I also want to see the ability to get an ordinance in place for private property where, if we can't go in and voluntarily clean it up, it would compel the owner to do something. It's the missing piece in the tool belt."

Dennis first brought this concern to the city in September 2002, after a house in his Jones Farm-area neighborhood sat with graffiti on it for three months. The house was in foreclosure, and the city was never able to gain permission to clean it up.

The house, which was for sale, eventually was sold and cleaned up. But "it had a very demoralizing effect on my neighbors," Dennis said. "I think it impaired the ability for the person to sell the house."

Councilor Cynthia O'Donnell agreed. "I want something firm in place," she said of an ordinance. "I don't want to trample property rights, but if we're sending the message to (vandals) that this community is ripe for the picking, that's a dangerous signal."

Barbara Simon, city spokeswoman, said a proposed ordinance is currently on review at the city's attorney firm, Preston Gates Ellis of Portland. She could not give any specific details of the proposal.

Portland and Salem have similar ordinances in place. Portland gives property owners 10 days to clean it up or let the city clean it up. Otherwise, the city cleans it up at the owner's expense.

Salem gives property owners five days.

Bertha Martell, the police department's volunteer coordinator, started recruiting citizen volunteers for four Town Against Graffiti teams last summer. The teams have cleaned up 28 graffiti sites since October, with only one repeat site, she said.

Under the TAG program, property owners can call the county's non-emergency dispatch line (503-629-0111) to report graffiti. If the owner can't clean it themselves, Martell will send a TAG team to clean it within 72 hours. TAG cleanups are free of charge to the owner, as the paint and tools came from donations around the community.

"I've probably gotten two graffiti reports a day on my desk for the last three weeks," Martell said. "I think people now know we're out there. We do want to track it."

When officers see graffiti that hasn't been reported, they leave a notice on the property offering TAG's services. "If people don't want to talk to us, we slide it under the door," Martell said. "We do get them back in the mail."

Dennis and O'Donnell praise TAG's success, "but it's good to have this other tool to compel an owner to clean their property up," Dennis said.

"I want to make sure the task force has every right to be (on the property)," O'Donnell said.

Martell said the department sees value in an ordinance. "We also see value in assisting citizens without the financial means for getting their property cleaned up in the allotted time," she said.