City blasts away in graffiti war
By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Portland Press Herald Writer

 © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

It's been a rough year, so far, for those who try to stay ahead of the graffiti problem in Portland.

Freezing temperatures made it impossible to sandblast, chemically remove or paint over graffiti through most of January and February. Then war protesters made their mark during the war in Iraq. And the city has several active taggers, including one with the tag "ALKE" who is responsible for more than $5,000 in graffiti removal costs.

Portland's mounting graffiti problem has led city officials to step up efforts to remove the damage and look for ways to prevent it. The city is lending staff and equipment to established graffiti-removal programs run by Portland West, a social service agency, and the Portland Downtown District, which is funded by downtown businesses.

"We're mounting a coordinated effort to remove graffiti with our combined resources," said Thomas Fortier, Portland's neighborhood liaison. "Unaddressed graffiti sends a message that no one cares and invites further disorder."

One of the first targets of this combined effort was graffiti on the front of a brick building above The Surplus Store in Monument Square. This week, the city provided workers to remove the graffiti. A fire department ladder truck lifted them to the roof area. Portland West provided the sand-blasting equipment.

Portland West has a $34,000 budget for graffiti removal, funded by federal, state, county and city grants. Portland Downtown District spends about $5,000 a year removing graffiti from city property, including park benches, road signs and fire hydrants. The city and the two agencies are looking for additional funding to expand their efforts.

"We're doing it on a shoestring at this point, but we'd like to get funding to have a staff working on this full time," said Thomas Pearson, director of program services at Portland West.

Graffiti is a problem in urban centers across the country. U.S. cities and businesses spent $15 billion last year removing or painting over graffiti. While some taggers consider themselves artists, experts say people use graffiti to mark gang territory, to compete against other taggers, to act out against society or to have a voice because they feel powerless.

Fortier said his long-term goal is to rally businesses and the public to join the city in removing graffiti and helping to pass laws that would make it easier to prosecute taggers.

He also would like the city to develop a comprehensive graffiti education program that would show property owners ways to make their buildings graffiti-proof, such as improving lighting and making fire escapes less accessible from the ground. It also would demonstrate the drawbacks to graffiti and what the public can do to prevent it. Similar programs have been established in New York City and elsewhere.

Fortier knows it's a tall order, especially when budgets are so tight, but he figures it's necessary and worth the effort. He recalled speaking with one parent who gave her child a basket of spray paint for his birthday, even though its illegal to provide spray paint to anyone under age 18.

"Graffiti is an act of vandalism that threatens the quality of life we've all worked so hard to maintain," Fortier said. "Unfortunately, some people don't see it that way."

To give taggers a legal alternative, Portland has a couple of sanctioned graffiti areas, including walls near the sewage treatment plant on the Eastern Promenade and near the Asylum nightclub on Center Street.

Rena Masten, director of the Portland Downtown District, has asked member businesses to join the district's effort and remove graffiti from private property. Those who cannot afford to remove graffiti can contact her or Portland West to have it removed.

Masten said studies have shown that removing graffiti within 24 to 48 hours prevents additional graffiti. Sometimes it must be removed several times before taggers give up. She acknowledged the frustration some property owners must feel, especially because removing graffiti can be expensive.

That would be the case, she said, for the trompe l'oeil mural on the wall at Tommy's Park, on the side of the building that houses Natasha's restaurant on Exchange Street. Someone tagged the top of the mural in the past year, and removing it would be costly because it would require hiring an artist to restore the mural, Masten said.

While it may cost a lot to get rid of graffiti, she believes Portland has no choice.

"You're defacing someone's property and it costs people thousands of dollars to remove it - sometimes time and again. But graffiti is a sign of blight on a community, and leaving it is a sign of neglect," she said.