Graffiti on walls and sidewalks bothers west side Athens residents
2006-09-14
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor


Someone in Athens really likes to draw pictures of cats.

Whoever it is, he or she is painting an image of a cat all around the city on walls and buildings. This individual is one of several people painting images throughout the city, but particularly on the west side.

The cat symbol is showing up often, along with stenciled images, certain initials, a symbol that says "Ride Free" and several other images.

Some residents of the west side have been complaining that the graffiti has been getting worse lately, and that the same symbols have been showing up around town.

Athens Code Director Steve Pierson confirmed that he has noticed graffiti on the west side recently. In the spring, the Ohio University water polo club team painted over the graffiti on a building near the HDL Center on West Union Street as part of a city clean-up effort, Pierson said.

"Within a day or two, the wall immediately turned back into a graffiti wall," he said.

A wall on Shafer Street near West State Street also has been turned into a graffiti wall, Pierson said.

"That one is getting pretty distracting to me," he said. The wall was built so that the hillside above it would not slip, but now it's being painted on often, he said.

The city does not have a graffiti ordinance, although people who get caught spray painting could be charged with defacing public property, Pierson said.

Athens Police Capt Tom Pyle said he has heard from people in Athens upset about the graffiti recently, but said there has not been an increase in reports about graffiti. He also said that police officers have not mentioned seeing an increase.

Ray Hazlett, acting service/safety director for the city of Athens, said that he has noticed a lot of graffiti on the backs of stop signs and other signs, on walls and in the parking garage, where people often spray paint the walls in the elevator.

Paul Wiehl, who represents the west side on Athens City Council, said the graffiti problem has been brought up at West Side Community Association meetings and he has heard about it from several people.

One problem area in particular is the wall along Shafer Street, Wiehl said.

"It's been painted and repainted a couple of times," he said.

Wiehl said that he has seen the cat image in several places in Athens, along with a few other distinct images.

"Somebody is running around with stencils," Wiehl said. In a few places, people have spray painted profanity on walls or sidewalks or even on the bike path, and those problems have been taken care of, he said.

Some people have been putting stickers on signs, poles and buildings around town, including several in the uptown area. The graffiti is not just confined to the west side, as problems have been found all over the city, he said.

On the OU graffiti wall, the artwork often looks good, he said. In the neighborhoods, though, people don't want their walls, sidewalks and signs marked.

"One person's art is another person's tag, is another person's graffiti," Wiehl said. One big problem with the graffiti is that once the problem starts, it is hard to stop, he said.

"The trouble is trying to catch somebody," Wiehl said. Police officers have many other things to worry about and can't just watch for vandalism, and the vandals usually strike at night, Wiehl said. Hopefully, though, the people who are causing the problems will stop, or they will be caught and forced to clean up their handiwork, he said.