Graffiti Removal Program Strives to Spruce Up City Streets

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It is a Friday afternoon and 47-year-old Oscar Alvisurez finishes painting the last graffiti-filled wall for the day.

“We thought it was going to be a slow day, but it has been crazy, like this wall,” says Alvisurez as he points to the restrooms located behind the baseball field in South Gate Park.

Alvisurez is one of three two-man crews that work for South Gate’s Graffiti Removal Program, which has been in operation since 1981.

The city provides a 24-hour graffiti hotline at 323-563-5793 or 800-430-8455. Residents and businesses can call the hotline at any time to report graffiti.

Once the city receives a report, a crew then visits the site and paints over or removes the markings using different tools and methods, including sandblasting. The crew can also apply anti-graffiti coating to walls and other surfaces.

Depending on the extent of the graffiti and the material used, the removal can take about two to four business days.

The only properties eligible for the cleanup are those facing or fronting public rights of way, excluding roofs or other hazardous areas, according to the city's website.

Homeowners and businesses along public roads and highways can ask for help in removing graffiti. However, Osie Harrell, Jr., electric and general maintenance superintendent for South Gate, said the crews cannot enter private buildings to clear graffiti from tables, for example, since this can raise liability issues for the city.

The program costs about $150,000 annually and is funded by the city’s general fund and Community Development Block Grants, according to David Torres, field operations manager for the public works department.

But last year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reduced block grant funding by 16 percent and the program cut back its crews from four to three as it adjusted itself to the new budget.

In addition to using the hotline, residents and businesses are encouraged to adopt a city block as a means to build pride and responsibility in the community.

“Adopt-a-Block is really for the homeowner itself or the business owner, and they’re the ones who are actually putting on the paint or they hire someone to put it on,” said Torres.

While South Gate Councilmember Gil Hurtado believes the graffiti removal effort has been effective, he wants the city to emphasize graffiti prevention.

“People need to know what their kids are doing and educate them,” said Hurtado. He feels parents should explain that graffiti not only creates a bad image for the community, but also reduces property values and wastes taxpayers’ money.

The city points to preventive steps it has taken to keep graffiti in check, including networking between the police department and school police to educate students and promote an anti-graffiti message. Community members are also encouraged to help out on cleanup and paint days or by serving as block watch captains.

Another city effort was a prevention program operated in collaboration with the non-profit organization, JADE (Juvenile Assistance Diversion Effort) family services, located in South Gate. But the program has been dormant of late due to lack of funds.

“We taught at the elementary and middle schools [and spoke] about the importance of having pride in themselves and their community,” says Marcos Vega, executive director of JADE.

Whether the JADE program will be funded again is uncertain. "It really depends on their [city government's] priorities and who is in power and who is able to understand how prevention works … . There are councils or cities that are educated enough to understand the value of investing in prevention and some don't," he said.

Another initiative underway could also help curtail graffiti. Harrell says the city plans to purchase a graffiti tracker system next fiscal year to monitor repetitive or gang-related tagging.

That information would be added to a large database shared by several cities that Harrell hopes can be used to charge taggers with graffiti-related crimes and win convictions in the courts.