Culver City Battles Increase in Graffiti

In the first 4 1/2 years of a city program to remove graffiti from public and private property, Culver City spent about $105,000 to paint over more than 1,600 spray-painted scribblings.

But in the first 10 months of this fiscal year, more than 1,000 markings have had to be covered, and by the end of this month when the fiscal year ends, the city expects to have spent $96,000.

“It’s appalling to every resident of Culver City,� Mayor Jozelle Smith said. “But it’s happening everywhere.�

The increase in graffiti caught city officials by surprise. At the beginning of the fiscal year, $14,000 was allocated for graffiti removal. But the amount was increased to $38,000 in November, and last week, the City Council increased it again to $51,000.

In addition, about $45,000 has been allocated for graffiti removal by the Redevelopment Agency on property administered by the agency, and by the Municipal Services Department in city parks.

Increased Workload

“It just has increased so dramatically,� said Phyllis Baboolal, manager of the city’s housing programs office, which oversees the graffiti program. “There seems to be more people doing more graffiti on more properties.�

Culver City is not the only place where graffiti has increased. Tim Sullivan, president of Graffiti Removal Co., which contracts with 20 cities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, including Culver City, said his company’s workload has increased about 20% over last year.

“It’s not just gangs any more, it’s punk rockers, skate-boarders and just regular kids,� Sullivan said.

In addition to providing more money, Culver City officials are hoping to control the graffiti problem by getting more property owners involved. Graffiti at commercial and residential sites is removed by a contractor at no cost to the property owner. Property owners report graffiti to a city hot line, (213) 280-5929.

Baboolal said that when graffiti are painted over, extra paint will be left with the property owner to encourage property owners to remove new scribblings themselves and free contractors to concentrate on new graffiti.

She said she also hopes Neighborhood Watch programs will become involved by getting consent forms in advance to allow the contractor onto private property, and to watch for and report new graffiti.

“We are trying to stress to residents that it is their responsibility to get it removed immediately,� Smith said. “People have to take a certain amount pride in their neighborhoods to get rid of the graffiti.�

Police Lt. Ellis Smith said some of the graffiti are from a local gang, but he attributed the increase to a growing fad among teen-agers called “tagging.� He said this is a term applied to graffiti by non-gang members. It usually involves more artistic scribblings and drawings than the gang generated variety, he said.

Smith said most of the graffiti are in the city’s east and west sides, the parts of the city that are nearly surrounded by Los Angeles.

Warning to Offenders

“We’ve caught some of the kids, and we have a good idea who some of the others might be,� Smith said. “We’re going to talk to their parents and warn them that they may liable for the cost of removing the graffiti. We’re hoping that will stop some of it.�

Smith said sentencing some of the offenders to paint over their graffiti will also be a deterrent.

“We are encouraging the courts to assign the offenders to community service to remove the graffiti themselves,� she said.

But not everyone has been surprised by the rise of graffiti in the city.

“It doesn’t surprise me,� said Jackie McCain, president of the Culver City Homeowners Assn., which has about 150 members. “We don’t have a wall around our city.�