Page 5 - Gideon Cramer News Today

i think its -- to me, its almost like the vandals are laughing at us. >> larry, did you want to respond to that? >> yeah. so, we photograph all the tags and the inspectors go out and look at them. if the actual tack has been removed, then the graffiti is considered removed. the fact that the ghosting stays there, it becomes a very difficult thing at what level youre going to hold the property owner responsible. * tag for removing the ghosting. a lot of times thats not very easy to do a...

>> take the mic, walk it over. >> tagging is tagging. if youre set for work release or work service, community service, [speaker not understood]. now, our -- when were doing a lot of volunteers, we had to go with it because we had a nonprofit to clean up. when they did our clean up, they were actually reformed gangsters themselves. they had opened a nonprofit and they were doing paint overs. they were pretty astute at assessing the juveniles and assessing the areas they were in. what w...

this is the application we need to use for this surface and this is the, you know, a different application we need to use for another surface? and how can you prevent that ghosting? because if its still there, its there. just because you remove the pigment doesnt mean that its gone. and like you stated yourself, when do you say, enough is enough? because if you have an historic building and you want the graffiti removed but you have the ghost there, is it really removed? >> well, histo...

but they remember their main focus is public, not private. so, in short thats the answer. >> [inaudible]. >> all public property. so, light poles, signal boxes. we do mailboxes, stickers, trees. garbage can. >> trash cans, yeah. >> [speaker not understood]. >> public. >> yeah, city property. the benches in the parks. we dont do parks, but parks are done, rec and park does the benches he. we have some pretty basic colors. * so, most of our furniture is probably one of four colors. its a...

in san francisco. were talking about hundreds and hundreds of buildings with this issue. basically with brick surfaces where the property owner will get a citation for the violation to remove the graffiti. they send an untrained personnel to try to do it. they are not successful and they leave a graffiti shadow behind. as far as im concerned on an esthetic point, it is exactly the same of the graffiti that was there before. the only difference is that you took a little bit of the pigme...

minutes or less. i want my officers back out on the street. i dont want them baby-sitting me. but i never go in alone again. i carry some protection. i get a three-vehicle escort. our police department is all behind this. i use magnetic signs on my vehicle now and i always wear a safety vest. never go alone. we set up five different conditions to do that so we never have a repeat. its not worth it. >> hes from hayward. >> hes in hayward and im going to come over to gideon unless anybod...

marty, how many officers do you have dedicated to your graffiti program? and also larry, how many painters or staff is in your graffiti abatement program? >> great questions. >> well, im the graffiti guy, graffiti abatement guy. [laughter] (applause) >> as far as the guys i use on my paint overs, i have a group of 3 to 4 guys and i pick them -- theyre hand picked by me. i tend to pick guys who are patient, good with kids, guys who are school resource officers. thats a big plus. you kno...

basically with brick surfaces where the property owner will get a citation for the violation to remove the graffiti. they send an untrained personnel to try to do it. they are not successful and they leave a graffiti shadow behind. as far as im concerned on an esthetic point, it is exactly the same of the graffiti that was there before. the only difference is that you took a little bit of the pigment, but even worse. many times the personnel that tried to abate it is damaging the build...

not talk to them in their own vernacular, but who can see eye to eye with them, talk to them about kid things and most of all be patient. and who can document trouble and kind of see things on the horizon that might be issues coming up and who are familiar with the san francisco landscape. you know, i dont let just any cop come and do the overtime. very, very picky about who i get. and i get guys who are dependable and who are most of all good with kids. >> larry, part 2. >> about 18, ...

all heritage buildings. and so thats how weve been able to handle our heritage buildings. >> i think most of my experience here in the states is it has more to do with the qualifications -- if its designated listed historic property, then it tends to shift over to the qualifications have to be somebody that has a certain degree and conservation or that kind of thing. so, its probably similar. its some qualification type program. >> alrighty, thank you. i have a question over here. some...