Letter to the Editor published July 25, 2009 in the News & Messenger from Cindy Brookshire.
City can’t pay for graffiti removal
This is in response to the Sunday July 19 editorial, “You Want It Cleaned? You Pay For It”
Look, the City of Manassas can’t pay to have graffiti removed from private property. The money just isn’t there. But at the same time, as a matter of public safety, it needs to be removed promptly
because it is a welcome mat for criminal activity. Either the property owner needs to remove it or local government needs to remove it and charge the owner. Either way, you pay.That said, I’m all for some compassionate community volunteers coming forward in the City of Manassas to form a group like the county’s Graffiti Spotters — volunteers who clean up graffiti for those who can’t afford to pay. The Prince William Clean Community Council can show you how to model the program. I’ll gladly help out if someone will lead the way.
If you want to learn more about why graffiti needs to be reported and removed promptly, come to the next meeting of Weems Neighborhood Watch. Detective Wayne Bombara, a member of the Northern
Virginia Gang Task Force, will give a presentation on gangs and graffiti on Thursday, July 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Manassas City Police Department, 9518 Fairview Avenue in Manassas.Now is also a great time to join a Neighborhood Watch or start one. In Prince William County, a huge National Night Out Against Crime event will be held on Saturday, August 1 from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. at
Connaughton Community Plaza behind the McCoart Center. In the City of Manassas, the Georgetown South Community Council, along with their Neighborhood Watch, is holding their National Night Out
Against Crime event on Tuesday, August 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. at 9444 Taney Road with free food and games.CINDY BROOKSHIRE
Manassas
>>>That said, I’m all for some compassionate community volunteers coming forward in the City of Manassas to form a group like the county’s Graffiti Spotters — volunteers who clean up graffiti for those who can’t afford to pay.
I hear that Help Save Manassas cleans up graffiti from time to time. Perhaps their help could be enlisted.
😉
Grafitti can be expensive to remove, depending on the surface. I am not even sure all homeowners insurance covers damage done from vandalism. Many people are reluctant to make a claim.
This really is an area that jurisdictions need to help out homeowners with. I am curious what really becomes of those who get caught doing this kind of vandalism.
Meanwhile if you want to hang up a huge sign proclaiming your neighgbors racist, that’s okay. IF you speak Spanish.
I definitely can understand people being very reluctant to make a claim against their homeowner’s insurance for graffiti damage. Based on my experience with what the break-in and theft to my house did to my homeowner’s insurance rates (due to the fact that I had a hail storm claim slightly less than 5 years prior to that claim) – I can understand taht reluctance. I’m sure there are homeowners in neighborhoods hit by graffiti that simply can’t afford to pay for its removal in these economic times.
Then again, the pavement down to Stonewall Park, which is I would guess owned by the city – has at times had graffiti on it as recently as last year, that was there for quite a long time (many months). It could be no one reported it, but I reported some to the police non-emergency number and I remember seeing it there for months after I reported it.
I’m hopeful the city is indeed being more agressive in rapidly removing graffiti on its property. The latest Point of Woods I & II newsletter mentioned the “huge graffiti problem in Point of Woods” and said they would soon make an effort to remove the graffit on the common property. That’s a 180 degree turn in their attitude, based on graffiti that was on their common property taht I reported to them a year ago, and as of 6 months later was still there – since they told me it didn’t matter “since it could not be seen from the street”!! I’m assuming that same graffiti is probably still there – but I haven’t looked at that area of their common property since late last October when I moved out.
Myh attitude toward all of this – is it’s great the city and also Point of Woods I & II HOA are finally getting serious about the graffiti problem, but it comes far too late. The city allowed it to stay along the pavement down to Stonewall Park far too long, and Point of Woods HOA allowed it to remain on their common areas far too long. Now, both of them are pushing homeowner’s to remove it quickly at their own expense – which would be all well and fine if the city and Point of Woods HOA had set an example by doing so themselves on their property for the past few years! So I’m a little skeptical over the city passing this rule – since they themselves did such a TERRIBLE job at policing their own graffiti problem down by the park. In addition the Point of Woods I & II HOA has lent itself to this chorus, following the city’s lead of course. I just find it all interesting – and in keeping with how things have worked in the past at Point of Woods I & II at least.