‘It’s silly, careless, random acts of vandalism’
The City of Whitehorse’s new anti-vandalism policy could see inmates cleaning up graffiti and planting trees.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
SIGNS OF URBAN LIFE – This sign commemorating the creation of the Trans-Canada Trail was recently graced by a graffiti artist’s spray can`, obliterating many of the names and facts associated with the Whitehorse section of the trail. Upkeep of the sign is the responsibility of the Klondike Snowmobilers’ Association. The City of Whitehorse is trying to get rid of all the graffiti on city property and is hoping other property owners will follow suit.
The City of Whitehorse’s new anti-vandalism policy could see inmates cleaning up graffiti and planting trees.
Every year, the city spends about $100,000 fixing benches, repainting walls and even replacing scorched porta-potties – property that has been destroyed or disfigured by vandals.
For homeowners, that represents 0.5 per cent of their property taxes.
For all residents, it comes from the general coffers of whichever department’s property has been vandalized, usually parks and recreation.
Up to now, the city has taken a primarily reactive approach to vandalism.
However, with the introduction of a new graffiti removal policy, the city is switching gears to proactive, says Doug Hnatiuk, Whitehorse’s projects and community development co-ordinator.
The new policy sets up a priority timeline for graffiti removal, with high-profile buildings such as the Canada Games Centre getting cleaned up within a day of being tagged.
Also on the day-one list are any racial slurs or otherwise offensive language sprayed on to city property.
To supply manpower to the effort, the city is planning to hire inmates from the Whitehorse Correctional Centre to do some of the work, as it did with the recent cleanup of Kishwoot Island.
It used to be that graffiti was removed an a complaint-driven basis, Hnatiuk explained, but now it will be dealt with as soon as it is spotted by city workers.
Once the city has caught up with removing all the existing graffiti, it plans to blank out any new graffiti within three days of its appearance.
The task will get $70,000 worth of city funds in the next fiscal year. After 2010, the amount will drop to $10,000 a year to maintain the program.
“We’re hoping that by being proactive in this way, it will prevent further vandalism,” Hnatiuk said.
Though the city will only be removing or painting over graffiti on its own property, Hnatiuk said he hopes other residents and business owners will follow the example and quickly remove any evidence of vandalism from their own properties.
At the same time, he said, he also hopes the people doing the vandalism will smarten up and stop defacing things that are there for everyone’s benefit. Broken memorial benches are what baffles him the most, he said.
“I’m bewildered why someone would want to do damage to something that’s been donated to all residents for their enjoyment.
“... Typically it’s silly, careless, random acts of vandalism.”
Some of the recent vandalism costs released by the city include:
• removal of graffiti in parks and public areas, including the new Hamilton Boulevard extension: $22,000
• replacement of broken trees in parks on boulevards: $10,000
• repair and replacement of public fixtures such as lamp posts and memorial benches: $10,000
• replacement of stolen city property: $8,000
• repair of city playgrounds due to arson and other vandalism: $7,000
• replacement of burned three portable toilets: $3,000
• clean up after bush parties: $3,000.
Trevor F
Oct 27, 2009 at 4:10 pm
There is a simple solution here. Charge and convict the taggers. Part of their sentence should be to remove every single tag of theirs in addition to a few hours removing the tags of others.
Offer a reward for people to rat out the taggers. For a 500 or 1000 dollar reward you’d have the phones ringing off the hook. Tax payers wouldn’t be footing the bill but rather the dullards who perpetrate these eyesore.
We’ll see how serious the courts are about this wanton destruction of public and private property is when that idiot ‘Sonic’ appears in court November 4th. He alone is probably responsible for at least $100,000 in damage considering his tag is on every street corner in the city. I didn’t see him making any effort to cleanup his tags since he was arrested which isn’t surprising given that his kewl ‘tag’ clearly demonstrates his diminished mental capacity.