April 5, 2006

By COREY YOUNG
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

It's called the "broken window" theory -- the idea that a small act of vandalism like a shattered window pane, left unrepaired, can spark a neighborhood's descent into burglary, gang violence or drugs.

Proponents of the theory, therefore, believe communities and their residents should sweat the small stuff before the problem grows even bigger and out of control.

It's the same approach favored by anti-graffiti forces, including a small team of painters in Petaluma called upon by City Hall to remove graffiti quickly and effectively.

But that organization -- Petalumans Eradicating Graffiti, led by Ed Cerar -- and neighborhood watch groups say graffiti, also called "tagging," has gotten worse around town, and they're asking the city to crack down through a tough new anti-graffiti law.

Fines would be hiked, graffiti cleanup ordered and tagging tools like certain pens and paint restricted under the proposal, to be discussed by the City Council on April 17.

Going after graffiti

"It's just blight," said Frank Simpson, a 20-year city resident whose Petaluma Involved Neighbors group has been cataloging acts of graffiti throughout the city for several years.

PINS maintains an online photo log of graffiti hotspots around Petaluma (www.picturetrail.com/pins131), with recent snapshots of what Simpson said is an especially hard-hit area.

"After the Petaluma River Trail opened, it was probably a matter of two or three months before it started to expand and become a favorite area" for taggers, he said. "All of a sudden, it started to fill up."

In addition to sporting "tags" along fences and underpasses, the trail now suffers from litter, broken lights and busted concrete floodwalls.

"Pictures don't capture what happened there. It's like taking pictures of the Grand Tetons or the Grand Canyon -- you have to see it for yourself," Simpson said.

"It's a sign that people don't care."

Why taggers do it

"It's called fame," said Georgia Pedgrift, a Sonoma County Sheriff's community services officer.

"In the tagging culture, you establish a reputation and notoriety by getting your name up -- in risky areas, where there's a high probability of getting caught," she said.

Pedgrift is part of the county's graffiti-removal unit and often shares what she knows with local schools, civic groups and businesses.

While graffiti has often been associated with gang activity, that's usually only the case in areas frequented by gang members, she said.

Nationally, about 85 percent of graffiti is done by taggers -- some consider themselves budding artists -- and only 10 percent is done by gangs, with the remaining 5 percent classified as "miscellaneous," Pedgrift said.

Tagging is more widespread in Sonoma County, and in the online age, taggers use the Internet to show off their work, she added.

"It's become a completely online phenomenon," Pedgrift said. Taggers believe "if I put it online, I can start developing fame at that level and people worldwide can see what I'm doing."

There are Web sites that are devoted to promoting graffiti art -- both pre-approved murals and illegal tags -- and the argument that graffiti is an art form is often used by taggers to legitimize their acts, Pedgrift said.

"I've seen beautiful art. There is a market for it and these kids can make money off it," she said. "But that's not what it's about for most of them."

One Petaluma graffiti artist, who spurns the "tagging" label in favor of "writing" as a description of his work, said his only outdoor graffiti is done with approval at the East Washington Street skate park.

"I wouldn't hit up a mom-and-pop shop, building or private residence illegally," 17-year-old Zack Rhodes said. "I know that if I had to clean that up, I would be pretty angry."

Rhodes has been doing graffiti for the past 15 months and said he chose to be part of the "graffiti lifestyle" because of the art.

"I like looking at the finished product and know that people will see this and may or may not like it," he said. "The thing about graffiti is it is always evolving. It's actually quite amazing to watch your style change to more complicated and better letter forms and hand styles."

Though he's a "legal writer," Rhodes knows others who do tag private property.

"There's the adrenaline rush they get and there's the fact that more people will see it if it's on a wall that thousands pass each day," he said. "They make people notice their work. It's a sort of fame you get within your community."

Simpson has a simple definition to distinguish art and vandalism: "Graffiti can never be art unless there's permission."

Getting rid of it

Most City Council members have already indicated their support for a tougher anti-graffiti ordinance, even asking to impose the maximum fines allowed for violators.

The law would encourage property owners hit by graffiti to clean it up as soon as possible, either on their own or by calling the city's graffiti hotline so Cerar's cleanup group could respond.

If nothing is done a week after being notified, the city would step in, remove the graffiti and bill the property owner for the cost.

Simpson said in his experience, that won't be a problem for most Petalumans.

Graffiti victims "are mad as hell" and don't want to let the markings remain on their fence, wall, or car, he said.

"I don't know of any homeowner who isn't going to work like hell to clean it up as soon as possible or ask for help," he said. "The same applies to businesses too. It's ugly to them and it's ugly to the customers."

Pedgrift said that quick removal -- the sooner, the better -- is part of every successful anti-graffiti program she knows.

"If you take it down sooner, the fame people are looking for is going to be thwarted," she said.

Most Sonoma County cities have quick-removal policies, she said. But problems can arise when absentee property owners don't respond to requests for removal and it falls on government to do the work.

"When they don't take care of it, the victim becomes everyone who lives around them," Pedgrift said.

Preventing it

Two underage taggers who were caught defacing the Payran Street floodwall recently had wide-tipped markers and spray paint on them when police nabbed them after a short chase.

Under the city's proposed law, teens would be restricted from having such items while near public property, unless accompanied by a parent or participating in a city- or school-sanctioned event, like an art class, in which the supplies are needed.

Local stores could also be required to keep markers, aerosol paint cans and glass-etching tools under lock and key, and could not sell the items to minors without a parent's permission.

The Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce is recommending that in place of the lockdown requirement, merchants who sell such products be made aware that they are responsible for selling only to adults or minors with parental permission, said Jim Carr, city parks director.

Anyone buying large quantities of paint would have to give their name, address and driver's license number so there is a record of the sale, Carr said.

"You would control it at the point of sale in the sense of making sure IDs are checked," he said.

Such restrictions can be effective, Pedgrift said, but only if the businesses comply. And recently, taggers have been finding unusual ways to make their mark -- using spark plugs to scratch into surfaces and even certain types of deodorant to do their painting.

"You can't put a lockdown on everything, but the main ones -- like acid etch, spray paint and markers -- need to be locked down," she recommended.

In addition to fines -- which Pedgrift say often get parents' attention because teenagers can't often afford to pay -- under the proposed law taggers caught in the act could have their driving privileges suspended and be ordered to keep the tagged property clean for up to one year.

Diversion counseling is also proposed, Carr said.

Adult taggers or parents of minors could be liable for civil damages up to $25,000, in addition to paying restitution for the cost of graffiti removal.

Some communities have tried building "free walls" where graffiti is allowed, but anti-graffiti groups say that only encourages graffiti elsewhere.

Petaluma once had such a wall along Hopper Street, but it was closed down.

"I would die for a free wall -- I think it's just up to the writers to clean up after themselves," said Rhodes, who has done some of his work on plywood and is planning to do future graffiti writing on wood skateboard decks and canvas, possibly setting up a studio in his garage.

Simpson and several other residents have already urged the council to pass the ordinance.

Though the PINS Web site shows photos of graffiti on new planter urns, walls and signs around the refurbished Water Street and Putnam Plaza, Simpson said overall, the redeveloped downtown area appears to be largely free of graffiti.

"It's looking good so far," he said. "I hope it stays that way."

(Contact Corey Young at cyoung@arguscourier.com)

CRACKING DOWN ON GRAFFITI

Some features of Petaluma's proposed anti-graffiti law: