The financial and community cost of graffiti ---
Last year, the City of Hayward spent almost one million dollars cleaning graffiti on public spaces throughout the city.
“We have a serious graffiti problem in Hayward,” wrote Hayward city council member Mark Salinas in a recent email letter to residents.
“When people illegally spray paint tags and monikers on public streets, sidewalks, and signs we all have to pay,” he added. “Can you imagine what we could have done with an additional one million dollars for our city?”
City workers repair the major defacement of streets and walls, which require sandblasting and repainting.
“Sometimes we have to rebuild a wall or other structure,” adds Salinas. “With supplies and workers, it costs a lot of money.”
Salinas says that the real cost is much more since there are many volunteers who help with cleanup of smaller incidents of graffiti. The community effort is significant in Hayward, which is known for its regular clean-up activities by numerous groups, including the Keep Hayward Clean & Green Task Force.
Recognizing the size and cost of the graffiti problem, Salinas wants to see more Hayward residents get involved.
“One approach that families can take when talking with kids about graffiti is to explain the difference between creating art for fun or education, and destroying public property,” he says. “And to explain that someone has to clean it up and pay for it.”
He urges youth and young adults to speak to their younger brothers and sisters, “we have to stop destroying our neighborhood.”
“Kids need to report graffiti immediately and report if they know who is destroying public places.”
Salinas explains that many but not all graffiti marks or tags are gang-related.
“But gangs mark their territory, letting kids know that a certain neighborhood or area is gang territory.”
He makes it clear that there is nothing wrong with public art, and that he is a big supporter of true public art.
“If you drive through Hayward today you see a lot of public art, but there is a proper way of putting art on public spaces and there is an improper way,” he says.
The Hayward Coalition for Healthy Youth (HCHY) organized a Graffiti Battle Event in Cannery Park this past May. In collaboration with HayWallKru and sponsored by the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (HARD), the event gathered artistic youth from Hayward to compete in a graffiti art contest to promote healthy lifestyles and prevention of substance use among youth.
Hayward’s public mural art program is another proactive approach to help eliminate graffiti throughout the city. What started as an anti-graffiti program for public and private properties has resulted in nearly twenty beautiful works of art, a reduction in graffiti, and cost savings for property owners and the City.
“There is no cost for the murals because the artists volunteer their time and are assisted by student volunteers from local schools,” said Stacey Bristow, Neighborhood Partnership Manager for the City of Hayward.
Back to the daily battle, Salinas says, “We can’t have it both ways.”
“People often tell me they don’t like to see graffiti - it makes the neighborhood look bad. But we can’t expect to have a clean city and not take care of their neighborhoods. Call it in and the city will remove it. Speak out when you see it in your neighborhood. Families want to see our public spaces clean and to feel safe, but they need to be more involved and help us fight the graffiti.”