Anti-Graffiti

Since my challenge to the City a year ago to reduce graffiti vandalism throughout the community by half, our staff and community volunteers have responded with great success. Although we have made significant progress, graffiti remains a serious issue for many of our neighborhoods. For this reason, I again challenged our staff, this time to reduce the number of graffiti tags by half again, with the target of bringing the amount down to only 25 percent of what we faced at the start of last year.

We're also adding $350,000 to make San Jose graffiti free. The following is a list of new efforts we're taking to wipe out graffiti:

• Expansion of anti-graffiti program. With additional resources, more than 60,000 additional tags and over 1.1 million more square feet of graffiti can be removed from walls and buildings throughout San Jose. My goal is that 25 percent fewer tags will be recorded when the annual graffiti survey is made after a full year of the program’s expansion, compared to initial conditions. This proposal includes $78,000 in one-time funds for an additional spray rig, $101,600 in on-going funds for two Maintenance Worker II’s, $38,500 in on-going funds for a Community Action Worker assigned to the Graffiti Enforcement Team, and $25,000 in on-going funds for paint and materials. The total cost for this program expansion is $243,100. (BD #40 - $243,100)
• Painting of Union Pacific Railroad Bridges. I recommend $35,000 in one-time funds for a pilot program to test anti-graffiti coatings that will be cost-effective and provide an effective deterrence. The results of this effort should lead to improvements in the appearance of the UP bridges and reduce anti-graffiti maintenance. ($35,000)
• Supplies for Adopt-A-Block Volunteers. I recommend $25,000 in ongoing funds be included to support more anti-graffiti volunteers. My goal is to maintain a level of more than a 1,000 Adopt-A-Block volunteers by the end of the year who receive training, free paint, and related supplies. Start-up costs per volunteer is about $20 for supplies and support, and the program enrolls about 900 new volunteers annually. Our goal should be to increase this by 500 more volunteers per year. ($25,000)
• Restoration and Relocation of the Liberty Bell from St. James Park. The bell has been the victim of vandalism in its current location, and placing it at a new site will deter the further abuse of this City landmark and allow it to be prominently displayed. Refer to the Arts Commission for recommendation on whether Liberty Bell should be returned to Plaza de Cesar Chavez or some other appropriate location on a major downtown street. (BD#29 - $50,000 RDA funds)