Someone from my “Sunday Coffee Chats with Mr. Z” — 10 to 12 noon at Starbucks, across from City Hall — gave me a graffiti tour of Culver City!
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Despite Municipal Code 9.04.200-9.04.610, consisting of 19 pages, the city is spending over $300,000 a year on graffiti abatement.
I have a suggestion for the city to save money and end the graffiti problem.
A Chinese saying holds that sometimes you have to “kill the chicken in front of the monkey” to teach the monkey a lesson.
I say, make an example of gangbanger taggers. Put the fear of God into any wannabe taggers. How?
Simple.
A lot of taggers put their monikers on trucks, sidewalks and walls. City maintenance crews are constantly painting over these monikers and have to go back every day to repaint the same moniker. Why can't we have our police gang unit identify one tagger in particular, say the punk that goes by the name of EMK, and throw the book at him?
I think we should change the city ordinance to make prolific taggers spend 60 hours of community service for each tag they put up.
If we make these high-profile taggers work constantly, think how much money we could save and free up our maintenance crews to fix our sidewalks and potholes.
Of course this will happen only if I get elected. I am the only one willing to follow up with what I say.
Mr. Zirgulis, a City Council candidate in the April 13 election, may be contacted at zirgulisr@yahoo.com
