EVERETT — When Ray Stephanson discovered his garage door and other homes and cars in his back alley covered in graffiti this winter, Everett’s mayor said he felt outraged.
He said his administration was already working on a new way to combat graffiti, but until his Rucker Avenue home was tagged, he had never personally been victimized by graffiti vandals.
“You do clearly feel violated, and it is just so senseless,” Stephanson said.
This spring, the city is expected to launch a free graffiti removal program to help victimized homeowners clean up their properties.
The initial six- to nine-month pilot program will focus on residential properties, and could eventually extend help to commercial and industrial businesses.
The city’s public works, facilities and transit departments already routinely remove graffiti from city-owned buildings, bus stops, signs and buses.
Experts say a key to deterring more graffiti is removing or painting over it right away. It is thought that rapid removal discourages vandals who seek an audience.
Allowing it to linger is a “signal that we’re not taking care of business,” Everett City Councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher said.
To encourage swift removal, some Snohomish County cities, such as Marysville and Edmonds, have shortened the time in which graffiti must be removed. Property owners who don’t clean up the mess can face steep fines.
County Executive Aaron Reardon proposed a similar plan for the county last year, but the County Council balked at the short deadlines and stiff fines.
Stonecipher said Everett leaders would rather offer carrots. Measures some governments pursue re-victimize property owners and are often “Draconian,” she said.
Stephanson added that some people don’t have the means to rid their properties of graffiti.
He said the city has set aside $35,000 for the project, though it is not yet known how much it will cost.
The city is expected to hire a contractor to do the work.
More than simply painting over graffiti, Everett’s effort will include photographing and cataloging vandalism in a computer database, city spokeswoman Kate Reardon said.
Tracking monikers on mapping software is something Marysville does with its campaign against graffiti.
Like a bread crumb trail, taggers often leave a path of vandalism for law enforcement officials to follow.
“We can tell what school they go to, where they hang out and where they live,” said Marysville City Councilman Jeff Vaughan, who helped push for stiffer rules that require clean up of graffiti within 48 hours.
Vaughan said his city also expects to revisit a proposal that would require retailers to keep spray paint and permanent markers, favored by graffiti artists, off limits from minors.
He said he would also like to help beef up ongoing volunteer graffiti removal efforts and to allow graffiti victims to report incidents by uploading photos of vandalism onto a city Web site.
In Everett, Stephanson said the bulk of graffiti that turns up is likely the work of misdirected boys. While some criminal gang markings have been found in areas of town, he said a recent spate of graffiti is not believed to be tied to more ominous turf markings.
Still, no one is immune and nothing is sacred.
In addition to Everett’s mayor, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church on Hoyt Avenue was tagged by vandals last year.
Everett Police Department’s attorney Laura Van Slyck said city officials are considering asking the City Council to toughen laws against people caught in the act and people possessing tools with the intent of applying graffiti.
Sue Strickland, manager of the Downtown Everett Association, which is in charge of cleaning the streets and alleys of the central business district, said removing graffiti is a daily chore.
“They target anything,” she said. “Lampposts, buildings, alleyways, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a phone booth, utility box, windows, window frames, anything. You’d be totally surprised with where we find that stuff.”
Herald Writer Jeff Switzer contributed to this report.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
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