Giacobbe Byrd, Legislative Assistant to City Council Member Lori Kinnear, 509.625.6715
Monday, September 23, 2019 at 10:32 a.m.
Council Member Lori Kinnear and Business Owner Mark Starr Team Up to Take on Graffiti in Spokane
Council Member Lori Kinnear and David’s Pizza owner Mark Star are amplifying the voices of local community members and business owners who are fed up with the effects of graffiti on their neighborhoods and property.
Over the past months, Kinnear and Starr have been engaging with citizens about effective ways to mitigate tagging and clean up graffiti.
“Graffiti on buildings, public right of ways, and parks is creating a bad look for our town,” said Starr, “We need to do our part and pitch in to improve that image, quickly removing graffiti has a big impact towards favorable first impressions of our City. I’m happy to see our elected leaders take a more serious approach to the problem and hopeful we can start prosecuting those responsible instead of doing nothing more than cleaning up after them.”
“Graffiti is not a victimless crime,” said Kinnear, the Chair of the City Council’s Public Safety & Community Health Committee. “It can cost property owners thousands of dollars to abate.”
So far, Kinnear and Starr have partnered with the City’s Code Enforcement office to host two “Paint-Over-the-Graffiti” events in Liberty Park and Peaceful Valley. The David’s Pizza Truck set up at both locations after the clean-up to supply beverages and slices to hungry volunteers. The events have been a hit.
As long as the weather permits, Kinnear and Starr plan to continue hosting graffiti mitigation events this fall.
