TITLE
Recommendation to request City Manager to conduct a Study Session for the City Council on current graffiti abatement efforts and potential new strategies for graffiti prevention and removal.
DISCUSSION
Graffiti continues to be blight on our City. Graffiti prevention and removal is a citywide responsibility. Property owners are responsible for removing graffiti from their property, but the City must play a vital role in the prevention and removal of graffiti, as well. However, the City's resources are often overburdened by the extent of the graffiti problem, and we currently have a backlog of requests from the graffiti hotline.
The City currently has a number of programs in place to combat graffiti. The Public Works Department administers the graffiti hotline and removal program and the Neighborhood Services Bureau provides a free paint voucher program and other resources for residents and business owners to prevent and remove graffiti. The City Prosecutor's office assists in providing court referrals to help paint out graffiti as part of their required community service. The Police Department has also recently conducted a number of successful stings to catch taggers in the act.
Therefore, we would like to request a study session to provide the Council with information on our graffiti abatement program. This Study Session should include: 1) an outline of current city Practices and programs; 2) the costs for those programs and funding sources; 3) best practices utilized in other cities, including the success rates and if those methods can be replicated in Long
Beach. The goal of the study session would be to identify ways for Long Beach to be more responsive to graffiti issues with the best practices available.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
COUNCILMEMBER PATRICK O'DONNELL, FOURTH DISTRICT
COUNCILMEMBER RAE GABELICH, EIGHT DISTRICT