Austin's Downtown Commission is ramping up its effort to scrub the city clean of uncommissioned tags and scribbles, pushing city hall to cough up funds for a specialized anti-graffiti task force, as the issue continues to mar the capital's sunny image and picks pockets of public coffers and private owners alike.
Digging into the crux of the argument, the Commission argues that the burden of unfettered public and private property defacement has exacted hefty tolls — to the tune of more than half a million from Parks and Recreation's war chest, nearly a hundred grand from Downtown Austin Alliance's pocket for Downtown PID's clean-up, this doesn't even touch the City's Building Services Department shelling out around $500,000, according to a report by the Austin Monitor.
Commission Chair August Harris voiced the commission's frustration, saying, "The Downtown Austin Alliance spent nearly $100,000 abating vandalism in the Downtown PID alone … and the city’s Building Services Department spent roughly half a million," in a push for streamlining what is currently perceived as a disjointed approach to combating vandalism.
In January of last year, the commission had originally floated the idea of forming the task force with an initial $2 million allocation—money they claim is already being sucked into the bureaucratic void of inefficiency with no task force to show for it, as the navigation of graffiti reports currently bounces like a pinball between various departments and lacks any real bite, and speaking on the matter August Harris told the KVUE, "Rather than go to that extreme, one of the suggestions I had was to have the city place signage in front of displays that list the penalties as outlined in state statute."
In response to the commission's renewed plea, a city spokesperson gave a middle-of-the-road comment, stating “The city understands that this recommendation was made, but we don't have a "stance" to share at this point and aren’t in a position to provide any possible budgetary implications, since it's just been brought to our attention," acknowledging the recommendation without tipping the city's hand on whether they'll ante up come this August when the budget is set.
While the Downtown Commission's solution looks to mitigate the financial bleed-out and streamline the clean-up, it also eyes a more educative approach, suggesting measures like warning signs near aerosol displays to deter potential vandals with a subtle hint of the repercussions lying in wait should they wield their cans unlawfully.
