What’s with all the new graffiti in Gilroy? Last week someone tagged the walls on the new KB Homes property on Luchessa. It got cleaned up and two days later it reappeared—and worse. All the way home toward Gavilan there was graffiti on new round-about rocks, on Thomas Road then on Mesa. Not cool. We moved to Gilroy to avoid stuff like this.
After some research, Red Phone is happy to report there is definitely good news and hope for the City of Gilroy. Gilroy has a successful, citywide program to combat graffiti, called the Anti-Graffiti Program. As it turns out, good caller, not all cities have a graffiti abatement program. Red Phone contacted Graffiti Abatement Officer Rachel Munoz for information about the program.
“We have zero tolerance for graffiti,” Munoz said. “We are very proud of our graffiti abatement program, which is supported not only by private citizens, but also community organizations, businesses and several agencies such as Caltrans. Through the Anti-Graffiti Program, we are able to clean up graffiti within 48 hours of graffiti being reported.”
She said recently, on the same night, two separate graffiti bombings in the areas reported were perpetrated by two different tagging crews. Working with the KB Homes superintendent and volunteers, the graffiti was cleaned up within 48 hours.
“It is important to remove graffiti as soon as possible because it is a crime magnet,” Munoz said. “We depend on the community to be our eyes and ears for any crime being committed. We seek to be in partnership with the community, so we can keep Gilroy safe, clean and beautiful.”
As such, the city is looking for volunteers for graffiti abatement. If you are interested in volunteering, attend the next “Wipe Out Watch Volunteers” meeting. For information, call Munoz at (408) 846-0524. To report graffiti in progress, call 911. To report graffiti, call the Anti-Graffiti Program hotline at (408) 846-0395.
