You think that is bad, today I was out visiting busineses on Hennepin Avenue
and discovered that everyone oif our new pedestrian light standards, which
we haven't even turned on yet, had been stickered by a record company. Of
course I pulled off a sticker and went to Oarfolk on 26th and Lyndale to
see if I could find an address for this company so we can issue a ticket.
The owner of the shop asked me why I didn't have better things to do with my
time and I said well how would you feel as a business owner if you had just
paid for these light fixtures or if you had to pay extra taxes to clean it
up. He thought I should get a life. I'ts really hard to want to improve the
neighborhood when folks think vandalism is okay.
Lisa McDonald
Tenth Ward Council Member
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wizardmarks [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Thursday, October 26, 2000 3:17 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: Re: Paper Box Responsibility
>
> Unlike David, I have never been accused of anal retentiveness. However,
> I'm now
> cleaning the brick pillars in my fence line for the third time since I
> bought
> the house three years ago. It's a pain in the neck to clean off and takes
> a lot
> of time. I feel like I'm not allowed to have this really nice fence just
> because some snot-nosed punk can buy a can of spray paint. My fence is on
> Lake
> Street. I feel ghettoized when I get sprayed again and again.
> Wizard Marks, Central
>
> David Brauer wrote:
>
> > D. Klein writes:
> >
> > >I thought I was the lone voice in the wilderness - but I too think this
> > >obsession with graffiti is pointless. In fact - I've even seen some
> > >graffiti I've rather liked. I guess some see it as a slippery slope;
> I
> > see
> > >it as a fine line. I do agree that the defacement of every flat
> surfaced
> > >object in public is a nuisance, but I would rather spend my "civic
> duty"
> > >energy on education, feeding the hungry etc. But hey, whatever .
> >
> > I'll admit, as one of the anti-graffiti maniacs you critique, that I've
> > wondered why I feel so strongly about it myself. (Jordan Kurschner
> wondered
> > the same thing at the last Mpls-issues gathering, and I'll admit,
> talking to
> > a guy who defends the powerless, it does make you a little sheepish...)
> >
> > I'll be honest and admit one reason: anal-retentiveness. While not quite
> > Jack Nicholson in "As Good As It Gets," I have my moments.
> >
> > It really is, on some level, a very visible psychological crime. People
> in
> > my area take great pride in the neighborhood's appearance, and some
> little
> > punk has the arrogance to put something that'll stick in our face for
> days,
> > or, given the city's cleaning speed, weeks. We're not talking
> out-of-the-way
> > walls or free underpasses, either -- more like stone walls, nice
> planters,
> > public street signs (including Stop signs, where it gets a little
> > dangerous).
> >
> > Since I know business owners who've spent hundreds or even thousands to
> > clean this crap up, I call it visual burglary, like ripping money out of
> > someone's till. But the other thing is does -- and I think this is very
> > important -- is that it creates a minor depression, a sagging. We all
> > respond to visual stimuli, and sorry, most graffiti is NOT good-looking.
> It
> > takes a lot of energy to keep a community healthy, especially public or
> > openly private spaces where we all must accomodate others' needs. Seeing
> > some arrogant jerk's work -- a visual f-u to that community spirit --
> takes
> > a little wind out of you, and over time, can take more, which leads to
> worse
> > things.
> >
> > That said, is graffiti the biggest problem facing Mpls? No, but. Like
> Russ,
> > I do a lot of other civic things that I hope are more important. But
> even if
> > I don't, for many of us, this is a wrong we can see, and live with in
> our
> > everyday lives. (Yes, this is a function of living in a nice area where
> > larger social problems aren't as visible.) I don't blame anyone for
> taking
> > it on. It's the folks who don't do squat about ANY social problem that I
> > would criticize.
> >
> > In a perfect world, would I pick a grafitti-obliterated landscape where
> > everyone gets a great education and a fully belly? Sure. But trust me,
> the
> > larger social problems you see -- education, hunger, etc. -- also have
> > massively more energy directed at them. The city's response to graffiti
> has
> > been puny -- most of the energy you feel attacking it is precisely
> because
> > nothing (other than empty words, for the most part) has been done.
> >
> > Anyway, it's a quandry I continue to think about, as I straighten the
> papers
> > on my desk into neat little piles.
> >
> > Best,
> > David Brauer
> > King Field - Ward 10
>
>
