I hate Gordo Combatting concrete canvasses By MARKUS ERMISCH Staff reporter May 25 2005 Walls don't work. Like the communists before them, Kamloops' civic leaders have come to that conclusion - albeit for different reasons. "We tried it about three or four years ago," Mayor Mel Rothenburger said of a scheme where graffiti artists were given designated walls on which to spray-paint, such as the back of Memorial Arena. "But it simply spreads the graffiti." Now, the city is working on a different approach to deal with spray-painted concrete canvases. Rothenburger is a member of a task force fine-tuning a graffiti bylaw that will go before council later this year. "Initially, there was a reluctance to go with the bylaw route," Rothenburger said, "because there was the perception that you're punishing the victims and that property owners would be victimized twice." For example, the draft bylaw stipulates that owners must remove graffiti from their properties within 25 days. However, Rothenburger said such a bylaw is not unreasonable as the average cleanup costs only about $50. Also, many property owners already remove graffiti without a bylaw requiring them to do so. Yet the problem persists and Rothenburger said that especially with visitors, "it leaves a terrible first impression." But not every structure is fair game. "There seems to be a strange code of honour that graffiti artists respect other works of art," Rothenburger said. Still, the city took precautions and treated the wildfire memorial statue with spray-paint repellent. Other municipalities already have graffiti bylaws in place. North Vancouver enacted its bylaw 10 years ago. Similar to Kamloops' draft bylaw, the North Vancouver version requires property owners to remove graffiti from their properties. It also prohibits people from spraying graffiti on "any wall, fence, structure or other thing in any street, public place or [on] real property adjacent to a street or public place." However, city hall turned a blind eye toward that portion of the bylaw "We used to have a wall," said Gary Penway, assistant city planner in North Vancouver. "It was a building in an abandoned shipyard that was about a block long. It was a perfect canvas. Kids just went nuts there." But the wall created more problems than it solved. "It sets a tone of graffiti being acceptable," Penway said. "We still had graffiti elsewhere."
more good news... KAMLOOPS – BC Hydro has contributed $3,500 to the Kamloops Graffiti Task Force for its annual Kamloops Graffiti Eradication Program. "BC Hydro is pleased to support the efforts of this dedicated group of people who are trying to improve the look of our city," said BC Hydro's Acting Field Manager Bradley Meger. "The excellent work of this Task Force helps supplement the efforts of our crews, which is aimed primarily at removal of profane graffiti or graffiti in high profile areas, such as near schools and churches." Community-based groups like the Kamloops Graffiti Task Force play an important role in bringing together various non-profit groups, volunteers and other municipal land users to raise funds and make a coordinated effort at addressing graffiti concerns. The Kamloops Graffiti Task Force was initiated as a Mayor's Task Force in the 2000 and has evolved into a non-profit group with a number of corporate sponsors and members, including the Downtown Resident's Association, Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, North Shore Business Improvement Area Association, RCMP, Canada Post, Crime Stoppers, CP Rail Police and BC Hydro. The Task Force's mission is to eradicate graffiti in Kamloops on public property through education, enforcement and eradication. In addition, the Task Force has implemented an educational initiative that involves informing groups and the general public about graffiti, the Task Force efforts, and inviting their support and involvement. "We rely on contributions from the community and our sponsors to assist a network of volunteers in administering the Kamloops graffittigraffiti eradication program," said Gord Giles, Kamloops Graffiti Task Force Coordinator. "Our sponsors, members and volunteers work very hard throughout the year to identify priorities and make sure our efforts are making a difference in the community." For more information on the Graffiti Task Force please call Gord Giles in Kamloops at (250) 828-3316. no flix on this page.. [Broken External Image]:http://img54.echo.cx/img54/5859/asesndehs3qr.jpg
[Broken External Image]:http://img156.echo.cx/img156/2860/tracefeta0ld.jpg Trace At Excel From Last Weekend And my Personal Favorite: [Broken External Image]:http://img156.echo.cx/img156/9305/deadmarmothuffer8hh.jpg ^He's a Huffer!^ We found another dead marmot, but i wasn't going to go near it with a spray can, so here's a picture of it getting eaten out by the flys: [Broken External Image]:http://img156.echo.cx/img156/9157/deadmarmoteatout0xh.jpg And Im Sad To Say That We Got Rained Out Before We Could Finish Anything This Weekend