Graffiti Wipe Out!

Taggers finally made it into my neighborhood in North Renton - and I was pissed. They tagged the garbage container and the policeman who kindly took a look at it in passing not long after I discovered it said that it was someone he had seen actively tagging in the Renton Highlands.

Great.

I was at the North Renton Neighborhood Association meeting and Cyndie Parks from the Crime Prevention Unit was giving a talk and I asked her whom I should call when this occurs. Cyndie had brought some nifty handouts entitled " Wipe Out Graffiti" - a new program that Renton has become involved in since Dennis Law took office. In the pamphlet, it discusses calling in to the police if you see someone in the act of tagging and that there are Graffiti Removal Kits that are available to people who a victim of this type of crime and may not have the funds or means of dealing with it.

Rich Zwicker, also present at the meeting piped up and suggested that I call Waste Management, since the equipment (the trash container), was in effect, their responsibility. Great call there Rich. I took his advice.

Within a couple of days - the offending words had been sprayed over. Waste Management staff was very helpful and receptive to my call and need for graffiti removal assistance. The staff seemed a little uncertain on how to proceed at first. I may, in fact, have been their first call of this nature. Lucky them!

If you are a business in Renton, you are invited to "Team Up" with the city and become a partner against graffiti. For more information, please consider contacting the following:

Suzanne Dale Estey (425) 430 - 6591

Bonnie Rerecich (425) 430 - 6624

To report existing graffiti, call 425 - 430 - 7373
rentonwa.gov