Feb 07 City council discusses graffiti problem with neighborhoods today - KVOA Tucson News

TUCSON - As the graffiti problem continues to grow in Tucson, so does the anger toward it. It's expensive, and the people of Tucson and the city are joined forces today to combat the issue.

The city spends more than a million dollars every year on graffiti cleanup, but preparations are under way for a new plan of attack.

At the ward 6 building - City of Tucson council members and neighborhood associations from around Tucson were brain storming today, thinking of new ways to stop the spread of graffiti in not only their own neighborhoods, but all of Tucson.

"This will help inform the mayor and counsels discussion," said Vice Mayor and Councilmember Karin Uhlich. "We are going to be reviewing all aspect of how we approach the issue, so it's going to be great to have this input."

Splitting up into groups, thoughts and ideas circle the room. Everyone passionately speaks their mind about goals, policy changes, new programs, enforcement - even how taggers get their hands on spray paint in the first place.

Today's meeting was only the beginning. They'll research and develop new strategies and then come back together and share their ideas.

"They'll come to us on the counsel level on Tuesday and say here's what we did, here's what we talked about on Saturday," said Councilmember Steve Kozachik. "Tuesday at the council meeting we will have TPD, we will have the prosecutors, we will have the courts there. We will have graffiti protection coatings, the people who go out and do the abatement, so all the players will be there to hear this input."

That meeting will take place at City Hall next Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

If you would like to join the battle against graffiti, there's an app for that! You can find out more about Tucson's Graffiti Removal Program here, or click here for a direct link to the MyTucson graffiti reporting app on Android.