Residents Take Brushes in Hand to Clean Graffiti-Plagued Wilmington

Like a comic-book hero, the mysterious Green Tree Man strikes at odd hours and is rarely caught doing his good deeds.

Few residents of Wilmington know his identity, but many know his trademark: broad roller strokes of green paint that wipe out graffiti on the community’s walls and fences.

“I don’t ask any questions, I don’t waste any time,” says the anti-graffiti artist, who will not reveal his identity and would agree only to an interview by telephone.

“I’m sure the LAPD would probably consider me a graffiti vandal,” he said, noting that he does not ask permission to eradicate the writing.

‘Unusual Working Hours’

“It looks like he starts from the bottom and once he’s up he just kind of zigzags,” says community activist Olivia Fernandez, who gave the Green Tree Man his moniker.

“He has very unusual working hours, and so when we’re asleep, he must grab his can of paint. . . . I have never seen him, although I have seen his little symbols all over,” she said.

And so it goes in Wilmington, which officials say suffers from the worst graffiti problem in the Los Angeles Harbor area. Residents, tired of waiting for government to fix the mess, are taking to the streets, paint buckets in hand, to blot out graffiti on their own.

One woman who lives near Banning Park reportedly drives about with a can of pink paint in her car--the same shade as a fence on the corner of Lakme Avenue and M Street. Neighbors say she checks the fence for graffiti each morning when she drives her children to school and paints it over if she finds any.

In addition to these individual efforts, members of Wilmington’s two most active homeowners groups--the Banning Park Neighborhood Assn. and the Wilmington Home Owners--conduct graffiti paint-outs most Saturday mornings.

Sometimes they are joined by volunteers, such as students from Wilmington Junior High School, three dozen of whom once turned out to paint a long wall on Eubank Avenue.

It can be frustrating work, especially when a freshly painted wall is marred once again. But those who participate say it gives them a feeling of control over the gangs who use graffiti to stake their turf in Wilmington neighborhoods.

“It’s an incredible feeling to be able to paint it off,” says Lana Hollis of the Banning Park Neighborhood Assn. “In an area where there is a lot of graffiti, it gives you this strange sort of heavy feeling. As you erase it and as you see something becoming fresh and clean and nice again, it’s just enlightening.”

But because graffiti also carries a meaning--often a violent message or challenge from one street gang to another--Wilmington residents know that eradicating is as much a safety measure as a cosmetic one.

Cosmetics, however, is an issue, particularly with regard to the work of a government-backed graffiti removal service.

The service, run by the harbor area Gang Alternatives Program in San Pedro, employs members of the California Conservation Corps, who respond to calls to a graffiti-removal hot line. Businesses and residents may call 547-9441 if they want graffiti eradicated from their property.

Hollis and others, including Peter Mendoza, president of the Wilmington Home Owners, say that while they are supportive of the program’s efforts, the graffiti removal team makes little effort to match their paint to the existing color. Residents do not seem to mind the Green Tree Man’s artistry, even though his paint does not match either.

However, they say the paint-over service gives Wilmington, which is struggling to spruce up its image, a seedy, patchwork-quilt look.

‘Just Patch It In’

“They don’t go all the way to the bottom sometimes, they just patch it in,” said Mendoza. “We’re not going to settle for second best. If you’re out there already, you’ve got your roller all ready, pretend you’re painting in Beverly Hills.”

Coordinator Ernie Paculba defends the program, saying its mission is not beautification, but to keep communities safe by eradicating graffiti that may provoke violence.

He says his team of two is already overworked, and he estimates he needs an additional two crews to control the harbor area’s graffiti problem.

“If I could get three vehicles out then I could control it and then I could think about beautification,” Paculba said. However, he notes, upcoming budget cuts make that unlikely.

Thus, Hollis and Mendoza say, they hope private efforts to rid Wilmington of graffiti will proliferate.

“I would rather do the painting myself and get another police car in here,” Mendoza said. “We’re promoting a community effort where everybody gets involved.”