Mission Viejo’s Graffiti

The Orange County section’s lead story (Jan. 17) goes into detail about the potential adverse effect on Mission Viejo real estate values due to an outbreak of gang-style graffiti. The article states graffiti were not in Mission Viejo’s vision of “picturesque homes and parks, meticulously groomed greenbelts and visually pleasing shops and stores.”

An article on the last page of the same section reports the death of a half-hour-old child found abandoned on a Downey neighborhood doorstep. The infant apparently lived but a few hours after being left in the bitter cold night protected only by a pair of plastic bags.

I, too, was disappointed to see the new graffiti in Mission Viejo, and was chilled at seeing the word fear painted across a sign not far from my home. However, I am even more saddened by what has become most important to us.

It is utterly unconscionable when the death of an abandoned infant will be accepted with only minor discomfort, while the appearance of graffiti is a matter of serious concern to our local board of realtors and has prompted the Mission Viejo City Council to consider a special anti-graffiti ordinance and one council member’s suggestion that a person be assigned to full-time graffiti detection. Something is seriously wrong.

I urge that before eradicating the graffiti artists’ handiwork, we consider the disenchantment and outrage motivating the commentary. While abhorring racist slogans and gang violence, fear is appropriate when higher priority attaches to a potential decline in property value than to an abandoned infant.

CARL J. FIELSTRA

Mission Viejo