Children Rally Against Graffiti

The flyer reads: “Do You Care About Your Community? Stop Doing This!” In the center is a childish drawing of a hand gripping a can of spray paint. At the bottom are the signatures of a group of concerned children: Joseph, Casey, Joey, Daniel, Gabe, Mike, Julie, Stefanie, Ana, Tracy, Mark, Megan and others.

The flyer is one of several devices that the children at Gardenhill Park Community Center are using to make La Mirada residents aware of a growing problem with graffiti and the high cost of removing it from city buildings. About 20 elementary and junior high school-age children held a rally and press conference in the park Tuesday afternoon that included a short speech by La Mirada Mayor Bob Chotiner. They sang a song written for the occasion, and children Rachel Pugh, Crystal Bass and Kevin Breidenthal also made statements. “Graffiti here makes me feel like I’m in a bad neighborhood,” Kevin, a sixth-grader, said.

The children, ages 9 to 12, have distributed more than 100 informational flyers to residents near the city-run day care center where they are enrolled. They also have lobbied politicians for legislation banning the sale of spray paint to minors, and have started a letter-writing campaign to local hardware stores urging merchants to keep spray paint behind their counters.

Brenda Stroud, a teacher at the center, said that she and her students came up with the idea for the campaign after repeated graffiti sprayings outside their building.

One flyer informs readers that in May the city spent $1,546 to remove graffiti from public buildings and equipment. And by the first week in June, another $1,327 in tax dollars was spent to remove still more gang-related paint scrawls. Last year, the total cost to La Mirada taxpayers for graffiti removal was $83,000.

City officials attribute the worsening graffiti problem--which doubled in the last three years--to an increase of gang activity.

Holding a poster they made, above from left, are Jason Adamson, Donald Williams and Eric Bass, all 9. Their slogan is Kids Against Gang Vandalism.

Below, Francisco Guzman, a member of La Mirada’s graffiti removal team, checks the paint and tools in his van. The van is equipped with sandblasting equipment and responds daily to graffiti sightings reported to a 24-hour hot line: (213) 943-1557 or (714) 522-5858.