CYPRESS : Youth Club Hired for Graffiti Removal

The City Council has hired a youth club to remove graffiti throughout the city.

The City Council on Monday night put a new wrinkle into graffiti removal, which is a longstanding and expensive problem for many Orange County cities. Instead of paying a city worker, the council voted 5 to 0 to contract with the Boys and Girls Club of San Gabriel to remove graffiti.

The council members acted after city Public Works Director Mark Christoffels told them that hiring the club would be cheaper than hiring a city maintenance worker for the job. He said that by not filling a vacant city maintenance position for six months, the city would save $14,814. For that amount, Christoffels said, Cypress could have a yearlong contract with the Boys and Girls Club for graffiti-removal services.

“This is very innovative,” Councilwoman Joyce C. Nicholson said.

Christoffels said he had been unable to find any club in Cypress or elsewhere in Orange County that could take the job. He said the Boys and Girls Club of San Gabriel, which is based in El Monte, has been doing graffiti removal for 12 years.

“In searching around, I found that a lot of private companies that do this charge a considerable cost in order to ensure a profit,” Christoffels said. The youth club offers its services cheaper “because it is provided with court-ordered labor.” The club supervises young people whom the Los Angeles County courts have ordered to do public service, such as graffiti removal.

“In addition, the club is subsidized with community-development (federal) block grants,” Christoffels said.

The public works director said he was familiar with the work done by club members.

“They are all supervised,” he said. “They are quite professional. They work seven days a week.”

The agreement extends from Aug. 1 to July 30, 1995, and calls for the amount not to exceed $14,814.