OXNARD : City Buys a Big New Graffiti Fighter

Oxnard has hired a big, bad graffiti buster to stamp out tagging--and the new recruit is a machine.

City officials this week unveiled a 16-foot trailer equipped with 10 paint tanks, four pumps and dozens of charts and formulas that will enable crews to match paint on nearly all of Oxnard’s walls and buildings.

Part of Oxnard’s Graffiti Action Program, the $30,00 anti-graffiti weapon also features a water blaster and cellular phone so crews can respond to calls more quickly.

The trailer “will improve the program that is there now,” said Archie Soliz of Oxnard’s Parks and Facilities Program. “The paint trailer will be operational seven days a week. Our response time will be within 24 hours.”

Before August, the city had a contract with an Oxnard firm to perform the city’s graffiti removal. But after Oxnard sent out bids to 13 contractors, the city awarded the $180,000 graffiti-abatement contract to its Parks and Facilities Program.

Kathy Shumate, owner of Shumate Sandblasting and Painting, which held the contract for eight years, said she’s unhappy about the city’s switch.

“The city just wanted to buy a state-of-the-art machine which is nothing more than a glorified spray painter,” Shumate said.

The city plans to employ two two-person graffiti removal crews to provide coverage seven days a week.

According to Soliz, the city is deciding the monthly fee it will charge businesses for routine graffiti removal. And although the city also is still discussing residential rates for graffiti removal, Soliz said the charge will be reasonable.

“If you are a corner home and the wall faces a main thoroughfare like Oxnard Boulevard, we’ll take care of it at no cost to the resident,” Soliz said.

Oxnard’s Graffiti Action Program hot line number is 385-8010.