Mayor Harrell Unveils Plan to Clear Graffiti From Seattle Streets
Photos, Video and Article by Cesar Canizales
If it seems like there’s a lot more graffiti in Seattle these days, that’s not your imagination.
According to the city, Seattle has seen an increase of more than 50% in public reports of graffiti since 2019, with 20,000 in 2021 alone.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said it’s time to do something about it.
“We have to recognize, if you live in Seattle, let’s treat it as a beautiful city. We are the Emerald City,” Harrell said. “Let’s treat it as such in our investment strategy, in our implementation, in our hearts and our minds.”
The mayor unveiled a six-step plan to deal with the issue and allocated $950,000 in his budget for the proposal, which includes assistance to private property owners and businesses. He made the announcement from Fat’s Chicken and Waffles, a Central District restaurant with a mural of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. that was vandalized earlier this year.
The first part of the plan is to implement abatement strategies by enhancing staffing and resources for Seattle Public Utilities’ Graffiti Rangers, who use specialized equipment to remove graffiti.
The mayor’s plan will increase assistance to reduce graffiti on private property with graffiti-removal kits.
Harrell pointed out that businesses are required to repair any damage to their walls, impacting their bottom line.
“This is unfair to them,” Harrell said.
Office of Arts and Culture Interim Director Royal said the third stage of the plan involves giving street artists a place for them to express themselves.
“Approaching this increased graffiti activity through a spatial justice lens, street art, means creating opportunities for these new voices as street artists to work with community and create new visuals-- Murals throughout the city, murals throughout Seattle,” Alley-Barnes said.
Part of the plan will call on volunteers to help with the effort, training individuals, groups and businesses.
Harrell said the city is also working with the Washington State Department of Transportation to prioritize clean-up along highways and other rights of way.
According to WSDOT’s James Poling, the agency painted over some of the same locations on I-5 multiple times just over the summer. That creates hazards for the crews.
“Graffitists take safety risks that our crews will not take. It is unsafe for them to paint what they do, tag what they do,” Poling said. “But it also requires us to get specialized equipment to reach these areas and also requires lane closures and delays to the traveling public.”
The mayor said the plan will increase enforcement of graffiti offenses—going after the most prolific taggers and expanding diversion for low-level offenders.
Harrell said graffiti removal is not just about cleaning up the city. He said doing so improves public safety because when vandalism is neglected, quality of life in those areas decreases.
“Where there are less eyes, less activity, less commerce, less police presence, bad things happen,” Harrell said. “I don’t know if I need data to suggest that. I have lived experience that would suggest that. And at some point, lived experience prevails over hard data.”
Asked what constitutes art versus vandalism and crime, Harrell had some pointed words.
“Let me say what we can all agree on: there’s hate speech out there. That is not art. That is hate speech. That is unlawful. So, we’re certainly going after that,” Harrell said.
