DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
7 comments:
This recent graffiti spree is like a slap in the face to every single citizen in this area. Its such a demoralizing event.
What little effort to clean up or revitalize the downtown area is instantly erased in my opinion when a visitor from out of town spots graffiti. Its an instant reminder that "oh yeah, they have troubled youth, gangs, and an inefficient police force.
I drove and walked the downtown streets today and what I saw is shocking. The new graffiti combined with the old (that has never been cleaned up), the trash that collects in the bushes and trees, and the general run down appearance of the sidewalks and roads is getting worse everyday. The heart of the city is in decline.
You all have the right to express your feelings on the blogs any way you wish and I can really understand the level of frustration you must feel watching your city fall into such a state. To vent your frustrations is normal and even healthy (IMO). But after all that is said and done, it falls short of fixing the problem if that is as far as the passion takes you. The blogs have done a good job at bringing some issues to your attention as well as bringing like minded people together to solve problems.
Ask yourselves a few questions. Is the graffiti a problem or is it a symptom of the problem? Is the parking on the plaza a problem or a symptom? What about the efficiency of your police department or the underhanded real estate deals alleged to involve elected officials? You have the power to make a difference right now. You don't have to wait for the voting booth. Meet with one another - as a group. Decide which issues are problems, develope solutions, and meet with your elected officials to discuss them. Call them at home - every day if you have too. Arrange your meeting privately (not 100 of you - maybe choose 2 or 3 people) and be civil but firm. Folks, this is a viable option.
Bury_voter is right. The city is in decline. The citizens are the only ones who can take it back. I have seen neighborhoods in transition requiring taylored law enforcement efforts to bring them back to an acceptable level, but this is a city wide situation which the city is not prepared to address. I can assure you it will only get worse. I understand from a reliable source that a substantial number of city police officers have applied for employment with the Sheriff's Office. I understand the morale at the Sheriff's Office has increased dramatically since the new Sheriff took office and I hear the Officers at the Salisbury P.D. have no confidence in thier Chief. I don't know if this is true but it is what I'm hearing. If this is true, I belive the City of Salisbury will decline even further as the experience of officers slips away to be replaced by even younger officers with less experience. Time is of the essence folks. Believe me, it's easier to keep a neighborhood safe than it is to bring it back.
rdh,
That is an excellent and powerful message, as well as bury_voters.
I know my messages have been strong and harsh and I can assure you I have offered my services to the Police and States Attorneys Office any time they need me and I meant it.
I may be new to being an owner on the Plaza but let me assure you, my money is just as good as every other investor in that area and my interests are to retain a clean and proper image.
I will await the responses from Rick Pollitt, Davis Ruark, Debbie Campbell, Tim Spies and Mark Mciver to move forward in taking back the City the right way. I will not listen to Chief Webster any longer as well as Barrie Tilghman. They have proven they do not care and I think I put it best quite a few months ago when I wrote the Mayor and told her what I felt about her and she called the Press Conference over it about the Blogs.
Perhaps everyone can see how I was right about her, yet I was also the only one with ball* enough to say anything to her face.
The excuses are over with. The City is falling apart extremely fast and we the people need to do something about it right away. If you're in, you're in. If you're not, we'll completely understand and move forward without you until you're ready to join us. In the mean time, let's get things right here Folks.
It's a brand new year and we can and will make a huge difference.
Getting the train bridge cleaned up will be difficult. It's pretty much in Never Never land as the city, county and state have no control over it--the railroad does.
Wow NancyNurse! Where do you base your knowledge of gang tags? Personal experience from when YOU were in a gang? Or is it just a hunch? I have to say your paranoid comment scares me more than any graffiti that I have seen in this area.
As a former graffiti artist — and yes, former gang member, I can't just read you folks anymore. I have seen no sign of gang related content within those tags. If you want real gang graffiti tags, you'd need to go to where gangs are possessive over territory. I think it is safe to say that the GMB and DBF are the only downtown gangs. And they aren't the type to use spraycans.
In fact I would say that this "SLAK" is a rather amateur graffiti wanna-be. Really the dude has zero skillz and to tell you the truth is probably a local boy (that alone would kill his street cred). If he were to read about how his skillz suck, he'd be too embarrassed to repeat the crime. But you folks are encouraging rather than deterring his actions.
The posting of his work on this very blog (and recent news headlines) is what feeds the hunger of any passionate graffiti artist. PUBLICITY. Such attention and ruckus perks up a sense of purpose to a graffiti writer just as tax season excites an accountants pockets. The thought that you people will talk about him. You folks spending the time to wonder how or when this mysterious person may have done such a thing. — SERIOUSLY, all of your reactions are even getting me interested in coming out of my 20 year graffiti retirement. You don't want that to happen (although my work would actually be good, – not like anything you've seen here in the bury). — Don't worry, I won't do it though. I'm too busy getting paid for my graffiti these days (legally).
I just want you folks to know that YOU are the very reason for any increase in graffiti. Your attention, fear, posting pictures of work online, and bickering are exactly what a fresh, young, aspiring graffiti writer needs for encouragement. There are more of these kind out there, and your starting to attract them.
It may be an inconvenience to you folks but the only cure to graffiti is to ignore it in the press, clean it up or paint over it AS SOON as it's discovered. No tagger would find it worth their time & effort if their work was gone within a day or two without a breath of recognition.
Take some initiative, YOU the viewers, are the ones who need to be responsible for seeing that it gets cleaned up promptly without bringing attention to it. But I guess instead of covering it with whatever left-over cans of paint that you likely have in your garage, you may WANT to keep the graffiti around so you can argue about WHO is responsible for cleaning it up.
Or better, KEEP the graffiti so that you can prove gangs exist in the 'bury. — LOL, Word up G! —
The "GMB Plaza Posse" will bust out with some serious caps if da "One Plaza East DBF Crew" steps on their turf.
I agree with the original intent of the original post, but my comment address the inability to "apprehend".
If by "city" you are referring to the definition of municipality, decades, no centuries have proven that no "city" has the ability to "catch" an experienced tagger. This kinda stuff is planned, you don't just walk up a to wall and start painting without being detected. You figure how to do it without being traced well in advance. If you don't know of the plan, you won't be around to stop it.
In other words, your dealing with a perpetrator that is already predicting your actions. You need to predict theirs. Think of what they want to achieve, and make it so they don't want to hit YOUR property.
I believe that the governing bodies will NEVER have the resources to stop vandalism. It is up to the citizens to take initiative to rid of existing graffiti and band together with ideas & solutions.
Good point.
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