Posted on: Thursday, October 14, 2004
BUREAUCRACY BUSTER
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By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
'Ahuimanu resident Kili Kono got so bothered by the distracting graffiti she saw daily as she drove from Kane'ohe to Honolulu that she called a city hot line. Then she got frustrated as more than a month passed and the graffiti remained.
Last week, she was happy to see that crews from the state Department of Transportation painted over the illegal markings on highway walls along Kahekili and Likelike highways.
Kono had called the city's hot line in August and again about two weeks later. Her complaint was referred to state transportation officials.
It turns out there's more than one hot line to call.
"I followed what the recording said, informing them of the location, the cross street, spelling the street and leaving my name and number," she wrote to The Bureaucracy Buster.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser "This is a visual blight," she said. Costa and the other officials agreed that it's better to get the offending street art painted over as quickly as possible, but with limited resources and staff, she said that's not always possible.
Tyler Sugihara, the city's acting chief of road maintenance, said complaints often double during summer and school breaks. Sugihara said city agencies will tackle re-painting at bridges, drainage canals, parks, bus shelters and so on. The state handles markings on its highways, signs and state buildings.
The city office also refers reports to utility companies and tracks down owners of property where graffiti is reported. "Unfortunately, it is often the property owner who is calling in, trying to get a government agency to provide them with assistance," Sugihara said.
If callers leave their contact information, Sugihara said his office will call them back and tell them when the graffiti are expected to be removed.
On O'ahu, there are three hot lines to report graffiti:
City graffiti hot line: 527-5180 State Department of Transportation graffiti hot line: 831-6714 Honolulu Police Department: 529-3222 State transportation spokes-man Scott Ishikawa said the state gets four or five graffiti complaint calls a week. He said removing the markings takes time away from other work.
"That means fewer crews working on landscaping, fixing guardrails and other road maintenance," he said.
He said it can take days or weeks to get to the graffiti.
"We just don't have the resources to do this on a 24/7 basis," he said.
The Honolulu Police Department operates a hot line to give the public a place to report graffiti on public and private property. Lt. Clayton Kau said the police hot line gets about four calls a week. He said police have noticed what seems to be an increase in graffiti in recent months and appreciate tips from the public.
"We'd like to hear about what they're seeing." Kau said graffiti are classified as criminal property damage, which can be a felony depending on how much it would cost to repair the damage.
Police Major Kevin Lima encourages people to call 911 if they see someone defacing walls or buildings.
And that helps police make arrests. On Monday, a Kalihi man was arrested after police caught him about 1:10 a.m. painting graffiti on a wall on H-1 Freeway near The Queen's Medical Center.
The man was charged with second-degree criminal property damage, which police said indicated the damage would cost more than $1,500 to repair.
If you have a question or a problem and need help getting to the right person, you can reach The Bureaucracy Buster one of three ways:
• • •
Write to:
The Bureaucracy Buster
E-mail: buster@honoluluadvertiser.com
Phone: 535-2454 and leave a message. Be sure to give us your name and daytime telephone number in case we need more information.
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the city gets 40 to 50 graffiti complaints a week.
The state removes graffiti at state buildings and highways, as it did with this wall along Kahekili Highway. The city takes care of bridges, drainage canals, parks and bus shelters.
State Transportation Director Rod Haraga finds graffiti frustrating. He thinks the best way for government and private property owners to fight graffiti is to quickly wash away or paint over the markings. "I wish I had a solution," Haraga said. "There's no way you're going to stop it."
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605 Kapi'olani Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96813
