Alderman tags tougher graffiti laws
Alderman Donna Baringer wants to draw the line with graffiti artists.
Baringer is pushing a bill that would help track potential vandals by requiring stores to record the personal information of anyone buying three or more “graffiti tools” - such as spray paint, a paint stick or permanent marker.
The bill would also subject those caught spreading graffiti to 90 days of community service spent - you guessed it - cleaning up graffiti.
Though other cities have taken a supply-side approach to attacking graffiti - banning the possession of spray cans and the like - St. Louis is the only place I know of that would require ID to purchase paint supplies.
Will Baringer’s plan wash out vandals - or simply make it harder for art teachers to pick up supplies?
Find out more about the proposal at a 1 p.m. hearing today in the Kennedy Room at City Hall.
Graffiti that was painted on a railroad overpass near Vandeventer Ave.
Toughter and roughter ya know what I mean -
this won’t accomplish a thing.
What st louis needs to do is set aside one or concrete walls that are designated as graffiti artist zones. Decatur ILL did this years ago and it helped curb random graffiti. It does need to be monitored to eliminate gang or other inappropriate graffiti, but it allows these creative individuals a place to use their talent for the good, instead of damaging random property with it.
Graffiti is a form of art, in most cases, give them a place to express themselves.
This is perhaps the stupidest idea that has come out of Silly Hall in quite a long time.
Why must we keep inconveniencing the many because of the misdeeds of the few? Because thugs go around shooting people, I have to jump through a mile of hoops to buy a gun. Because meth dealers use cold medicine, I have to wait on line at the pharmacy, show identification, and sign a book. And now the same thing for paint? What will these politicians do when a burglar whacks a victim with a shovel, slap a waiting period on at Home Depot?