Volunteer Group Targets Graffiti

Thu., Nov. 21, 1996

Mike Prager Staff Writer

Rich Wohrle, a Cannon’s Addition resident, was so sick of seeing graffiti on warehouses and abandoned buildings he decided to do something about it.

Wohrle recently formed a volunteer group called Paint Over Graffiti, and he’s even enlisted the help of juvenile offenders to remove the scrawlings.

“I am tired of looking at the stuff,” said the Army veteran.

At the Riverview Youth Center, a halfway house in northeast Spokane, some of the residents are helping as part of their rehabilitation. Riverview counselor Roger Osborne said, “They feel it is a way they can give back to the community.”

POG works with community police groups in the city and county to find graffiti neeing to be cleaned. The group is also available to consult graffiti victims on the best methods for removal.

Wohrle has an agreement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. to paint concrete railroad abutments west of Spokane.

Last week, he and other volunteers painted a wall of a vacant warehouse at the north end of the Monroe Street Bridge. The spot is known as “taggers’ billboard.”

Another trouble spot is underneath Interstate 90 at Bernard.

Wohrle has acquaintances in the painting business who can provide leftover paint for some of the jobs.

City ordinance requires property owners to clean up graffiti on their buildings, but some people may not be able to do that if they are poor, elderly or disabled. That’s where POG can help out, Wohrle said.

He is seeking more volunteers.

Anyone who wants to help should contact the COPS organization in the city at 625-3300, or the county SCOPE groups.

To report a graffiti incident, contact Crime Check at 456-2233, or any neighborhood police substation.

, DataTimes

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