GT: City Council .... Putting the Mark on Graffiti-ists

The City Council has moved to make the tools of Graffiti a Code Violation..

This will make it possible for the possession of a marking pen to justify an arrest or search.

I support the idea that Graffiti is a bad thing. The City Council finds it Ugly and lowers Property Values. I see it as a sign of other criminal activity, and I would rather allow the Graffiti be the smoke that the sheriff follows to the more serious crimes. BUT, to make every one with a marking pen a suspect is a stretch. Some Teachers, Shop Owners, or others may have a valid reason for having a sharpie in their possession.

So does this new Code truly serve the goal of the Citizens and City? We must give this and all "New Codes" and "Old Codes" a critical thought as to how an over reaching government could use the Code to breach your Human Rights.

There will be most of you who say.... hey it is a can of paint, a sharpie, or a marking pen... what are you getting all upset about...

Well, I for one do not think that more government or codes will fix the graffiti problem. Address the economic stress in the community, homes and living is costing us to much. Address the lack of attention paid to Youth between ages of 12 to 18. Pay attention and arrest drug dealers and users amongst us. Enforce Loitering and Trespassing Laws and Codes already on the books... There is no need for additional Codes about pens and cans of paint.

I do agree that any parent who has a youth or young adult with a spay can collection who is later found to be painting graffiti, should be publicly humiliated for their lack of parenting skills and shamed as a family, and required to provide not money as restitution, but TIME... picking up trash, removing weeds in curbs, and other tasks while wearing a sign that says. "I raised a Graffiti Artist... I am a bad parent... This is my Graffiti Artist Son... His work is on a Public Place NEAR YOUR HOME... AND a BIG SIGN should be painted and put in their yard for a few months, and on each of their cars...

PUBLIC SHAME for this may be the answer to this conduct, if it is not tied to anyother criminal activity.