in new york city in the 1970's, where there was a war going on in the inner cities. it was really a true alienation from the dominant society in its institutions. many black and latino youngsters were isolated from the rest of society. the anchor and frustration of the south bronx and central brooklyn manifested itself through an explosion of graffiti tags in the subway system. one of the few societal elements of the larger society that traversed both communities. that act of defiance quickly spread throughout urban centers and was adopted by on people as a demonstration of a rite of passage. in recent years, we have seen the incidence of tagging growing, and more and more of the civic space and more and more of the public art is suffering the consequences. dpw, the police department, and

the arts commission, along with property owners, are all trapped in a vicious cycle of responding to the never-ending waves of graffiti attackers. our proposal today is to launch a response on two fronts. one is focused in the schools, targeting kids in the fourth through sixth grade, and the other is aimed at the taggers, the primary source of the vandalism. there is a generation of mature urban artists to understand the difference between creating urban art with permission and the deface meant that is represented by scrawling on -- defacement that is represented by scrawling on public walls without permission. initiative we are launching here today will enlist mature, urban artists and try to team them up,

pierre them up with the young attackers who do not know any better and get them to create works on designated walls. keith herring, whose artwork we're looking at here, started out as a tagger and eventually became an internationally recognized artist. we are hopeful that our street smarts initiative is going to be able to serve as a channel for some of this creative energy. i want to point out to all of you here, those who are interested in urban artists and want to participate in this program, or property owner and want to offer your wall voluntarily, we have the table. the arts commission has a table for you to enlist. become part of this program. there is a part of san francisco

that represents a mural initiative that began something that took off in the 1990's. it features many of -- minerals -- murals. it is a location for recognizing urban and graffiti esthetics of san francisco. it is in the mission area. it is also the host of an annual block party that celebrates the newest miro contributions. that is an example of work that is done with permission. the idea is that we will identify property owners who will offer their walls to the street smart program and allow us to link them up with urban artists and the youth team to create their works on those walls.

the goal is to channel creative energy that is out there and to channel it into a permission- based urban arts program that will get recognition to the young people. that is a fundamental element of motivation for attackers -- taggers. the second element of our approach is the where art lives school curriculum. next september, a number of elementary schools will be implementing a new curriculum that is designed to reach students in grades 4 through 6. the schools will be selected in areas where there is a concentration of tagging. the lesson? accomplish the following educational outcomes in the interest of graffiti education and vandalism prevention. the students understand. they will understand through

this curriculum the concept of public and personal space and the importance of differentiating between the two. the students exposed to this curriculum will examine the differences between creating art in a private space and vandalizing a public space, and the creation of public art. students will develop a basis for future decision making about achievement of public and private property. students will express the values of caring for public space and creating public art for their community. at the end of participating in that curriculum, they will be creating portable public murals that they will either have that the school or will be mounted in spaces that will be designated for that purpose. this will be another form of

recognition for these and people. you know, already, as a result of the interview that we did this morning, the arts commission has gotten several calls from private property owners volunteering walls for our street smart program. we hope to link an urban artist, like the artist whose work you see here, with taggers to creating new, permission-based work of urban art. i want to thank you for your kind attention and for your participation in the huddle today. we look forward to your additional ideas and suggestions. i do believe that if we are able to move from just reacting to this onslaught and wave of tagging to one in which we are engaging young people and

helping them to learn the difference between permission- based tagging, permission-based creation and tagging, that we will be able to start to get ahead of this curve of vandalism that the faces our community and our city. thank you very much. [applause] >> we still have a few minutes for questions and answers. david? i do not know where our microphones are. i can give you this one. here she comes. >> i have a question. what is the basis of your statement that higher criminal penalties are not a deterrent? from a vantage point of a

homeowner and a participant activist in the community for nine years of adopt a street, i have done everything. i have put cameras on my property. i volunteered to cover graffiti. there is an abandoned building that is constantly covered with an inch think phial of graffiti for 14 years. it gets old. it has been nine years since i have been and adopt a strict volunteer. i have been hit on my property eight times in one year on brick. it is very costly to remove $300, $600. i cannot afford it. i'm a senior citizen on a fixed income. i have $400 a month for food and discretionary spending. i try to live on $100 and spend $300. it is impossible. what penalties are there? how can we say, one conviction

is costing $20 million. that is a lot of frustration. >> [inaudible] >> hello? let me respond to your question by saying that when i said -- >> [unintelligible] >> hello? when i said criminal penalties are not a sufficient deterrent, we're still seeing a rise in this tagging and vandalism. we have to expand our options of response. we have to have continued and strong and vigilant prosecution of anyone caught doing this.

in addition to the typical things that we have been doing, wiping it off, getting rid of it, within a 48 hour basis, you know, extra vigilance in policing our communities, prosecuting the ones that are caught, the attackers who are caught, in addition to that, we are now going to be taking a more pro-active efforts, which is to try to channel this energy into more creative ways, into a permission-based creative program, and teaching our young people the difference between permission-based and vandalism. i think that this is part of, hopefully, the turning of the tide if we can more broadly implement these programs and begin to educate a younger generation on not getting involved in tagging in the first

place. >> the elements we have brought an are the curriculum and then the school district and an outlet for -- brought in are the curriculum in the school district and an outlet for the expression. >> i will add a question. have you tried the complaint process? it seems to me the city should be able to support you. living on a limited income, you should not have to pay for all of that. can you help us out here? can you help this gentleman out? who can help this gentleman out? >> ed will help him out. that's a new, an additional sort of how do we figure out that part. i know you have. >> i have the final report on each case last year. and i have security cameras. and the neighbors have been

involved. we even have captured evidence on camera but not one prosecution. not within conviction and only one conviction this year. something is broken. >> come up to the front. the next question. and then we'll go to the back. >> i have -- sort of a controversial question which is, i don't see how we can micro manage an entire city's epidemic. i understand the concerns are valid when it comes to what has been defiesed. we have a homeless population that could benefit from the millions of dollars you mentioned. $20 million or something like that. i just see the lack of priorities. a priority needs to be established, what i don't like looking at and what the quality of life is for people that don't have money to survive. i live downtown and see the homeless population. there's other examples of things and to think you would call 9/11 to -- where is the priority there. that's for emergency and shootings and thefts and robberies, that's for real

crimes. if i call 911 every time i do something, i see something i don't like, that would be chaos. >> i think the 911 is specifically for a crime in progress. it would be the nonemergency to report graph fitty that has happened after -- no, he said if you see it in progress and not to approach the individual doing the vandalism, but only if it is in progress. 911 and 311 to report it after the fact, if you don't see it happening at that point in time. so -- ed, did you want to -- >> testing. i would also say you know, tourism is still our number one industry in san francisco. and working with the visitors convention bureau, you'll hear very distinctly that a lot of visitors and convention attendees have commented they're not going to stage the

convention if the city is not welcoming. and graph fitty is always cited. if we lose convention, guess what happens to the revenue of the city that goes to those programs that you're talking about to help the homeless? it will be much smaller than today. we are trying to hold the line there. and there's a direction connection to business, to the residents, to the merchants and to the monies, the revenues that the city makes. i'm hearing that on a day to day basis from the convention bureaus. they're suggesting if we don't clean up our act here, they're not going to come back. >> can we get the man with the hat. way in the back. >> there. >> and yeah. i keep hearing that -- there's, no -- fiscal penalty. for graph fitty. and i don't understand why we don't have that. and it -- at the -- i mean, that seems to me to be really obvious. the second, the second, this is

kind of a two-part question. in my operation, i don't try and reinvent the wheel. if i come up with a problem, i come up against a problem, i go and find somebody that solved the problem. what kind of outreach is the city of san francisco. i address this to panelists making two other communities, other cities, where graph fitty is not a problem or less of a problem and how are they doing it? >> to address your first comment, there is, there's no actual penalty for doing the graph fitty. there's a value of the graph fitty vandalism that gets taken into account when it goes to prosecution through the -- the judicial system. so, there's not a $25 or $250 foring to it and then the monetary value of the damage. it is the machine tear value of the damage that they've actually done. to answer your second question, muhammad can probably talk to how the outreach has been done

to other cities. >> well is this it? i think one of the differences is -- with our city from other cities. other cities treat vandalism very seriously. i think you have heard in san francisco say, we need that one judge. when we take that vandal to court, it could end e end up in many, several different courts, depending on who the judge is and depending on what is on the docket that day, graph fitty may not be the highest priority for the judge. and when we, when that vandal is up before a judge, and they -- the courtroom is empty, then the judge feels like well, i could dismiss this case pretty fast so i could send this guy to free trial. and one of the things we're doing today and -- as one of the things on the pledge is we're asking that people when -- when the court hearing get on that

grafitt iphone tree. and pack the courtroom and the judge will know how serious this is. and we're making headway, but to this conference, as i said earlier. we need more people in the movement. when i go to the courthouse, it is the same people all the time. they're doing so much damage. we're spending so much money cleaning it up and that money could go to other places. we need to keep the city clean. people don't appreciate their properties are being vandaled, this is the beginning of people becoming hard-core criminals. when you see shootings and things like that, they start from tagging and defacing people's property. they keep grog and growing and then we start seeing a lot of murders in the city. another question. anybody on the left. how about this gentleman with his hand in the front. yes, you. with big earrings.

that's all i can see is the twinkling. >> my name is mark, i'm here with my fell bro lowe brothers. we do community service, every other week of the month. and -- it is beautiful that we reach out to communities and schools and -- what not, but one of the bigger issues that i think where it comes from is from those kids who are in shelters, those kids that aren't participating in school because they don't have anyone or any opportunity, financial standing to get into those schools. how are we going to reach out to those kids and solve those problems in the backgrounds that we don't pay attention to? >> yeah. very good question. i think there's, there's a mural program that they work with kids after school and they -- they take children that are interested and -- in painting and they actually teach them how to make murals and things like

that. there's that avenue, hope 234i with this curriculum through the school district, there will be the added component of the art program from what we're creating today. >> actually, one of the things that we feel is an important step forward in helping to educate young people about learning the difference in this area is that we have created, the arts commission has created the curriculum that can be given to each of the teachers in the public school system. we're targeting the teachers in the fourth, fifth and sixth grade this coming fall. and it is a curriculum that lets them take -- you know, helps guide them through various exercises that is, so they don't need to necessarily be an art teacher to do it. it is an opportunity to across the board, in all communities, be able to -- to engage the young people and exercises that

will help them to understand the difference between permission based creation and defacement. and i think that is beginning, not the total solution but the beginning of helping to -- to create an awareness. >> homeless children. well, maybe we can, i'm -- we think there's homeless programs that we could actually put this curriculum in this as well. i think it would work in all locations. if the children are coming in at notice with their parents or it is just young teens that are homeless, we can -- traci it that way. and the gentleman back there this the hat. i think you had your hand up. that's our last question. >> i was wondering what kind of dialogue this group has with established artists that are grafitti artists.

what about the dialogue with these people? >> our street smarts program that we're announcing today and beginning to launch is intended to reach out to -- urban artists, people who, you know, are consider themselves practitioners of this and to, engage them in a way that will help to direct them through walls and services -- surfaces where the property owners agreed they want to have an urban art created on it. and we believe that the exercise of the creation on one part, it is a thrill for them and we're not addressing, we can't combat the thrill part of it. but if they really are interested in seeing their creations up on a surface and have some visibility, then we think that this combination of permission based program is going to be able to channel some

of this energy interest a -- more creative way. >> we have time for public questions but everybody is -- >> i like to make one -- additional response. i'm responsible for the removal of all grafitti of the school district property, of 160 different properties and fields and whatever else. i would like to say, i would like to ask the gentleman in the back to try not to use the phrase grafitti art, i find that an oxymoron. i want to tell you that while i know we use the term to try to kopp co-op good people into these programs and we use the term creative energy. for me, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, someone who is responsible for cleaning it off

school walls and buildings, to me, it is mean spirited and sometimes vicious expressions of hate. it is not art. it is not pretty. it is disgusting. >> thank you. [applause] >> if we didn't get to your. >> i like to add a bhit to that. and there is -- there always this confusion where we just blanketly use -- we have not been consistent in trying to differentiate a work of art that is urban art from grafitti tagging. anything that is out there that is -- done, a tag this is done without permission is grafitti should be pr prosecuted and is punishable, there's a whole tradition of urban art which we can you know, acnming and -- it

links to muralism and that is -- the differenciation that we hope to be able to encourage and to -- to educate our young people about. so, you know, grafitti without permission, you're fair game and will be prosecuted. >> thank you. if we didn't get to your question, please put it it up on a sticky note and put it on the back. we'll get to it online at -- zero grafitti.org. i'm turning it over to closing remarks. >> san francisco is a beautiful city. and together we can remove this tagging in our neighborhoods. i hope that today we're creating the momentum and encouraged everyone to please join this movement, these please call 911 when you see it happening. and you should know, we're here to help you. we're here to join hands with you. and you should know that the

department of public works through the leadership of our director, we're ready to -- to share our programs with you, come out and give you supplies and everything. that you need to combat this. please fill out the pledge card. please pass the pledge on to your members who you live with, office workers. and friends and everybody. we -- we want to get in contact with as many people as we can so that we can continue to preserve the beauty of our city. it is very important. i'm very happy to see so many people show up for the conference. i'm very thankful if the work this all of the advisory board members have done. as i said earlier, i got to learn about what they'ring to. together we'll build a healthy san francisco. okay. so, again, thank you so much. we do have a social hour that will be happening right outside this room and there will be some

drinks and everything and we, we will be entertained by, michael ing, an 11-year-old pianist that i met in chinatown as we were erasing some grafitti. i asked him about it, he said i don't like it. he said come down and see what he does instead of tagging. i said we're having a conference, would you be willing to come and just play some of your been know for our audience? he said sure. so he's out there. mees go out, join us and thank you again for coming. [applause]

>> being a pedestrian in san francisco is not easy for anybody. >> [inaudible] people push

tables and chairs outside the sidewalk. >> i have to be careful not to walk the sidewalk. it is very hard. >> sometimes people get half way across the intersection. >> you have to be alert because there is always something coming up that you need to know about. >> i learned to listen to the traffic patterns. sometimes i notice the other pedestrians, they are crossing, on occasion, i have decided i'm going to cross, too. i get to the middle of the intersection, and i find out that the light has changed.

>> we need to be able to work and go from one place to the other and have public transportation. the world needs to be open. >> people on disability has the task of addressing all the disability. when we are talk about the sidewalks, ramps, we have very specific issues. for people blind and low vision, we have the issue of knowing where they are and when the cross. it can be hit or miss. >> at hulk and grove, that sound the the automatic -- it helps people c