force for we have to remember we are not painters we abate graffiti. we are abaters not painters. get that out of the way and keep moving. >> how many of these do you do a day? how many poles we do a day? >> yeah. >> depends on the location. may be 20. >> do you like working with the team? >> yes because i'm a people person. i like being outside and interacting with the public and i like the response we get especially from the good job we do in the community. >> goodbye. >> there are kids and families ever were. it is really an extraordinary playground. it has got a little something for everyone. it is aesthetically billion. it is completely accessible. you can see how excited people are for this playground. it is very special. >> on opening day in the brand- new helen diller playground at north park, children can be seen swinging, gliding, swinging, exploring, digging, hanging, jumping, and even making drumming sounds. this major renovation was possible with the generous donation of more than $1.5 million from the mercer fund in honor of san francisco bay area philanthropist hele

the city outsources graffiti abatement efforts to a private contractor. this year's save the city -- it cost 15 city employees their jobs. even city hall is vulnerable to graffiti. the city employees don't wanton interviewed on camera, but one says they power wash regularly. according to a survey, san jose saw a 38% increase in last year's documented tags. one of the areas that saw the increase is district 5, east san jose. this council member is concerned with how fast it is being removed. >> we will be having a report on six month report on how effective or how well this new contractor is doing. and you know, then the council will be able to weigh in on, you know, on the results of the report. >> council member ash who represents district 2 as far south as coyote valley, says while some of san jose's tags are related to gang activity, the increase in graffiti can be attributed to the bad economy, and the need for youth programs. >> when they do something that's wrong, they make sure they're punished for it. but you have to make sure we help them grow thr

they're paid 40 cents a square foot to abate graffiti. to their contract they're budgeted to clean up 1 1/2 million square feet a year. nine months in they surpassed that. does it upset you they're overcharging the city and taxpayer dollars are being wasted? >> i disagrease. you are stating something i disagree with. >> the city's director of parks, recreation and services. she overseies the program. i don't believe they're overcharging city. >> this is after we showed you. two swings. >> i would have to check the square footage on this particular abatement. >> and this. this one is a sign sticker on a stop sign. they say that is five square feet. the whole stop sign isn't five square feet. >> uh-huh. >> right. >> we crunched the numbers. record show # 3% of the sign stickers removed were charged as being 5 square feet. that is almost 400 stickers. all the sign stickers are 5 square feet. >> the sign is, i'm not an expert on square footage. >> neither are we. we know the mailbox isn't 205 square feet. how many trees have you seen covered

[inaudible] the graffiti we abate everything is coming up to the areas now. >> i'm willing to take it on. i think -- >> you are telling me you are ready for this? >> i think so. >> okay. >> there you go. >> all right. >> all right. >> ready to do it. let's go. >> want to get the gray signses this over here and the garbage can and normally we don't do private property since it's on the corridor route you can come with me we will use black. >> we had a lot of changes in the graffiti unit. we do private property if someone moved we remove it and send it to the attorney's office and they take appropriate action. >> damage their property there. it's important to write the color in case they want to say what part of our house you abated the graffiti on. >> using your safety glasses the gloves. >> you got it. >> you know some places we gashi, people appreciate that. you know, a lot of timeses they say, thank you. >> the time where it's visible. a lot of people put it on the ground. >> i like when tourists come and say, you do this for your city and you get paid for that? >> we use the [inaud