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. >> welcome to "culturewire." for the past year, the arts commission has been participating in the city's effort to revitalize the central market street corridor. in addition to the thursday arts market and are in store front, the art commission recently launched the artery project. for the next year, the artery project will bring energy and excitement to market street, recalling the st.'s heyday as san francisco's vibrant and bustling theater district. >> un.n plaza during business hours seize hundreds of passing office workers and students, but the activity winds down at 5:00 every day. theater productions bring

picking up garbage, keeping the streets clean, abating griffey, trimming trees -- a bidding -- abating graffiti. those are the areas we have worked really hard to preserve services where we can. we only cut front line services after we have cut materials, supplies, managers, admen support, vehicles, workers' comp costs, which we do everything we can to preserve those for online services, but we are down to a point where it is getting more difficult to preserve those. a final note -- one of those services at risk are the maintenance of street trees. we're getting to the point where all we will really be able to do is respond to emergencies. one of the things we are contemplating is

picking up garbage, keeping the streets clean, abating griffey, trimming trees -- a bidding -- abating graffiti. those are the areas we have worked really hard to preserve services where we can. we only cut front line services after we have cut materials, supplies, managers, admen support, vehicles, workers' comp costs, which we do everything we can to preserve those for online services, but we are down to a point where it is getting more difficult to preserve those. a final note -- one of those services at risk are the maintenance of street trees. we're getting to the point where all we will really be able to do is respond to emergencies. one of the things we are contemplating is relinquishing responsibility of city- maintained street trees to the property owners, which is the case in most parts of the city, but in some parts of the city, some streets the city maintains the trees, and most parts, the property owner maintains. so it is not fair or equitable. it is not sustainable. that is one solution that we are looking at. i look forward to your comments, and fax, all, for coming out tonight.

>> item 15 is a presentation and discussion regarding graffiti abatement. >> as anyone who travels the city knows, it is a challenge for the agency. we spend a great deal of resources and effort trying to keep the fleet in good repair. in general, graffiti is a problem. this will give you an idea of what is being done. had the impact the graffiti has on the system. i like to call our director of transition that will give a report. >> a couple of points to make as he raised the issue on what the impact of graffiti at a previous meeting. in terms of an introduction, i would want to make three points. this is a serious and onerous problem for the agency of in terms of cost, the diversion of resources from other critical functions. it remains a major problem not just for us, but secondly, at the same time, we have had some success for we have reported major incidents of graffiti to the use of the following a police resources and also through the use of video. from an enforcement standpoint, we have had some discussions. if you're going to make a significant road into the problem, we need a

the graffiti abatement into the tree trimming, we are most dependent on the general fund. our approach, you have learned from many of my colleagues. we have cut accountants, and back office clerical staff, we have focused on safety. live been reducing costs that have been increasing significantly. the costs are going down. we have also been focusing on education and making sure that property owners understand their responsibility in terms of the maintenance of the right of way. as you have heard also from our colleagues and community partnerships, supporting the street parking program for the cleanup events really engaging with the community. this is the legacy from, merely to really leverage our resources of the community. even with all of that focused on those kind of cuts, we have 100 fewer people on the streets doing that maintenance work than we had just three years ago. and we will continue to be strange in that area. a couple of things we're looking at for the upcoming years, one of them is the proposed capital plan that was approved by the board last month. the gen

[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