Why should I be forced to clean up SOMEONE ELSE'S mess?

[k4kyv]

Well, actually not I, at least not this time, but this could happen to anybody.

The owner of an AM broadcast station is being threatened with a fine because he has refused to  clean gang graffiti off his transmitter building.  The transmitter site is located remotely, out in the country, but it is inside the city limits and visible from the near-by interstate.  The building is a small concrete block building, enclosed inside a chain link fence, and posted with "no trespassing" signs. In addition, the tower base is fenced in with with the traditional white picket fence.

He just spent several hundred dollars to have the building repainted after the city got on his case about it back in the winter, and now, within two weeks, it is covered with graffiti again, and the city is threatening to repaint it themselves, charge him an outrageous bill for the job, and then fine him to boot.

The station just barely pays its two or three employees and its electric bill as it is, so this could make the difference between continuing operation and shutting down. Since the owner already repainted the building once at his own expense in good faith, only to have it re-sprayed with graffiti almost immediately, I say that if the city wants it repainted, they should  do it themselves at their expense and  leave the owner alone.  After all, the vandals were in violation of the law, and it is the city police dep't that has failed to do their job, protecting his property and enforcing the law.

The station is reluctant to make an issue of this, because the owner is afraid that if he "fights city hall", that in itself could have repercussions in the small town and cause him to lose critical advertising revenue. Even if he decided to take legal action and won his case, he would still lose because hiring lawyers costs a lot of money.

I think I would still fight as a matter of principle, if nothing else.

[WD8BIL]

Make secure the fence around the site and put a BIG guard dog in there!

[KX5JT]

Time for a couple doberman or pitt bulls.... oh jeeze, THEN think of the liability if some lowlife get's bit!

[KB5MD]

Sounds like someone in city government may want his license slot for a station.

[WD8BIL]

THEN think of the liability if some lowlife get's bit!

After the event you just open the gates and leave. When the cops comes and tells you your dogs bit someone you say; "What dogs? I ain't got no dogs."

[WA1GFZ]

Time for an electric fence

[N3DRB The Derb]

he better get that tower base better protected, or some thug will fry himself on it and then it will really start. the thugs' relatives will sue the owner and win because of a jury with a collective IQ of 17 and another transmitter will become available to AM'er's.

nothing political to say. I've been politicized to death.

[Superhet66]

I would mess up the dirtbags' "canvas".

Paint it in a nice checker board pattern next time.

Then support a Skunk family in the pen around the bldg./tower.

If any one buys 40 cans of Tomato juice in town, you got your graffitihole.  

[W1RKW]

post hi-voltage signs around the site. Then if town employees trespass have the town employees arrested for trespassing. They'd becausing a potential liability for the station owners.

[Sam KS2AM]

The owner of an AM broadcast station  ...  The transmitter site is located remotely, out in the country, but it is inside the city limits and visible from the near-by interstate. .... The building is a small concrete block building, enclosed inside a chain link fence, and posted with "no trespassing" signs. .....  The station just barely pays its two or three employees
The station is reluctant to make an issue of this, because the owner ....

Is this a double-secret AM broadcast station who's identity cannot be disclosed to anyone or just a April 1 story designed to get gullible folks riled up ?

[ka3zlr]

Saddening state of affairs now you pick your city you operate in by Gang affiliations some are painters some aren't.

yer not gona stop them... 15 foot fencing 3 rings barbed wire cameras at each corner lit 24-7 what else...they'll cut
the fencing an walk right in....it's defeative and disheartening..

73
Jack.

[DMOD]

I say that if the city wants it repainted, they should  do it themselves at their expense and  leave the owner alone.  After all, the vandals were in violation of the law, and it is the city police dep't that has failed to do their job, protecting his property and enforcing the law.

The station is reluctant to make an issue of this, because the owner is afraid that if he "fights city hall", that in itself could have repercussions in the small town and cause him to lose critical advertising revenue. Even if he decided to take legal action and won his case, he would still lose because hiring lawyers costs a lot of money.

I think I would still fight as a matter of principle, if nothing else.

I agree. Why is it the owners responsibility because of criminal action beyond his control?

[wb4iuy]

Same thing happened at our motorcycle shop back about two years ago. Local gang decorated one side of our freshly painted building, and the local town management immediately required that we repaint it.

We repainted, put up a fence, and the guys in custom paint & fab started wearing side arms. Never had another problem. It was probably some of the local kid/gang member wannabe's that did it...

Dave Wb4IUY

[Superhet66]

It would seem a large common sense & decency RESET button is in need of pushing in this country of ours.

I hear more and more stories of local / municipal boards, etc., over doing it and pushing small business and citizens around.
 
I don't know what to make of it, but it's in the air.
I'll leave it at that, as it could get political, but BS is BS.

[k4kyv]

Is this a double-secret AM broadcast station who's identity cannot be disclosed to anyone or just a April 1 story designed to get gullible folks riled up ?

No, but it's a station that has some, let us say "goodies" lying round that may be free for the picking, so their identity shall remain a closely guarded secret until I can clean out the stuff. And I didn't get permission from the owner to discuss their dilemma on a public forum. They appear a little paranoid about pissing off the wrong people.

Nuff said.

[W1ATR]

Just need some ingenuity to defeat stupid people. How about some spray nozzles up high on the building that direct a light mist of water onto the wall and the area where the losers stand to paint. Hook it up to a pump in a barrel of water inside the shack and have it fired up with a tightly set motion sensor. If they walk into the hot spot, it starts raining and the wall gets wet. 

[WB3LEQ]

Maybe the station owner could inform the local officials about an upcoming public service announcement about the local government officials that are failing at their jobs.  This would be an effective tool near election time.  He still does have some freedom of speech left doesn't he?  Our entire world seems to be turning upside down these days.

[ka3zlr]

Nope no none of that. The reset button is at the beginning at child birth and raising and controlling our reproductive drives.

Everyone has a chance to get it right,..and everyone has a right to one mistake, but be somebody for your parents show off
for them and your sweetie that gang activity will start to look stupid and useless dirty lazy when the outcome is jail or death
now there's an outlook on life.,,,,

but we gotta be somebody......and it starts at the beginning.


73
Jack.

 

[w1vtp]

Just need some ingenuity to defeat stupid people. How about some spray nozzles up high on the building that direct a light mist of water onto the wall and the area where the losers stand to paint. Hook it up to a pump in a barrel of water inside the shack and have it fired up with a tightly set motion sensor. If they walk into the hot spot, it starts raining and the wall gets wet. 

Although I like your idea, what would probably happen is once the little dearies do their "thing" and the spray hoses down their "freedom of speech," the owners would get gigged by the HAZ.. people for polluting the aquifers with the runoff.  Certainly that stuff couldn't just go down a storm drain either.

Sigh!

[KE6DF]

FWIW, I lived for 22 years in a smallish city in Silicon Valley.

At one point, we had a graffiti problem in the town, and the police chief and town council decided the problem needed to be solved.

They worked harder to catch the perpitrators. They encouraged people to report to the police when they saw someone applying graffiti.

They also removed or painted it out quickly on public structures, bridges, overpasses etc.

But one other thing they did was pass a city ordinance that required all private property owners, commecial and residential, to remove graffiti on their property.

The would send you a notice when graffiti was seen on your property and you had some short time like a week to remove it. If you didn't, the city crews would remove it and send you the bill.

This is not really any different than the laws that prohibit city property owners from having a junk car on blocks in the front yard, or leaving three foot high weeds on their lot.

Some cities take action on this type of stuff, and some don't.

Anyway, the gaffiti problem was eliminated in less than a year -- and most residents supported the program.

[John K5PRO]

Some baggy-pantz boyz tried spraying paint on the transformer in a big substation in Santa Fe some years back. The perp was fried
when the paint spray caused a massive flashover from the 115 kV side to earth. His pal climbed back over the fence and ran off, phoning 911
on his cellphone and pretending to be the sprayer. When EMT arrived there was nothing but a carbonized boy remaining.

[k4kyv]

This is not a bullshit story or April fools joke.  Laws to fine graffiti victims are popping up all over the country, just like anti-antenna ordinances.  Property owners are being hit twice, once by the thugs, and again by the local officials.  Sometimes, if the owner is away for a few days, they have a citation and fine when they return, when there was no way they could have discovered and removed the graffiti in time to satisfy the  local parasites.

As in the case of anti-antenna ordinances, it is no mere coincidence that Chicago, Syracuse and Anaheim pass similar ordinances within a short time period.  Local governments nationwide have their own UNIONS to facilitate the exchange of "model"  legislation.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1N1-0EB1F361529AADA5.html

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-125316420.html

http://www.ocregister.com/news/graffiti-234169-bobbio-city.html

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Just need some ingenuity to defeat stupid people. How about some spray nozzles up high on the building that direct a light mist of water onto the wall and the area where the losers stand to paint. Hook it up to a pump in a barrel of water inside the shack and have it fired up with a tightly set motion sensor. If they walk into the hot spot, it starts raining and the wall gets wet. 

Good idea, but instead of water, make it Rit dye, say green or orange.  The perps would stick out like a sore thumb.  I DO like the skunk idea.  Though they like to roam a bit to far, unless the fence would keep them in.  Might make maintenance a bit tricky though!     

In stead of skunks, perhaps a really big wasps nest right under the popular sides eaves?   Or just plant some evergreens about 6 ft off the wall.  If no one can see the crap, no one will paint it.

OR have it declared "Urban Art" and therefor protected from removal. - Hang em by their own petards.

[Superhet66]

        

             "It's an .88 caliber....it shoots through schools"

                ref. Johnny Dangerously

[W1ATR]

Just need some ingenuity to defeat stupid people. How about some spray nozzles up high on the building that direct a light mist of water onto the wall and the area where the losers stand to paint. Hook it up to a pump in a barrel of water inside the shack and have it fired up with a tightly set motion sensor. If they walk into the hot spot, it starts raining and the wall gets wet.  

Although I like your idea, what would probably happen is once the little dearies do their "thing" and the spray hoses down their "freedom of speech," the owners would get gigged by the HAZ.. people for polluting the aquifers with the runoff.  Certainly that stuff couldn't just go down a storm drain either.

Sigh!

My idea'r was to have the sprayers start up a light overhead mist as soon as someone approached the wall. It could be done real simple with a 10 buck motion sensor. THEN, alarm the building so if anyone tries to get inside to shut it down, the alarm goes off.

But, in the spirit of how you see it, that would be exactly what would happen to me. The water would wash the paint down into the dirt, some jackass would apply for a grant to help the plight of the Yellow Crested Nut Hugger, or some other bird. They would get a couple million from the gubmint, spend $13 on a rake to remediate the site and pocket the rest. Then the USSA would drag me into court to try and get their money back.

Just need some ingenuity to defeat stupid people. How about some spray nozzles up high on the building that direct a light mist of water onto the wall and the area where the losers stand to paint. Hook it up to a pump in a barrel of water inside the shack and have it fired up with a tightly set motion sensor. If they walk into the hot spot, it starts raining and the wall gets wet.  

Good idea, but instead of water, make it Rit dye, say green or orange.  The perps would stick out like a sore thumb.  I DO like the skunk idea.  Though they like to roam a bit to far, unless the fence would keep them in.  Might make maintenance a bit tricky though!    

In stead of skunks, perhaps a really big wasps nest right under the popular sides eaves?   Or just plant some evergreens about 6 ft off the wall.  If no one can see the crap, no one will paint it.

OR have it declared "Urban Art" and therefor protected from removal. - Hang em by their own petards.

Blocking the view would be a good idea. It reminds of this job we did a long time ago installing a gaspack heating system for a TV station in Prospect CT. I seem to remember while staring at the thousand foot stick, noticing these huge, scary ass lookin thorns spread all over the place around the base and guys. I remember them being 3 inches long or so, and real fugly looking. Definitely NOT a local plant to this area.