Graffiti-GONE! News

UNION GAP -- They read about it in the newspaper. They watched it on television. Graffiti. Like an infection, it was spreading up and down the Valley, popping up on street signs and on the walls of businesses and homes.

But instead of complaining, three people saw an opportunity. Longtime couple Nathan Kwak and Lorene Blakely, as well as Blakely's younger brother, Ralph, formed Graffiti GONE! this spring.

Located in Union Gap, the business aims to prevent graffiti, cover it up and help police track and prosecute those responsible.

"There's a big hole in Washington," said Kwak, noting he has access to equipment lacked by the volunteer groups that now clean up most graffiti.

Kwak, 32, is a former Union Gap city councilmember and formerly owned businesses in pumpkin decorating and jewelry making, while Lorene Blakely, 31, and Ralph Blakely, a 22-year-old University of Washington student, specialize in computers.

They initially focused on graffiti removal. They purchased equipment to make and match paint, a hot-pressure washer and a soda blaster, which uses crystallized baking soda to remove graffiti but doesn't damage surfaces.

All this -- plus repellents to prevent graffiti from sticking to surfaces -- are stored in a van they take from job to job.

With their assorted tools, they say they can remove stickers and graffiti produced from spray paint, grease and wax pens, permanent markers and paint pens from just abut any surface.

SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic: Nathan Kwak uses a soda blaster to remove graffiti from a driveway.

SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic: Nathan Kwak uses a soda blaster, which uses baking soda instead of sand, to remove graffiti from a driveway last month.

Published on Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Some see graffiti as an opportunity
By ERIN SNELGROVE
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Graffiti GONE! charges clients by the square foot, with minimum prices set for soda blasting, pressure washing and the like. The minimums range from $45 for applying solvent removal on walls to $125 for soda blasting porous surfaces, such as pumice block.

The city of Yakima has hired Graffiti GONE! for a couple of small projects. Councilman Ron Bonlender said he was impressed by the business owners, who presented themselves as diligent and hard-working.

There is an assortment of volunteer groups that use donated paint to cover up graffiti in Yakima County. In Yakima, there are both maintenance ambassadors that provide the service downtown, and Graffiti Busters, a program run by the city's Office of Neighborhood Development Services to paint over graffiti free of charge. But there aren't businesses that do all that Graffiti GONE! does, Bonlender said.

Sharon Morrow agrees. As a volunteer with the Gleed Block Watch, she regularly drives throughout the Valley to spot and paint over graffiti. The more help she has beautifying the community the better, she said.

"I hope they can pick up a lot of business," she said. "I think this idea is great, I really do."

Covering up graffiti is only part of the company's services. By installing cameras set off by motion and heat, they are able to catch people in the act. This service is available but has not yet been used.

"We really think the cameras will help us get rid of the graffiti," Lorene Blakely said. "It's about deterring it. Trying to get them to stop is the key."

The business partners are also developing a database, which should be launched by January.

Intended for police use only, it will work like this: When Graffiti GONE! is notified of graffiti, it will go to the site and photograph it with a GPS camera, which also records location, date and time.

After photos are downloaded into the database, police will be able to catalogue the images. Police could, for example, see if a pattern of gang symbols develops and if one gang is moving into a rival's turf -- signaling an impending confrontation.

Also, when suspects are apprehended, police could search the database for similar tagging elsewhere. The greater the damage, the greater the chance suspects will face civil penalties or jail time.

The system will not only help keep taggers off the street longer, but allow victims to obtain restitution, Kwak said.

To understand the symbols used by gangs, Graffiti GONE! has enlisted the help of Yakima city Gang Enforcement Officer Tarin Miller. Familiar with what Kwak and Blakely are trying to do, Miller said the database could be an effective tool for detecting graffiti trends. Through it, patrol units would know where to focus their efforts.

"We work with as many avenues as possible," she said, adding that the database concept is still very new. "Anything moving forward is a positive direction. ... It will help our city so much."

Kwak and Lorene Blakely said they're not concerned about doing their job too well. If they succeed in cleaning up graffiti in the Yakima Valley, they'll take their business to another, larger city and do the same thing.

"I just want to do my part to help people out," said Kwak, who was born and raised in Yakima. "While we search for a cure, we have to deal with the problem that's before us ... then keep it from coming back later."

First Anti-Gang Work Group Meeting Held in Yakima

YAKIMA, Wash. - The first meeting of a state-level anti-gang work group will be held next Monday, July 30, in Yakima.

Local Representative Charles Ross, and Senator Jim Clements, are both members. They're pleased the first meeting is happening in Yakima, because city leaders are currently debating how to deal with gangs.

Work group members will hold a community meeting at 3:00 at the Miller Park Activities Center. Their goal is to come up with legislative measures to combat gangs, create a statewide gang database, and figure out how to prevent teens from joining gangs.