DAYTON — The City of Dayton told News Center 7 that the graffiti problem has tripled since 2018, but they have a plan to clean it up.
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In 2022, the city spent $46,000 to clean up graffiti. From January to August, 725 graffiti tags were removed.
“The city has no plans on reducing any kind of resources going towards graffiti, and we will adapt toward the demand, if the demand is higher we will increase resources,” Dayton’s Street Maintenance Manager Brian Dahm said.
Some people think the city’s efforts could be too much.
“I guess it depends on the priority, is it that much of a nuisance? I don’t know, some people think graffiti is art, other people think it causes damage and deters certain businesses,” Eric Mittler said.
Mittler believes that keeping the city clean is a good thing, but there should be a limit on the amount of money that should be spent.
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“The proof is in the numbers, what’s the return on that investment and what other needs does the city have where that money will be better spent,” Mittler said.
The city, along with the Dayton Police Department has seen too much graffiti popping up.
Tuesday, the DPD posted to their Facebook page saying they are looking to identify two females who were seen spray painting playground equipment, a fence, and a garage at Highland Park on Sept. 10 around 5:30 p.m.
The Downtown Ambassadors clean up most of the graffiti around the city and last year they removed more than 2,300 graffiti tags.
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“Our goal is to try and get the graffiti tags down within 24 hours,” President of the Downtown Dayton Partnership Sandy Gudorf said.
A quick removal time is not always the case, as if the graffiti is higher than the first floor, it will cost the city more money and time to remove.
“They may take Dow 80-90 tags a month and over the last couple of years the numbers continue to increase,” Gudorf said.
Officials are advocating that if you see graffiti, call Public Works at (937) 333-4800.
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