EUCLID, Ohio (WJW) – A large painting of Councilman Marcus Epps is now on the side of a building on Brush Avenue in Euclid. Next to his picture is the word vote.
“It’s free speech,” Epps told the I-Team. “The city is calling it graffiti because it’s my face. This is about politics.”
Epps, who is now running for mayor, said the owner of the building is supporting him and had a local artist paint his picture on the building.
Euclid officials, however, tell us the painting on the building is a violation of city ordinances. The law director told the owner they want the painting removed this week.
Euclid officials tell us the painting on the building is a violation of city ordinances and they told the building owner they want the painting removed this week.
“Any mural does have to have an application before our architectural review board and they review the design,” said Euclid Law Director Kelley Sweeney. “That was not done. A permit was not pulled, so at this point, the city is considering it graffiti. In these situations, we advise the owner to remove or the city will remove the graffiti.”
She said the business owner could also face a charge for a zoning violation.
We called the owner of the building to ask if he was removing the painting. He refused to answer questions and hung up on us.
Epps said he believes the business owner is not going to remove the painting anytime soon.
“He feels like he is exercising his right to free speech,” Epps said. “He has no intention of removing it.”
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