PORTLAND, Ore. — You may not remember his name but likely remember his mission.
At 84 years old, Michael Corrie is trying to clean up the city, one spray can at a time.
“I just hate graffiti. I think it’s destroying this city,” said Corrie.
We profiled Corrie in the summer and fall of 2021, after he sent KATU News a letter complaining about the lack of city commitment for graffiti cleanup. He had also sent a letter to the mayor, and he wasn’t happy he hadn’t heard back.
He showed us then how he dedicates at least one day a week to spraying over graffiti on a McLoughlin street overpass.
This week, KATU News returned to that overpass where Corrie’s efforts are paying off.
“We’ve repainted it several times. They finally gave up graffitiing it because we covered it so many times, and that’s the key to the graffiti — you keep covering it up and they’ll finally give up,” said Corrie.
So now he is focused on the other parts of town where the graffiti keeps coming back. Like the newspaper racks on street corners.
Corrie has a large supply of paint consisting of several different colors. He spends about $40 a month of his own money on it.
A city-funded initiative in Portland’s Pearl District to remove graffiti from private properties and small businesses — at no cost to them — ended last month after funding dried up.
Corrie feels it’s time the graffiti taggers picked up the tab for the damage they leave behind.
“They should pay for it. They should spend some time if they have to in rehab or something — something’s got to be done with this because it doesn’t quit,” he said.
Born and raised in Portland, Corrie says the graffiti is hurting our image. He feels the city should be doing more to stop it.
“We’re losing people in Portland because it’s so dirty, and you see it everywhere. It’s not good,” he said.
KATU News reached out to the mayor’s office to see what new graffiti removing initiatives they might have planned. A spokesperson says they support volunteers helping to battle graffiti, and they’ve cleaned up more than 300,000 square feet of graffiti at a price tag of more than $2 million.
Meanwhile, don’t be surprised if you see Corrie, with spray can in hand, as you’re driving down a Portland street. He has no plans to stop until they do.
“As long as I can. I’m getting up there, but you know what? I don’t like it. Every time I see it, it makes me mad,” he said.