Graffiti Artists’ Work No Match for New Machine

Watch out, taggers: the city’s new graffiti-busting truck is itching to sandblast your handiwork right out of existence.

Anything you graffiti artists can spray, it can spray over, say city officials who in June took delivery on the $48,907 white flatbed truck.

The Graffiti Removal Machine is the first of its kind built by Dispensing Technology Corp., a Moorpark-based company which manufactures highway maintenance equipment.

The company worked with city officials on the design of the truck, which is unusual because it combines graffiti-fighting technology with other public works functions. For instance, when the 14,500- pound truck isn’t blasting away at spray-painted walls, it can install signs, seal asphalt cracks, clean drains and help out with traffic control.

But its flashiest feature is its anti-graffiti prowess. The truck is armed with two airless spray guns that can shoot seven-tenths of a gallon of paint per minute. The guns can obliterate all signs of tagging on a large trash bin in a matter of 10 minutes, city officials said.

The vehicle also boasts a pressurized sandblaster for special use on brick walls.

Dispensing Technology Corp.’s president, Bill Howseman, designed the truck with Jim Battles, Glendora’s street superintendent of Public Works.

The truck fits in with a city program, begun last year, that encourages residents to report graffiti. The markings are then usually removed within 24 hours, Councilman Bob Kuhn said.

Residents who report graffiti on their property have to sign waivers allowing city workers to do the clean-up, City Manager Art Cook said. But they don’t have to pay for the service, he added.

Police Chief Oliver B. Posey said graffiti became noticeable in Glendora about 10 years ago, and has gotten worse in the past five years.

The biggest problem is in the southern part of town along the railroad tracks. Two major thoroughfares, Alosta Avenue and Arrow Highway, have also been targeted by taggers, Posey said.

Graffiti has to be removed immediately to stifle gang activity because “gangs and graffiti go together,” he said.

Battles said the city usually gets about 10 graffiti-removal calls each week. Five years ago, he said, the requests came in at a rate of about two a month.

Glendora officials acknowledge that other cities have worse graffiti problems, but said that the truck’s versatility alone makes it a good investment. Cook said having a city-owned truck makes the whole graffiti-busting process more efficient.

“We felt it was a necessity to maintain community pride and its image,” Cook said. “We did not want to be over-saturated with graffiti. We wanted to remove it as fast as we found it. We could be the masters of our own destiny rather than hire a contractor or work with another agency.”

The multifaceted truck, however, is not without problems. On Monday, a connector on one of the spray paint hoses broke during a demonstration.

Battles said the problem wasn’t serious. But the truck would be grounded for at least a week until the hose is repaired, he said.