Entering Murrieta, rights stop here

By: PHILIP STRICKLAND - For the North County Times | Monday, February 27, 2006 6:07 PM PST ∞

Just when you might have thought it was safe to own property in Murrieta, the city fathers come along with another ham-handed approach to accomplishing their goals.

You may remember the unseemly debacle when Murrieta attempted to seize land along Jefferson Avenue through eminent domain with no compensation to the property owners. It was a disgusting, ill-advised action the city later begrudgingly attempted to make all better.

You'd have thought the city's officials would have learned a lesson.

Not so.

Just last week, the city council voted 5-0 to approve changes in the graffiti-abatement policy. If you think the city's treatment of the six Jefferson Avenue property owners was a perversion of law, you're gonna love this.

Under the new policy, if private property is vandalized by the hoodlums known as taggers, the victim has two days to remove the offending scrawl before running afoul of the law. Once the grace period has passed, the city has the right to invade the property with its graffiti-abatement team. It'll only cost the property owner $81 an hour.

The victim as criminal. With this kind of thinking, you begin to wonder if the people who come up with these ideas are worth even 81 cents an hour.

Graffiti is a problem. Not only is it unsightly, it often is accompanied by gang activity. All evidence points to the conclusion that quick removal helps to discourage it. But, riding roughshod over property owners' rights is not the correct answer.

Tough enforcement, liberal use of community service and, in the case of minors, holding parents responsible are the correct responses.

Trouble is, most taggers are not apprehended. So, in frustration, the city turns to the victim. The old policy required removal in 10 days. Apparently, city officials believe that isn't quick enough. If the property owner didn't take care of the problem, the city had to go through a notification procedure with the code-enforcement department to gain access to the property ---- a process that can take 45 days. In the meantime, miscreants run wild in the streets.

Communities across the nation are battling this problem. Some even work out an arrangement with property owners that seems fair. A property owner signs a consent form that allows the city to remove the graffiti ---- at no cost to the property owner. Few, if any, of the nation's abatement programs allow such an egregious violation of property rights as soon will be in place in Murrieta.

In defense of the changes, Deputy City Manager Jim Holston said that "graffiti breeds graffiti." Apparently, ignoring residents' rights breeds more of the same too.

In an attempt to mask the vileness of the new rules, city officials say that under some circumstances they'll even work with a property owner to cover some or all of the costs or grant a little extra time. Gee, thanks.

Because the changes aren't law until 30 days after a second approval by council, residents have time to make known their feelings.

Temecula resident Phil Strickland is a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail: philipestrickland@yahoo.com.