BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — You see it everywhere. From walls to trains to businesses. Graffiti is a big issue everywhere but some areas within Bakersfield have had a quicker clean-up response than others.
Kern County residents are no strangers to seeing graffiti however a new agreement between the city and county could create more clean-up coverage.
“So Kern County, we've had a graffiti problem for a long time and over the years it's gotten worse so, particularly in our unincorporated areas that the county is responsible for,” explained James Zervis, the chief operating officer for Kern County.
It all started with a Kern County Grand Jury report back in March of 2022 called 'Art or Eyesore' referencing the county’s graffiti removal program as being "buried under requests and its workforce being frustrated and exhausted."
The county blamed its response on a lack of funding for these resources.
“One truck and one individual are certainly not enough to try and address all of that 8,100 square miles,” said Zervis. “It's not something new. The county was well aware that that was a challenged area being able to provide those services due to shrinking budget.”
Now thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act, that budget is now over $1 million for the county to use the city of Bakersfield's graffiti abatement program to fill the gaps.
Some unincorporated county areas that have a Bakersfield address are still responsible for cleaning up graffiti. Now with the new agreement, they will be under the city’s program. This allows the county to shift existing graffiti team responsibility to areas like Rosamond, Lamont, Lost Hills among others with Bakersfield still continuing the strong effort for the city inside its boundaries and now out of them.
“There's been reports and studies done that show it can decrease property value and community morale and so the city of Bakersfield has a very robust graffiti abatement program,” said Joseph Conroy with the City of Bakersfield.
If you see graffiti within these new limits, you can request a clean-up through the City of Bakersfield app. And if you wish to remove the graffiti yourself tips from the city include matching the paint and removing it quickly within the same day if possible.
