The City of Lemon Grove removes graffiti only on city property, the Lemon Grove School District only on school property, and Caltrans only on state property. That leaves Lemon Grove property owners on their own when it comes to graffiti removal on their premises. The property owners are given a few weeks in which to remove the graffiti, or they face fines. For some, this can be a hardship and getting it done is not easy.
Seeing this need in the community, Lemon Grove Lions Club member David Eckler spearheads a project with his friend Josh Klein, spending three to five days a week covering up hundreds of graffiti tags in the city. They are informed about graffiti locations through a group of veterans who go out each morning to pick up trash, or when they drive through Lemon Grove and find graffiti themselves.
Lemon Grove Lions Club President Ken Burke said Lemon Grove is only about three square miles and since the City and Caltrans only cover municipal property, the Lions are out taking care of the rest.
“One or two guys in our club who work in construction, Dave Eckler, sees it, accumulates information, contacts the homeowner,” he said. “We usually get materials needed from Home Depot or other paint shops at a discount or donation, and he will go out and try to match the paint where the graffiti is and try to match the paint, so it does not look like patchwork.”
Burke said this is an ongoing project, trying to keep up with taggers as much as possible. Eckler has the materials and the Lions try to help cover the costs via reimbursement or providing money for materials.
“Dave has a friend of his, a military veteran, and they go out and do this together, and his friend is a Lemon Grove resident who cares about the community,” he said. “We got some donations from the Lions Club Foundation and also another entity associated with Lemon Grove and Mount Miguel.”
Burke said the Lions Club also does fundraisers, with an upcoming Chili Cookoff in March, with money going to graffiti cleanup.
“We try to keep ahead of the game, and we are trying to make the kids creating graffiti unhappy by covering it up as soon as possible,” he said.
The Lemon Grove Lions Club Chili Cookoff fundraiser is Saturday, March 4 at the Lemon Grove Community Center from 6-9 p.m. Tickets are $30 and you can sign up to enter the contest by contacting Chris Murphy at (619) 850-6591, or JoAnne Burke at (619) 316-3225. The fundraiser includes chilis to sample, water, hot dogs, live music, raffle tickets and a no host bar.
For more information on how to help the Lions Club continue its efforts to clean up residential graffiti, contact Ken Burke at (619)- 469-7350.
