Inaction On Graffiti Draws Residents’ Ire
Hate based Graffiti displayed in public view in the downtown core for possibly months - resident claims
City to take action
By Robert Thomas
Graffiti for many is something viewed as an eyesore and a nuisance.
But some of the graffiti Downtown has now - according to a resident and an anti-hate group - crossed a line and is in reality publicly displayed hate.
“Because I live Downtown and this building has been an eyesore forever and it’s an eyesore that I reported last fall and nothing was done about it,” downtown resident Humberto Davalos said explaining his reasonings for making his concerns public.
Davalos said after he reported the graffiti in the fall and when he went back earlier this month to see that there was now hateful symbols as part of the graffiti.
“I went on May 11th as there was a swastika and a Waffen SS logo and I was concerned so I went to City Hall to voice my concerns again,” he said, adding this time around there was the hate speech element.
“I take this as a great concern as it’s hate speech.”
Racist Graffiti in Downtown Moose Jaw - MJ Independent photo
Davalos said he first voiced his concerns about the graffiti in the fall but nothing seemingly happened to clean up the situation.
“I was frustrated. I first reported it in the App in the fall and nothing happened. I can understand they can’t do anything over the Winter. I went and complained in person again on May 11th after I saw the swastika and Waffen SS (runes). And it shouldn’t take two weeks to get it (hate speech) removed.”
Davalos said in his opinion the graffiti should have been removed sooner because “Graffiti begets more graffiti.”
Graffiti Begets Graffiti
It’s a comment backed up by Chief Rick Bourassa of the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) who addressed the grafitti issue at the May meeting of the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners.
“We would really like to reduce the amount of graffiti because what we do know is this the physical environment signals what behaviours are acceptable,” Chief Bourassa told May’s meeting of the Moose Jaw Board of Police Commissioners.
“When you have the physical environment deteriorate, it sends a signal that it doesn’t need to be respected, so it will generate more of that behaviour,” Chief Bourassa said.
It needs to be noted the Chief was speaking about graffiti in general and not the graffiti specifically mentioned in this report.
Property Owner A Victim
MJ Independent will not be disclosing the exact location of the grafitti due to the fact the property owner has yet to state their side of the story.
Additionally there has been hate symbols appearing in other locations in the city.
Davalos said he could see the owners of the building are themselves victims of a crime.
“I’m sure they didn’t go out and ask for their building to be spray painted or tagged,” he said.
Despite this the building owner is on the hook.
Under Bylaw 5484 - Property Maintenance and Nuisance Bylaw - property owners are not allowed to have graffiti on their buildings or fences.
The responsibility to clean up the graffiti falls on the property owner.
Davalos said legally he couldn’t simply go down and spray paint over the offensive graffiti.
For an individual to simply go down and spray paint over graffiti could lead to charges against the individual, even if it is hate speech.
Hate On Display Final Straw
Davalos said when he noticed the hate speech in the Spring it forced him to go beyond complaining through the App to personally going to City Hall twice to seek action.
“What finally pushed me (to voice my concerns in public) it was a swastika and a Waffen SS logo,” he said.
Davalos said there needs to be a mechanism whereby publicly displayed hate speech can be removed faster than two weeks.
“They need to amend the bylaw so they (the City) can just paint over it or remove it in a more timely fashion.”
Frustration With “Inaction” Causes Concerns To Go Public
Out of frustration Davalos said he contacted the renowned Jewish human rights group B’Nai Brith and the media to report the graffiti.
Davalos is one of two residents who raised their concerns about the antisemitic graffiti to this publication.
In a written statement to MJ Independent Michael Mostyn, CEO of B'nai Brith Canada said the organization was greatly concerned with antisemitic graffiti such as that which has turned up in Moose Jaw.
“We have great concern whenever antisemitic graffiti appears in public spaces. Left alone hate symbols have the capacity to tear at the fabric of our society,”
MJ Independent raised the issue with Moose Jaw Mayor Clive Tolley at the end of the post Council presser on Tuesday evening and the City would be looking into it.
Mayor Clive Tolley, city manager Maryse Carmichael and communications director Craig Hemingway all expressed their concerns and said they would be looking into it.
Mayor Takes Action
Davalos said on Wednesday the City contacted him to discuss his concerns.
He said he was told at the present time the City only has one bylaw officer - who is on vacation at the present time - but they were working on a resolution.
On Thursday the City confirmed in a statement, they were taking action to remove the graffiti, including the hate speech.
“The City of Moose Jaw is disappointed and saddened by this hateful act. The City issued an order to the property owner to remove the graffiti in the fall. The property owner did not comply and the City subsequently issued a work order for the removal. However, weather conditions did not allow for the work to take place in winter. The City is in the process of having the graffiti removed as soon as possible.”
We will be publishing an article in the near future about the actions the MJPS is taking to combat graffiti.
As a full disclosure members of the author’s family were murdered by an Einsatzgruppen unit during the invasion of the former Soviet Union.