ADAMS COUNTY — Joaquin Flores points his high-pressure hose at the black paint scrawled on a retaining wall along Washington Street and unleashes a hot-water blast at the offending script.
Steam envelops the Adams County graffiti tech, and tiny pebbles dislodged by the force of water against stone spray into his hair. As thorough as he is, this abatement effort probably will require a paint-over to fully conceal the damage left by the taggers. It’s one of 15 to 20 cleanings that Flores, 25, does on a typical day in unincorporated parts of Adams County that are beset by gangs or bored kids intent on leaving their marks on utility boxes, buildings, fences and walls.
“To me, it feels good — I’m effectively cleaning up an area that I grew up in and that I’m proud of,” said Flores, who was raised in nearby Northglenn. “It has a huge impact on the citizens’ view of their neighborhood.”
The county put Flores to work at the beginning of the year as part of its new $62,000-a-year graffiti abatement program. Already, he has removed nearly 350 tags — up 64 percent from 2014.
Norman Wright, director of neighborhood services for Adams County, said at the rate Flores is working, he potentially could quadruple the number of cleanups over last year.
In 2014, Adams County used a contractor to remove graffiti. Just over 200 tags were eliminated the entire year.
Attacking graffiti repeatedly and often is key to chasing scofflaws — especially members of gangs — out of the area, Wright said. The county shares suspected gang graffiti with the sheriff’s office so that law enforcement can go after the perpetrators. Flores estimates that nearly half of the tags he removes are gang-related.
“My cleanings have been disrespected — they put a huge X through it,” he said.
But if he is persistent about cleaning or painting over those marks, he said the taggers eventually give up.
“If you counter enough, they tend to stop and go somewhere else,” Flores said.
Wright said it was important to bring the county’s graffiti-fighting program in house, which on a cost-per-abatement basis has added up to a savings of 36 percent over the previous year.
“We didn’t have an Adams County staffer who took ownership of these areas,” he said. “We know that by addressing graffiti, we can create a better environment for the people living there.”
Joy Valentine, who for 15 years has owned Cool Sunshine Heating & Air Conditioning in the Welby neighborhood just north of Denver, said she has long dealt with the issue. She was pleasantly surprised when Flores came out, without being asked, recently to remove a tag on her fence.
“We used to complain a lot to Adams County, and we never got any help,” she said.
But despite Flores’ good work, Valentine said she isn’t naive enough to think that with the long days and warm weather ahead, there won’t be more vandalism at her business.
“Summer’s coming, so I think we’re going to get hit again,” she said.
Other metro-area communities are gearing up for the annual battle against graffiti. South Suburban Parks and Recreation last week asked the public to report any incidences of graffiti they see throughout the 41-square-mile district in Arapahoe and Douglas counties.
The district has spent just over $300,000 cleaning up 1,269 incidences of graffiti in the past eight years. There have been 43 tags found so far this year.
Last year, . The city hoped the program would have a long-lasting effect.
In Denver, the problem is significantly more daunting. Public works spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn said so far this year 675,000 square feet of graffiti has been removed from 3,700 sites across the city.
Denver to the problem and offers free abatement services to private property owners, including free paint from several citywide “paint banks.”
The annual cost to the city to fight graffiti is about $1.4 million, Kuhn said.
Adams County spokesman Jim Siedlecki said his county’s close proximity to north Denver means spillover from the big city is more than likely. And all the more reason to remain vigilant and act proactively when it comes to taking on the taggers, he said.
“Take care of the small problems,” Siedlecki said, “before they become larger problems.”
John Aguilar: 303-954-1695, jaguilar@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abuvthefold
