Shawn Ryba has helped remove graffiti from a couple hundred places all over Lincoln, and he’s seen the urban artwork splashed on a lot of strange places — from trees to concrete to mailboxes.

“I’ve seen cars completely covered with graffiti,” he said, and it’s time the city does something about it. “Graffiti is not OK and it should not be tolerated. “We are letting it slide and it is taking over our city.”

He gave City Councilwoman Patte Newman a tour of graffiti that she said opened her eyes to the problem. That’s why, she said, she introduced an ordinance that would establish mandatory minimum sentences for graffiti artists and require owners to remove graffiti from their property.

If the graffiti is on public property, the city removes it, but if it’s on private property, it’s in the owners’ hands.

Newman said the city had 91 cases of graffiti reported in 2004, 224 in 2005 and 454 in just the first six months this year.

“It’s becoming a large problem here,” she said.

Lincoln Police Capt. Bob Kawamoto showed the council photos of graffiti all over Lincoln and translated its meaning. Most of the letters and numbers referred to gang names, but not all graffiti is gang-related. He said individuals generally tag downtown with their monikers or names, such as SODA and Skillet.

“They’re pretty active in the downtown right at the moment,” he said.

Kawamoto visited two California cities and said the one that had an aggressive graffiti policy had little to no graffiti.

Ryba said graffiti sends a message that the neighborhood is decaying and infested with crime and gangs, hurting property values by scaring away businesses and homebuyers.

“It’s very threatening to the neighborhood; it makes people feel unsafe,” he said.

Often, businesses and apartment complexes are targeted, he said, but often they don’t clean it up in a timely manner either.

Studies show that if graffiti is erased within 24 to 48 hours, it’s unlikely to reappear, Ryba said.

Pat Anderson-Sifuentez accompanied Ryba and Newman on their tour, and said the cleanup portion of the ordinance is important because removing the graffiti quickly is key. Nobody wants to victimize the victims of graffiti again, but you “can’t always ask the city to do it,” she said.

But Marilyn Burback told the council if her property were targeted by graffiti, she’d have trouble paying to remove it. Rather than offer sympathy, she’d prefer the city “catch the little devil that did it.”

Newman said the intent of the cleanup provision is not to victimize the property owner again, but to have consequences if they refuse to do anything about the graffiti even after being offered assistance.  A network of volunteers is being formed to help people who need help cleaning up the graffiti.

The City Council is expected to vote on the ordinance at its Sept. 11 meeting.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.