Q&A with Graham Blair, Leader of NPCA's Stop Graffiti Now! program

Many neighborhoods grapple with the financial and aesthetic costs of graffiti on our buildings and homes. Here in North Park, the NPCA started a Stop Graffiti Now! campaign that has helped to curb some of our vandalism problem through a great relationship with the city and Urban Corps. The leader of this effort is a local professional photographer named Graham Blair.

Graham and his wife are long time North Park residents who have seen the upswing in excitement about our community. Like many of our neighbors, Graham got tired of the vandalism and so he decided to get involved and do something about it. We asked Graham to fill us in on himself and tell us a bit about the program ...

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself?

My wife Marti and I got married and purchased a house in North Park in 1989. We really enjoy the location and how much North Park has improved the past few years. I enjoy gardening, especially growing my own tomatoes! I also enjoy cooking and eating a variety of great food. I guess you would call Marti and me real "foodies." I am also a huge movie fan. I really was a diehard surfer most of my life, but when I ruptured my Achilles tendon in my left ankle playing tennis last year, that slowed down my surfing, tennis and running. But I am recovering well and hope to get wet again soon. I do mainly commercial and editorial photography, but, as a personal, creative project, have enjoyed photographing many of the dancers from the San Diego Ballet the past few years. Marti is a Financial Advisor but has a fine art background. She has been gradually making her way back into the art world, especially fused glass.

Q: How did you first get involved in fighting graffiti?

For many years, I watched the graffiti problem in North Park get worse and worse. It was everywhere! No one knew how to get rid of it or what to do about it. I think it really made our neighborhood look bad and neglected and like nobody cared. Omar Passons started the Stop Graffiti Now! program in North Park three years ago and set the foundation. He established the Key Neighbor program and began building relationships with the City of San Diego, the Urban Corps and other graffiti fighters in surrounding neighborhoods. When I heard what he was doing, I called to volunteer because I felt strongly about it and knew it would be a HUGE job and he could use a little help. I felt it was very important for the program to succeed.

We were basically starting from scratch. We did not know much about graffiti except that we did not like it. Omar located a vendor who sold some great graffiti removal supplies ... we met with him, learned about his products and similar programs throughout the world and ended up purchasing lots of his removal products. Our original concept to get a network of neighbors to remove or paint over graffiti. We even organized large community Graffiti Removal and Paint Out days for two years.

When Omar became president of the NPCA two years ago, I stepped forward to head up the Stop Graffiti Now! program. I focused on building teamwork with the Key Neighbors, communicating with them frequently and building a close relationship with the Urban Corps. In the beginning, the responsibilities of the Key Neighbors included monitoring, photographing, reporting and removing graffiti. The NPCA provided guidance and all removal supplies for them. We used the Urban Corps only for the largest or most difficult graffiti, but as our relationship grew, they said they could take care of ALL of it for us. That was very nice and generous of them.

Q: How does the program work in North Park?

We still have a team of about a dozen active Key Neighbors who have volunteered to monitor and report any graffiti they see. The can also remove small tags, if they wish, and the NPCA provides them removal supplies. The job has evolved to more of a monitoring and reporting function, and the Urban Corps does the removals. If any of the Key Neighbors sees any graffiti, they can report it to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Any residents can also do this and are encouraged to do so. I have found that unless the graffiti is reported to the appropriate agency, it will often stay there for a LONG time.

I then consolidate the reports I get into one report and e-mail it to my contact at the Urban Corps. They give us excellent support and usually have it removed within a week. I make a point of trying to submit my reports to them weekly.

Q: What are the most important things neighbors should know about reporting or removing graffiti they see?

The steps to take are (1) photograph it and (2) report it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Your report should include the precise address location, what the tag is on and what it looks like. For example, "3290 Boundary, large black tag on white fence by sidewalk." The more precise, the better. I will then report it to the Urban Corps for removal. If it is a large tag and you have a good picture of it, I will also report it to our contact with the SDPD to help them catch and prosecute the vandals. If it is on your own property, it is often best for you to quickly paint over it yourself if you have the matching paint.

Q: How can neighbors get involved and how much of a time commitment is involved?

We are always looking for more Key Neighbors to monitor and report graffiti. The larger and more active our team, the cleaner North Park will be. You will be assigned an area near where you live and all you have to do is report any graffiti you see. The time commitment is minimal ... I spend about half an hour a week, and most of the Key Neighbors don't spend that much.   [Become a Key Neighbor]

And whenever I drive or walk around, I carry my iPhone and make a voice memo documenting any graffiti I find. I then roll it into my report each week. I only takes a few minutes and makes a big difference. It is all so simple.

In conclusion, I have found my volunteering on the Stop Graffiti Now! program to be very rewarding and empowering. And North Park is sure a lot cleaner. I am a bit amazed at how successful we have been. It just goes to show that if you diligently report and remove graffiti quickly, the vandals doing it will move somewhere else, where their "work" will stay up longer.