PACIFIC BEACH – Thanks to volunteers sacrificing their time and efforts on a Saturday, the 15th annual Pacific Beach Town Council-sponsored Graffiti Cleanup Day on May 10 was an overwhelming success.

“Have you noticed a little less graffiti around town?” asked PBTC president Charlie Nieto afterward in a newsletter. “It’s no coincidence — it’s the result of an incredible community effort. Last weekend, more than 100 volunteers came together and set a new record by removing more than 1,200 graffiti tags, stickers, and other vandalism across Pacific Beach. Your support fuels our mission to make Pacific Beach a cleaner, safer, and more connected place to live.

PBTC Graffiti Busters’ core team member Jim Menders was in charge of orienting volunteers, instructing them on eradicating ubiquitous tags and stickers before sending them out on their mission to cleanse designated areas. He explained the use of graffiti-eradication technology now being used in an app employing QR codes, pinpointing graffiti locations for volunteers.

“All they (app originators) had to do, when they were walking around the community doing surveys, was take a picture of the graffiti, and the picture would be uploaded to a server,” said Menders. “They would then collect all these reports then make a map out of them. It’s a lot like GetItDone, only it belongs to us.”

Menders showed and demonstrated products and tools to trainees that are used to remove various types of graffiti tags and stickers. “If you find yourself looking at something too big to handle, just use GetItDone to call it in,” he counseled.

Steve and Robin Sutlief were two volunteers who participated in this year’s Graffiti Cleanup. Scheduled to clean up tags surrounding PB Library at 4275 Cass St., the pair came prepared with step ladders to reach tags in high places scattered on signs and poles. It soon became clear that accompanying them in finding tags and stickers was not going to be difficult. One such prominent tag defaced a mailbox directly in front of the library. “We’re removing tags and painting, but only on public property, “Robin told an inquiring bystander as she stood atop a ladder meticulously scraping a sticker off a street sign. “Some are easy,” she noted. “Some are just hard.”

Why volunteer to be graffiti busters? “This is our community,” answered Robin, adding, “I do all the beach cleanups. This is my second year doing this. But the beach cleanups I’ve been doing beach cleanups for about five years. This is Steven’s first time (doing graffiti).”

Does it make you feel good? “It does, we want a clean San Diego,” replied Robin, adding, “This is supposed to be America’s Finest City. And people on Next Door (social media) are saying, ‘What happened to America’s Finest City? There’s trash, defecation, they’re closing our bathrooms.’ If we can’t rely on our public services, then maybe you need to step up and say: ‘It’s on us.’”

“You never mistake another place for PB. I would hate to see that change,” pointed out Steve Sutlief, about part of his motivation for being a community graffiti buster. Looking at his map app, looking for the next tag to be eradicated, Steve noted, “There are five things marked. Not on this corner, though.”

Discussing how to discourage graffiti tagging, Steve suggested something simple and direct. “Give them something else to focus on,” he concluded.

“Teaching people kindness and tolerance in school” was Robin’s proposed solution to the problem.

The annual cleanup in May is the unofficial start of summer, pointed out PBTC President Nieto. “As summer now kicks off, PBTC is shifting into high gear with some of our most beloved events, including Concerts on the Green, the PB Car Show, and PAESAN. Stay tuned for more updates coming your way soon,” he said.

“A heartfelt thank you also goes out to the 20-plus community groups, elected offices, and City departments that helped make this year’s Community Expo a resounding success,” continued Nieto. “We’re especially grateful to Pacific Beach Elementary School for their partnership in hosting the event and for their continued commitment to our neighborhood.”