South Davidson fights gang graffiti, "professional taggers''

By Nancy DeVille • THE TENNESSEAN • December 1, 2010 Cleaning up the graffiti can be troublesome. If a structure owned by the city is tagged, Metro Public Works handles the job. But residents and business owners who find graffiti on their property are on their own, which is why neighborhood volunteers are so vital. “A lot of folks can take care of their own property, but it can happen to elderly folks or people who don’t have the wherewithal to abate that graffiti,” Frazier said. “Volunteers are out there to support those folks because homeowners can be cited (for graffiti) eventually by Metro Codes, and most of the time they are victims of the vandalism.” Birdsong hopes to build partnerships with area businesses so supplies needed to cover the graffiti can be donated. “Hopefully they will give up and move on to another area where their artwork is not going to be defaced like I am defacing it,” he said. Contact Nancy DeVille at 615-259-8304 or ndeville@tennessean.com