I’ve said it before—Portland’s way too hung up on graffiti, with plenty of citizens bent on completely eradicating the spray-painted scourge.

Now, the anti-graffiti citizen’s brigade is turning on kids’ chalk drawings. Thankfully, Marcia Dennis, the city’s anti-graffiti czar, suggests neighbors who’ve got a problem with kiddie art on the sidewalks should cool it—which is a refreshing change from Dennis’ usual no-tolerance stance.

Hello: I got a call from TRU (Telephone Report Unit)about people trying to make police reports for chalk ‘hopscotch’ on their sidewalks. Although chalk is listed as a “graffiti medium” and people can be arrested for tagging buildings with chalk, I don’t believe the City will act against kids playing a childhood game like hopscotch.

Sidewalks are a peculiar situation, as they are technically city-owned, but the business or residence owner whose property is adjacent/adjoining the sidewalk is responsible to maintain it…i.e., if a tree root causes the sidewalk to break or raise up, the property owner will be billed for the repair or made to have the repair done at their expense, even if the offending tree is NOT on their property.

If a neighbor is bothered by children writing in chalk in front of a house that is not their home, then it is a neighborhood issue and should be handled as such.

An example where the City will take action, if only a warning, is the case of a business (Jobdango.com comes to mind) writing their logo in curb cutouts and across the entire roadway for advertising purposes.

So, as the city becomes more and more inundated with real graffiti vandalism, I hope neighbors will give each other some slack when it comes to kids and games that have been around for a hundred years.

If not and if they’re too persistent, I guess you can refer them to me……………….

Thanks…

Marcia L. Dennis