Graffiti concerns

Our hope in printing the photo is to let those responsible know that graffiti is not just a harmless prank. It is a crime being taken seriously by those victimized, and the police are focusing on catching those responsible and prevent future incidents. Further, citizens need to be aware that this is going on, so they can be on the alert and report suspicious activities to the Police Department or the Klickitat County Sheriff's Office.

As we noted in our coverage, we believe the recent attack on the Artisan's building was especially hurtful. Just about two months ago, the owners of Artisan's nearly lost their building to the fire that destroyed Roz Gallery and Blue Ackerman Photography Studio. That was traumatic enough, and now that there is an empty lot on either side of their building, to have vandals use it to spread ugly graffiti is really salt in the wound.

Everyone who cares about White Salmon's downtown business district needs to be on the alert for graffiti vandalism, and quickly report any incidents to police. And property owners need to swiftly cover over the graffiti (after the police have had a chance to respond), because that has been proven to be the best way to get rid of this blight: If someone's "handiwork" is going to be quickly covered, it generally eliminates the incentive to leave graffiti in the first place.

Nevertheless, to err on the side of caution, we don't plan to publish any pictures of graffiti in the future. Police Chief Brending's point is well taken, and we want to make sure no one is being motivated by the hope of getting in the newspaper.

In a related topic, the city of White Salmon needs to seriously consider what will become of the two vacant lots on either side of Artisan's. Besides the deplorable vandalism now being left on the exposed walls, the newly-razed empty lot there is going to turn into a mudflow as soon as the hard rains hit. That mud is going to run downhill and into the alley behind the remnants of the burned building, and it could create quite a mess. This needs to be addressed soon -- and hopefully before the rainy season arrives.

White Salmon always seems to be strapped for cash, we realize. But if no one is going to build there, rather than have two eyesore lots on either side of an active business, city leaders need to transform one of those derelict lots into a park. And the sooner the better.

Here are two vital questions for our city's leaders: How much is our city's downtown business district worth? And how many decades has it been now that the lot between Collage of the Gorge and Artisan's has been sitting empty?

JB