Saturday, November 05, 2005

Painting The Town Red

Mayor Oscar Goodman will always stand tall in Las Vegas for speaking his mind whether it gets him in trouble or not. Right now, it's undecided whether his comments about hacking the thumbs off vandals that have been spray-painting graffiti gang tags on the recent highway redevelopment project. (Wait, I don't see his thumb in that photo.) Although this is getting a lot of press, it hasn't been reported that Goodman talked about cutting off their hands last month during an interview on KXNT radio. The last time he got this much coverage was when he was doing a Q&A session with elementary school students. He said that one of his favorite hobbies was drinking and that the one thing that he'd want if stranded on a desert island would be a bottle of gin.

Although his words are extreme, something does have to be done about the vandalism of construction areas, billboards and public areas. Catching them is difficult but not enough is done when they are apprehended. Personally, if they are caught out past curfew doing this, I'd like to see them and their guardian spending the day repainting any of these areas. As a parent, your child shouldn't be out that late without your supervision and someone has to be responsible for their actions even if your child isn't old enough to be. I also think that everyone should know who you are as family honor seems to have disappeared in our culture. I know there are some people that believe this is a form of art. I worry about them. I see this as a growing town that is trying to beautify their highways, city streets and public buildings yet will have to put aside millions of dollars and hire people just to keep repainting these areas. Then again, I don't think people are ready for personal responsibility and they would rather use my tax dollars to clean up after someone else's hobby.

8 comments:

LoraLoo said...

Fabulous post, Martin. I've been thinking about this too. First, it's too bad Mayor Goodman gets so much bad press simply because he's not politically correct. I personally LOVE that he speaks from the hip. He's real, and I appreciate that about a politician. Second, something drastic should be done about graffiti, it's truly out of hand. I drive East on Carey every day to avoid the freeway in the morning; there are areas where homes are being built in a bad area in an attempt for affordable new housing - these homes (almost finished) have had all the windows broken out and are now littered with graffiti. I've also seen the graffiti on the brand new areas of the 95 - it sickens me.

Teri said...

I really like Mayor Goodman. It is so nice to have someone speak their mind and not worry about being politically correct. Ok, the gin thing didn't sit right with me, but it isn't going to stop me from voting for him next time.
I agree with you about having more parent responsibility for their child's "habits". Maybe parents will take an active interest in their child knowing that their own butts are on the line.

Lily said...

Well if he cut off their hands they could probably get disability. Which in the long run would cost more cleaning up the graffiti.

But by only cutting off their thumbs not only does it makes it really difficult to hold use a spray can, they can still go on to do other things in life. So I think he has made the right fiscal call by changing from hands to thumbs.

Bar L. said...

I love your idea of making the parent and the kid re-paint the vandalized area. That would probably put a stop to most of it.

Ken said...

Good points. While the Mayor's comments are extreme, it's clear that he's reached his tolerance point (no pun intended). Without hearing the actual interview itself, it's hard to say whether or not he's taken out of context in this sound-bite, CNN/FoxNews-based media environment.

This being said, I have to agree that we need to start making people responsible for their actions. If that means making parents responsible for their kids actions, so be it.

Fred said...

I'd rather have a guy like him that speaks from the heart than someone who speaks through a press secretary.

UnHoly Diver said...

I've heard him a couple times when he was on with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio('Herd knows him from his days in Vegas). He lets no sleeping dogs lie, for sure, and I find that quite refreshing.

RT said...

Daaang. I guess I'm gonna have to be the one that everyone worries about, lol. I actually like graffiti.

I remember driving along 15 and seeing all those drab gray walls... And then there would be a patch of bright pretty colors. Sometimes I would pay attention to the art (and I do consider it art) and sometimes I just enjoyed the sharp contrast to the landscape.

I still get to see it around here occasionally, like when a train passes by, but it's just not enough for me.

OK! So let the tar and feathering commence!