The “SPIN” graffiti tag has been seen by thousands of drivers each day as they head east down the Lincoln Alexander Parkway.

It’s unclear when it actually appeared, but it was first noticed by the Mountain News in mid-June, reported to the city on June 27 and was still there on Monday (July 19).

Alex Moroz, co-ordinator of the “Clean City” liaison committee, said Monday the report was lost in the shuffle, and no other complaints had been received, but the sign should be cleaned or replaced this week.

If it’s still there today (Thursday) it will have been 25 days since it was reported and would be in contravention of the city’s own bylaw, which generally requires such vandalism be eradicated within 14 days.

Ward 8 (west Mountain) Coun. Terry Whitehead said that's long been his concern when it comes to beefing up the city’s graffiti enforcement in a push for quicker removal.

“If we’re going to start enforcing it on the private sector, we better be sure we’re abiding by it ourselves,” he said.

The SPIN graffiti is not alone in the world of high-profile tags — the letters PAC, also reported via the city’s website form, have been on an Upper James exit sign west of West 5th for about the same length of time.

According to the city’s graffiti awareness website, where the public can report infractions, the new service standard is “removal within 72 hours of reporting.” The reasoning behind the quick cleanup is that the near-immediate removal is an effective deterrent to the vandals.

A survey of Mountain sites over the past month revealed mixed results:

• graffiti on a garbage can and sign at Matt Broman Park was cleaned promptly after it was reported June 28.

• spray paint on concrete barrier on east side of the West 5th overpass across the Linc was reported June 27 and cleaned by July 5.

• graffiti on the back of a stop sign on Skyland at Inverness was reported June 29, was still there on July 5, but gone by July 7.

• sprayed graffiti and scratched glass on an HSR bus shelter on Upper Sherman at Limeridge was reported on June 27, but still there Monday afternoon.

• green utility boxes at Sam Lawrence Park, on West 5th at Sonata and on Upper Sherman at Limeridge were reported June 29 yet still there Monday.

Tom Jackson, councillor for Ward 6 (east Mountain), said he was “livid” earlier this summer when he returned from a vacation to find out the city was playing hardball with a property owner, threatening a huge fine or seizing of a building for not complying with the property standards bylaw.

“This was my worst fear and worry and it came to fruition,” he said. “For all the good will and all the great work we’re doing to try and change behaviour and make people more aware to phone in and report graffiti, to change the image of the city, (it) undid so much of it with re-victimizing innocent victims — that's why I won't vote for shorter time periods."

The city, which spends about $2.3 million each year to clean up tags and litter, has put a high priority on graffiti eradication. It recently launched the graffiti-prevention program “Do You Know a Tagger?” and encourages members of the public to call 911 if they see someone in the act of spraying graffiti.

Kelly Barnett, who chairs Hamilton's graffiti working group, said the city is striving to lead by example and promptly clear up any graffiti on its property. When someone reports an incident, either via the city's main phone line or through its website, the information is given to the appropriate department.

“Generally it gets removed within 72 hours,” she said.

If it is not on city property, the owner is notified.

In 2009, there were 1,571 reports of graffiti, up from 677 the previous year. Statistics for this year are not available, Barnett said, but she expects that number to rise again.

The rising number doesn’t mean there is more graffiti, she said, but rather that residents know there is a place where they can file a complaint. As far as the SPIN sign, she said, sometimes the city needs a reminder if the problem isn’t resolved quickly.

“We are a large corporation and there are going to be times when we drop a ball, but if we can find out when those times are, then we are going to try to put measures in place to stop that from happening again,” she said.

But while the city strives to clean its own problems as soon as possible, it doesn’t have the resources to follow up on every report from the public about non-municipal property. “It’s very difficult for us to do that,” Barnett said, adding that some of the affected companies are also short on resources.

Which means there may not be any enforcement requiring cleaning of a graffiti-covered mailbox near Huntington Park school. That vandalism, still not cleaned, was reported to the city on June 28.

Tom Creech of Canada Post said the Crown corporation tries to react within 48 hours of getting a graffiti complaint, but it’s difficult to keep up with the vandals.

“Our boxes, in the eyes of some individuals, are canvasses,” he said, adding that Canada Post has taken measures to curb the graffiti vandalism in recent years by introducing multicoloured drop boxes.

“We’ve been aware of it and we’re a victim like any other utility has of this crime — and it is a crime.”

Ward 7 (central Mountain) Coun. Scott Duvall said it's necessary to remind the public graffiti is a crime. And the public has to push the province to enact tougher laws so it’s “more than a slap on the wrist.”

“We have to take a stronger stance on the person that gets caught destroying other people’s property,” said Duvall.