Building Involved In Fatal West Bank Fire Was A "Graffiti Hotspot" Constantly Reported By This Blogger...

Contributed photo, 2010, blog post by John Hoff, photo shows
building at issue and is not a stock photo

When I saw mainstream media coverage of the fatal fire at 516 Cedar Ave. S., I thought the building looked eerily familiar. I did some checking and, sure enough, I know that building all-too-well as a graffiti hotspot that I've reported to 311 not once, not twice, but probably a couple dozen times. The building at 516 Cedar Ave. S. is the "master address," but other addresses (including 510 Cedar Ave. S., where the graffiti always appeared) are included in the master address. 

Click here for a blog post about the never-ending graffiti in August of 2010. In a follow-up blog posting in early September, I mentioned how the graffiti had been cleaned up, but had been hit AGAIN after being cleaned up and I'd reported it AGAIN. 

That was, in fact, the pattern. Graffiti would appear, I'd report it, and the graffiti would get cleaned up. Only to reappear. After a while, graffiti got paint slapped upon it WITHOUT being reported, but then there would be slack. Then I'd have to make reports again. I simply made a report whenever I saw graffiti. I knew the address by heart, so I could make the report while WALKING. 

Based solely upon my experience with the graffiti, I'd say stuff at that building was neglected and not taken care of in a timely fashion, but even I might conclude that draws too much inference from limited data. In any case...

Wow. That building was my little "mission from God." Each time I was in the area, I reported the graffiti. And, I must say, there was some attempt at painting a mural of flowers or something which seemed to repel the graffiti for a while, but only a little while. 

Snapping Back At The Snap Back Kids...

Contributed photo, xoxo, blog post by John Hoff

Nobody wants to JOIN to a gang these days, but plenty of kiddies seem to want to START a gang. The names, faces and tags of these juvenile gangs-of-the-week morph and change so fast that it's not accurate to say they won't be remembered years and years from now.

No, rather it is accurate to say they won't be remembered mere weeks from now. Their petty criminal efforts, their ridiculous tagging, their delinquent comradeships are as fleeting and meaningful as dog feces moments before a thunderstorm. They don't mean squat, they don't mean jack. They should be called Crap Jack Kids.

This latest piece of graffiti is near Logan and 27th Ave. N. and will have to be SANDBLASTED off the sidewalk...

The citizen who took this picture wanted me to have an opportunity to file a 311 report all the way from Afghanistan, just to say that I did.

Very well. I will be making a 311 report on this, momentarily.

All the way from Afghanistan, baby.

Old White Castle Lot Goes From Trash Problem To Graffiti Problem...

Contributed photo, blog post by John Hoff

There used to be big piles of trash in the vacant lot nat 718 West Broadway, which old Northsiders recall as the former White Castle location. This blog griped about the trash, lots of citizens called 311 and sent photos, and finally the trash problem was taken care of.

Now there's a new problem with the vacant lot...


Graffiti.

These cartoony letters don't look like North Minneapolis gang graffiti but rather tagger wannabes from the suburbs.

311 has been notified. How long until the problem is remedied? And then reappears? And then gets remedied again?

But here's how I look at it: after you mow the grass, the grass grows back. That DOES NOT mean you didn't do a good job mowing, or that you should give up mowing, or even that you should grow frustrated. Rejoice, for you have purpose and productive work.

Then again...

It is inevitable that one of these dark nights a car full of North Minneapolis neighborhood revitalizers will run into a car full of taggers from the suburbs, caught in the very act.

And when that happens, it will be a bad day to be a tagger from the suburbs.

A Never Ending Graffiti Battle Along The Light Rail Line...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

When I take the light rail line to pick up my 13-year-old son for visitation, meeting him at Mall of America, I make a point of racking up as many 311 calls as I can along my route. But once I see this building near Fort Snelling, I know I am beyond the jurisdiciton of the Minneapolis 311 system. All the same, the graffiti battle at this building fascinates me and has been the subject of a handful of blog postings, click here to pick up the virtual trail of writings.

Most recently, the building in question...

...has been the subject of repeated graffiti abatement efforts, but now the vandals have tried to hit the building with MUCH BIGGER LETTERS. If you look closely at the photo above, you can see where the paint-over took place at ground level, but the upper half of the building still bears graffiti scars.

Will the owners of the building literally rise to the challenge, and blot out this WHOLE NEW LEVEL of graffiti? I hope so. I will be observing their progress each time I pick up my son for weekend visitation.

311 The Hard Way--The Sequel To The Sequel!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

More than a year ago, I wrote about a graffiti-scarred building along the light rail line, and the difficulty of determining the address of the building and making a 311 report, click here. But I wasn't going to give up. SOMEBODY had to submit a report about that building, no matter how difficult the process.

Later, after some follow-up, I wrote another blog post about doing "311 the hard way," click here. Turns out the property isn't even in Minneapolis so it's outside of 311 jurisdiction, as discussed in comments on the previous story.

However, I'm pleased to report that, recently, the owners of the building (which I strongly suspect to be part of the kick-ass Fort Snelling facility) have been...

...slapping up anti-graffiti paint like it's going out of style. The picture at the top, taken about a week ago, tells the tale. In the meantime, however, the building has been hit again. But now the owners of the building seem to be into the spirit of revitalization, and never grow tired of painting over.

Hey, it's like mowing grass. Just because the grass grows back doesn't mean you despair. You just start all over, humming a happy tune.

My Little West Bank 311 Mission... (Summer Visitation 2010)

Contributed photo, xoxo, blog post by John Hoff

I never grow tired of calling 311. And when I say I NEVER GROW TIRED, I mean I'm quite willing to call dozens of times over the course of years as graffiti comes back...and comes back...and comes back.

I never grow irritated, at wit's end, or frustrated. I never feel despair at the way the task keeps growing back. It's like mowing grass. Do you despair because a week or so later, you have to mow it all over again?

This wall at 510 Cedar Ave. in the West Bank area is my little 311 project...

Obviously "Johnny Northside" doesn't live in the West Bank Neighborhood, but my philosophy is "wherever I am, that's my neighborhood" so if (for example) I'm out on the road trucking, and there's some issue which can be rectified with a word to a gas station manager, or a quick 911 call to the State Patrol of Whatever State, of course I'm going to make the effort EVEN IF I'M NOT SURE I WILL EVER PASS BY THIS WAY AGAIN.

It's like when I was a teenager, distributing Spanish copies of the New Testament in one of the toughest neighborhoods of Hermosillo, State of Sonora, Mexico, and one of our mission leaders showed us our territory on a map and said, "This is the area you are responsible for covering. YOU WILL ANSWER TO ALMIGHTY GOD FOR THIS AREA, SO DO YOUR JOB."

So we did our job with intensity--in rain, in dust, around mounds of burning garbage piles, holding our hands over our mouths and noses as we passed by the maggot-infested bodies of mongrel dogs that had been, it appeared, stoned to death--and we passed out those New Testaments to every house that wanted one.

I've never been back to that place. I'm not even sure how I would find it if I tried. If I wandered those barrios again, and came upon it by accident, I'm not sure how I'd know it was the same place. And yet in the back of my mind, I still believe, "I will answer to God for that neighborhood and the mission I was given there."

So it is that this wall at 510 Cedar Ave. has become my little project. I pass by it frequently as I move between the University of Minnesota and the light rail station on the West Bank area. In the last several months, it seems like the owners have become "trained" and they've figured out to slap paint over the graffiti BEFORE there is a complaint. I base this on how quickly the paint goes up, seemingly faster than my estimation of the speed of the 311 system.

And yet the graffiti returns, and yet I return to calling 311. There are many walls in this city scarred by graffiti, and I can't be responsible for ALL of them, but this one is different. This one I pass by frequently, and it comes to my attention, and so I feel like I must do something, I must be responsible for this wall. Again and again I get satisfying 311 results, but again and again the results fade in new onslaughts of graffiti.

But I don't give up. This is my territory, this is my mission, and at the end of the day, I feel fine with Almighty God.

Alex Hoff Seeks Out The Brilliant Street Artistry Of The Graffiti Tagger Known As "SHOCK"--Sarcasm Font! (Summer Visitation 2010)

Blog post and photos by John Hoff,

unless photo is otherwise specified

Recently, I was writing about the prolific graffiti vandal known as "SHOCK" and how graffiti vandals use social networking to document their acts on the internet...and how their use of social networking is so extensive that if authorities really WANTED to find the pathetic suburban emos responsible for graffiti, it wouldn't be very difficult. See, for example, the video above which some commenter on this blog drew to my attention.

I wasn't quite through picking on "SHOCK," though, and I thought I'd continue my critique of him...

On the last weekend I spent with my son, Alex, during our 5 weeks of summer visitation, we went on a little excursion to random places and I told Alex, "Keep an eye out for SHOCK's tag. I need a picture."

My son always takes these "lookout" missions seriously, at least when he thinks the mission is fun and he's into it, like when we go on "shoe patrol." Alex will watch intently for something and not break his watchfulness until that thing is found. So it wasn't very long before he found SHOCK's tags, including the one pictured above.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Tell me how this is art. Tell me how this is meaningful. This overgrown child scribbles his self-inflicted nickname on, well, everything. Currently, he is (quite arguably) the most prolific tagger in the Twin Cities. And here's why I bring that up...

The authorities have clearly made a decision to ignore taggers and concentrate on bigger crimes. And this makes economic sense. But the taggers have obviously figured out the lack of police priority, to the point they are happily documenting their crimes on the internet. So here is what I suggest:

Every year, or maybe every six months, or (during times when budgets aren't so tight) every three months, the authorities should figure out which Twin Cities tagger is both overly-prolific and well-documented on social media and GO AFTER THAT PARTICULAR TAGGER TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF HIM. (It might be helpful if various do-gooders made a point of tracking down the identity of the taggers via social media and just present their evidence to the police, social-media vigilante style)

This will send a chill through the tagger community. They will figure out it's best not to brag about your deeds on social media. They will think, "Better not to be TOO prolific, better not to overdo things." Perhaps they'll make a tactical decision to concentrate on the rail yards and STAY AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE URBAN LANDSCAPE, the part under the control of city authorities.

Driving the taggers away from the use of social media will help break the cycle which creates taggers. Clearly, social media contains "tagger propaganda" which encourages children of about my son's age to become taggers themselves. But thank God I never have to worry about my son. I never need to think, "When I come home, will Alex be away with his tagger buddies, wearing his pants below his ass and listening to emo bands like Hawthorne Heights?"

On a happier note, here are some photos of that excursion with my son who is NOT a tagger, NOT an emo and, God willing, never will be.

Contributed photo, xoxo

Here we're at the Jimmy John's on University Ave. in St. Paul. For the past half a decade, my son has refused to eat any Jimmy John's sandwich except a plain ham 'n' cheese, no condiments.

At a small Asian deli in Frogtown, I got some cheap chicken wings, only to be surprised by some kind of noodle stuffing. How did they even get those noodles INSIDE the chicken wing? Naturally, Alex wouldn't try this dish. Actually, my son is willing to eat a small bite of almost any new and exciting food...if somebody will pay him a dollar.

Contributed photo, xoxo

We went through all kinds of Asian grocery stores, looking for cans of bugs. (Bamboo caterpillars, ant larvae, that kind of thing) I was disappointed I couldn't find any cans of bugs to resupply my collection of canned insect cuisine. We did discover, to our amazement, that chickens have paws. Who knew?
A low-cost "exotic foods excursion" never fails to turn up something interesting and amazing. Here is a can of artichoke drink. Ah, cool refreshing artichoke drink. You're probably wondering what it tastes like? Well, it tastes similar to the white fungus drink sold in the same store, only not as sweet. I prefer the white fungus.

Jordan Area Community Council (JACC) Got Down To Serious Business Last Night (But Where Was Slumlord Keith Reitman?)

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Meeting at the Plymouth Christian Youth Center (PCYC) last night, the Jordan Area Community Council tackled an impressive laundry list of neighborhood issues, affirmed Michael "Kip" Browne as its Chair, and met in closed session over the latest frivolous grievance filed by Level Three sex offender Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer.

As discussed in a previous blog post, Rickmyer appears to be claiming his loathsome and disgusting "pedophile" status makes him a member of a protected class for purposes of discrimination, like race and gender.

Yup, just another fun-filled JACC meeting. Here's the rundown...

1.) City Council Member Don Samuels--who lives quite near JACC headquarters--would like to have office space at the "JACC house" so he can meet, conveniently, with constituents. JACC approved the request, unanimously.

2.) Vincent Thomas, the Director of Development at Kwanzaa Community Church in Minneapolis, spoke of his desire to provide a drop-in center for women involved in prostitution. The drop-in center would be on the 2100 block of Emerson Ave. N. This would allow the women to talk to social workers, use bathrooms, etc. in a comfortable space "instead of having to go all the way downtown" for the same services.

Expect more editorials on this topic, but the Irving Inquisition blog has a great example of what our neighborhood is enduring due to the presence of these so-called "sex workers," click here.

3.) David Snyder, a Community Organizer for Jewish Community Action, spoke of the need for more folks to help with door knocking as part of the ongoing outreach by the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition to help individuals experiencing mortgage problems to save their homes.

4.) There was a presentation on plans for the upcoming Minneapolis public schools headquarters. Impressive architectural drawings were circulated. Four individuals presented on this topic: former City Council president Jackie Cherryhomes, Todd Elkins of Urban Home Works, Mark Bollinger, the Executive Director of Facilities at Minneapolis Public Schools, and Lynn R. Littlejohn, Director of Community Affairs for Mortenson Construction.

Though many aspects of the project were covered, I was particularly interested in the fact some "public art" would be incorporated into the project. During the comment period, I spoke up and expressed a hope any such public art would be "tasteful" and not done in a style I would dub "contemporary urban dystopia," which celebrates the aesthetic of graffiti, decay, and lawlessness. I pointed out there were many individuals (Gratia Countryman comes to mind) who have made substantial educational contributions to Minneapolis, and have connections to the Northside. These individuals are deserving of tasteful statues in their honor. Or, to sum it up another way: ANYTHING BUT A GRAFFITI MURAL LIKE THE "TRIPPING COWS" ON THE SIDE OF THE KEMPS BUILDING.

5.) There was an extensive discussion on using "buy back dollars" to promote more police presence in the Jordan Neighborhood. The discussion got incredibly bogged down--and, it is fair to say, somewhat tense--over a desire by some members in the community to use bike and foot patrols only. It is fair to say "drive by policing" is a major concern and source of irritation in this neighborhood. When Jordan residents call police about a hooker on Penn Ave. N., we want the police to get out, check identification, do pat down searches, detain, and INTERACT INTENSELY AND INTERPERSONALLY WITH THE SUSPECTS, rather than making a "keep on moving" motion from behind their windshield while slowing down to five miles an hour.

6.) Three recommendations came from the Housing Committee. A.) Supporting the preliminary design proposal for the Minneapolis Public Schools headquarters building, B.) supporting a variance and conditional use permit for Alliance Housing/Gateway Lofts, C.) recommending JACC support the Lowry Avenue Strategic Plan and proposed zoning changes.

7.) Michael "Kip" Browne, serving as Chair in the wake of the resignation of Vladamir Monroe, was unanimously reaffirmed without opposition. Eric Johnson was appointed Vice Chair, without opposition, after two other board members declined nominations to the position of Vice Chair.

8.) The most exciting part of the night was closed to the public: dealing with Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer's latest frivolous and stupid grievance.

If I had to hazard a guess as to how the matter will be resolved, I'm guessing JACC will write a letter saying pedophilia is NOT a protected class, the grievance therefore has no basis, and Peter Rickmyer should go crawling back to whatever dark snake hole he crawled out of. (I'm paraphrasing the last part) Unless, of course, the grievance is just dismissed by the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department, which is what SHOULD have happened.

9.) A grievance filed by the Penn Gas Station was resolved. The gas station--which is a filthy hole where dubious activity takes place openly right in front of employees, see a recent blog post regarding THAT, click here--had its metaphorical pants all in a sweaty bunch over something that had been said in long-ago minutes about how the store had been raided by police. The comment had been made by some random community member during open commentary, and NOT by a board member.

The store denies it has ever been raided. JACC agreed to change the minutes to reflect the fact the store had never been raided. How this old, obscure portion of the minutes ended up in front of the store owners is not hard to guess. This may be a good time to mention Peter "Spanky Pete" Rickmyer has been known to work at the store.

The store, pictured above, recently laid down new blacktop in its parking lot, which will undoubtedly improve the store as much as lipstick will improve a pig.

10.) At the very end of the meeting, right before closed session, a relatively recent Jordan resident and proud home owner stepped forward and politely asked to join the board. She highlighted some experience serving on other boards, which she promised to document with a resume.

She was appointed to the board, conditionally, and must present documentation of her residency by the next board meeting.

The appointment is only good until October, when JACC board elections will be held again.

Oh, and on a final note: Slumlord Keith Reitman, who is a JACC board member and usually makes JACC board meetings, missed this particular meeting.

One can't help but suspect the heat is a little too hot in the kitchen for Reitman's tastes, but this is all Johnny Northside Dot Com can say at the present time about this matter.

Stay tuned as more information comes available.

Why Is It So Hard To Catch Graffiti Vandals When They Document Their Work All Over The Internet?

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Consider, if you will, the prolific graffiti vandal who calls himself "Shock." This guy paints his tag on almost anything that presents a flat surface. Considering how prolific this guy is, and how long he's been tagging stuff, he's probably done tens of thousands of dollars worth of property damage in the Twin Cities alone.

The owners of buildings and rail cars PREFER to have a uniform and decent paint job, rather than splashing any old thing on patches of tagging. So how does one reckon the damage done by tagging? Do you count the whole paint job which would be needed to fix the damage and make the damaged surface look perfect again? Or do you count the relatively minor cost of the "patch job," in terms of labor and materials? Do you count the anger and annoyance of property owners? Do you count the time of city officials to take reports and send out letters and inspection teams when property owners just throw up their hands and don't bother to get rid of graffiti? So prolific 311 callers like myself call it in?

No matter how you reckon up the cost, somebody like "Shock" does a lot of damage. So how much effort is actually put forward by authorities when it comes to catching somebody like Shock? Judging by the extensive trail of documentation to be found on the internet, where Shock and his tagger buddies show off their work...

It truly appears no authorities are looking for Shock, investigating Shock, trying to figure out the identity of Shock. This is hardly surprising when you consider how our city government has underfunded the Minneapolis Police Department, in what are admittedly tight and difficult times. I've heard, for example, there are 700 white collar crime investigations which have their own file. And there are only two Minneapolis police officers handling those 700 files. Individuals who approach the police about embezzlement, mortgage fraud, etc., are reportedly told to "get in line."

So what does it matter that Shock and his friends take pictures of their tagging, pictures of themselves posing with tags or actively tagging, and these pictures are posted in numerous places on Flickr.com along with extensive discussion or commentary?

Check this out. GO TO THIS LINK I'M ABOUT TO GIVE YOU. Click on some of the pictures of tagging by "Shock" and follow the little electronic trails to the numerous Flickr.com profiles to see who is taking pictures of Shock's tagging, who is commenting on it, and what's being documented in their own pictures. Ready? OK, go to this link for a while, click here.

Given the wide, well-lit trail to clues about the identity of Shock and dozens of other taggers, it's apparent that if the authorities WANTED to find Shock and arrest him (along with dozens of his friends) it wouldn't be THAT difficult to follow the electronic trail of breadcrumbs right to their suburban bedrooms where they slumber beneath band and movie posters, dreaming pathetic emo dreams of smoking sticky bud and painting rail cars.

There is, however, apparently no political will to apprehend taggers unless a squad car rolls right into them, can of spray paint in hand. And, honestly, I'd prefer to see white collar mortgage fraudsters prosecuted first, but here's the thing: there aren't THAT many taggers. The trail of clues is EASY.

How much effort would it take for the authorities to locate, arrest and prosecute taggers IF THEY REALLY WANTED TO? And if the police aren't going to do it, who will? Do coalitions of businesspeople need to hire private detectives, file lawsuits? What? What needs to happen?

Some months ago, while out doing my on again, off again trucking job, I rolled through Cincinnati, Ohio. This is a town where the city fathers have apparently just thrown up their hands, and let the taggers win. From the highway, Cincinnati looks ugly and post-apocalyptic because there's so much graffiti. But it's not that difficult for Minneapolis to start looking like Cincinnati if decent people just give up, and let the taggers win.

Recently, Shock left a taunting message to city officials. They should save their money, he has nothing but time. A message like can be translated thusly: I AM JUST BEGGING YOU TO MAKE AN EXAMPLE OUT OF ME. IT'S NOT ENOUGH THAT I DAMAGE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROPERTY WITH IMPUNITY, I WILL ALSO TAUNT YOU WITH MY LAWLESSNESS AND MAKE MYSELF OUT TO BE SOME KIND OF URBAN LEGEND.

I say find Shock, and give him some time. Some time in a correctional facility. Some time picking up trash. Some time painting over tags, starting with all his own tags, so well documented on Flickr.com. Of course, maybe Shock can get some kind of plea bargain in exchange for the identities of numerous other taggers.

One can only hope.

The Prolific Graffiti Vandal Known As "Shock" Taunts Property Owners, Police...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Anybody who pays attention to graffiti in Minneapolis knows one of the most prolific current taggers uses the handle "Shock." His tags are everywhere and have been for a couple of years, now. Of course, up here in North Minneapolis we don't have a lot of graffiti because, as everybody knows, the most prolific taggers are spoiled suburban emos, and most spoiled suburban emos are afraid to set foot in North Minneapolis unless they're in a car full of friends trying to score weed.

But I consider the North Loop neighborhood to be part of the Johnny Northside Dot Com beat, and recently in North Loop I came across the following message which Shock left for a property owner who--so it appears--had repeatedly painted over graffiti.

"SAVE YOUR MONEY, I'VE GOT NOTHING BUT TIME."

Why, I wonder, can't...

...prolific graffiti vandals like Shock be caught and arrested? I mean, honestly, they hit the same spots over and over. How hard would it be to set up bear traps? (Um, cameras! I meant to say CAMERAS!)

Actually, my main beef against graffiti vandals is NOT the fact they damage property. Even though "paint overs" look ugly, the amount of actual property damage is relatively little if property owners will simply accept the fact "paint overs" are the way to handle graffiti, instead of re-painting an entire building or tediously trying to match paint.

No, my beef is the fact graffiti vandals have very little to say except their made-up names, over and over, like the Pokemon characters my kid watches, sometimes, during Saturday morning cartoons. Like, OK, your fake, made-up name is "Shock." I get it. But, um, WHY is your name is "Shock?" What is so "shocking" about you? Nothing, as far as I can see. What you do is not shocking, but pointless.

If urban graffiti artists were saying something clever or thought provoking or politically radical, then I might think, "Well, this is the only way they can scream their radical message to the world." But graffiti is saying NOTHING of value or substance, absolutely NOTHING. In all the years "Shock" has been tagging, this message on this wall is the first time I've seen him use an actual SENTENCE.

So I want to say, "Come on, Shock, don't leave us hanging, here. Use more words. Tell us what is the freaking POINT?"

On another note, the City of Minneapolis has been tolerating "vigilante graffiti abatement" of the kind practiced by Ed Kohler of The Deets blog and, to a much smaller degree, myself. (Honestly, if I'd had some spray paint in my vehicle, I would have painted over Shock's message right then and there)

I think Minneapolis should make it easier to get graffiti cleaned up by volunteers. Property owners could designate buildings troubled by graffiti as "free fire abatement zones," meaning any good citizen would be authorized to paint over graffiti without bothering to ask or consult with the owner...like I was ready to do, then and there, with Shock's little missive to the world.

Minneapolis is a city filled with citizens who are both clever and concerned. Surely there is a way to win this petty battle against angst-filled suburban emos with too much time and paint on their hands?

Anti-Police Anarchist Graffiti Hits The Home Of A North Minneapolis Revitalizer...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Several days ago, somebody went through an alley in the Jordan Neighborhood and hit almost every garage in the alley with graffiti. The skulk-in-the-dark cowardly scum had the nerve to put the word "Warriors" on one garage. On the garage door of one particular citizen--known far and wide as one of the "revitalizer" crowd trying to make North Minneapolis better and safer, and an ardent supporter of Police Chief Dolan--the spray paint said "Bitch."

Across the alley, it said...

...well, you can see what it said from the photo.

I wonder who did this? Hey, let's do some bloggy CSI profiling, shall we?

OK, first of all, they don't believe in law and order. They might even be ANARCHISTS.

Oh, and based on the "5-0" remark, clearly they are anti-police.

So I'm thinking...

Anti-police anarchists?

On a side note:

It's my opinion. So Sue me. You know who you are.

Battling Graffiti On The New Northstar Line...

Photo by John Hoff

Jeff Skrenes--who, a moment ago, posted video about the most recent Hawthorne Huddle--passed on some information which was related to him at that meeting from County Commissioner Stenglein, which Stenglein asked SPECIFICALLY for Jeff to pass on to Johnny Northside.

It turns out that before the new Northstar Rail Line was fully up and running, County Commissioners and other dignitaries took a ride on the planned route...

Naturally, they saw the incredible amount of graffiti along the route which I complained about in a previous blog post, click here. And, of course, these public officials said, "Something needs to be done about all that graffiti!" So, as it turns out, the Northstar route was scrubbed clean of graffiti shortly before it opened.

However, faster than crabgrass the graffiti came back, and now it looks as bad as ever. Word is the authorities are determined to clean up the graffiti on the route and will be making a renewed effort.

Personally, I submitted an email to 311 complaining about graffiti along virtually the entire Northstar rail route. If I ride the Northstar and see graffiti, I will do that again. And again. And again. I hope other public-spirited citizens who ride the Northstar and see graffiti would continue to report it as well.

For that matter, heck, call it in while you're on the BUS LINE. What else is there to do while riding the bus?

So-Called "Mural" Finally Gets Painted Over On West Broadway...

Photo By John Hoff

Months ago, I called 311 on some graffiti on West Broadway, a big "tag" (piece of graffiti) on top of a vacant furniture store which read (if I recall correctly) "SICK SHOCK."

To my amazement, I received an email reply from the 311 system, bearing a response I'd never had before to calling in graffiti, something I do almost daily, and sometimes half a dozen times a day.

Waiting at a bus stop? Time on my hands? Call in the graffiti. Call in the potholes. Call in the vacant yards needing to be mowed. Do something useful instead of twiddling thumbs, waiting for the bus.

But a response on this tag took a long time, And then, finally, I got a very odd message from the 311 system...

Supposedly, the plain black and white letters saying "SICK SHOCK" were somebody's idea of an artistic mural. Strange but true! 

I could hardly believe this response. I was getting set to call the office of Don Samuels (who actually responds to our neighborhood needs, though he's not Hawthorne's council person) and say to him, "Don, what's up with THIS? How can they call this crap a MURAL? Isn't there some kind of committee to decide this stuff and overrule a designation like that?"

So, yeah, I was ready to contact Don Samuels and say all that stuff when, unexpectedly and inexplicably, the graffiti just got painted over and disappeared. After they claimed it was a mural...they just painted it over.

Well, no matter. Maybe somebody just got some good sense. Maybe graffiti will finally stay off that wall. I'm not holding my breath, though. 

Life Is Good In The Hawthorne Eco Village

All Photos by John Hoff, except second

from top by Jeff Skrenes


Every now and then, our neighborhood housing director, Jeff Skrenes, just walks around and checks progress in the Eco Village, which is the major cluster project of the Hawthorne Neighborhood.

Even though things in that area have improved by leaps and bounds--including a recent month with NO CRIME RECORDED--it's good to walk around with a friend, particularly when a backhoe is knocking down a house and some of the remnant holdout crackheads are skulking about next door, looking VERY UNHAPPY, realizing at some level this is the END OF AN ERA and refuge for crackheads isn't really something included in NRP Phase II.

So, anyway, I was Jeff's backup during this "walking audit" of the Eco Village...


Here's a little tour in photos. In the first photo, Jeff emerges from 3011 6th St. N., which is owned by PPL and will be "bid out" in April as a MURL project. This is a fine house with great potential, and anybody would be proud to live in a house like that, once it's all rehabbed.


The second photo was a "trippy image" produced by Jeff trying to take a picture through the front window of the interior features at 3011, including a mirror on the buffet.

In the third photo, Jeff is talking on the phone to PPL, letting them know another one of their houses has graffiti all over the retaining wall. In cases where we know the owner--in this case, PPL--both Jeff and myself refrain from calling 311 and, instead, call the owner of the property to take care of the issue.

Next, some kind soul keeps leaving out cat food for the strays at 3020 4th St. N. The following photo of Jeff scowling is because he's calling in about the sign on the tree. You're not supposed to nail signs to trees. Jeff called 311, then he called the number on the sign. After pumping out as much info as he could about the vacant lot, Jeff informed the person who answered the phone about the need to remove the sign. It was, however, some kind of answering service.

I was all, like, "Jeff, look the other way for a second and I'll take care of the sign." Jeff said, "I don't want to do things that way."

Next, the "stick photo" is at 422 30th Ave. N., an old brick house with a wrecked interior which appears to have a hot date scheduled with the Backhoe Of Doom. Somebody had pushed a stick down to the basement window, which could be manipulated into an open position. Both me and Jeff were momentarily mystified. What was the point of opening the window when nobody could get past the little cement wall?

I speculated that somebody on the exterior could open the window to yell to somebody inside or pass small objects through the window. This house has been raided before as a place where gangs stash drugs. Jeff said, "Let's pull that stick out of the window." So we did, for whatever temporary good THAT will do.

If this house gets demolished, I certainly hope some of the bricks will be salvaged.

In the next photo, Jeff sees some geeky mortgage technicality on some paperwork affixed to the exterior. That delighted expression is the look Jeff gets when talking about mortgage technicalities.

In the next photo, Jeff photographs the Backhoe of Doom (not seen in the picture) from right in front of the crack house at 3020 6th St. N., which is in its last days before final eviction of renters after the end of foreclosure and redemption. How many HUNDREDS of crackheads have we watched go through that door?

In the next two photos, things you bring to a demolition: a chainsaw in the truck bed, which is full of cans to be recycled. A water hose to keep down the dust...though nothing ever REALLY keeps down the dust. The fire hose is there to pay homage and respect to the DESIRE to keep down the dust, rather like speeding cars pay homage and respect to stop signs but do not come to a full and complete stop.

In the next photo, "the Polish lady" gave me and Jeff freshly made Polish sausage, knowing we get so involved in neighborhood revitalization sometimes we simply FORGET TO EAT. Every time a building gets demolished in the Eco Village, Jeff and I get Polish sausage.

Next, Jeff greets "Miko," the Polish lady's Husky. Beneath that, Jeff poses with the demolition dude, who seemed interested to learn a Level 3 Sex Offender recently lived in 3024 6th St. N. Somehow, I figured that piece of information would give him an additional sense of satisfaction and "job well done" as the building was smashed to toothpicks.

The lawn sign photo was taken at 3101 6th St. N., the old "Apartment Complex of Anarchy." While "3024" was demolished, rich black dirt was spread at 3101, then planted with grass seed.

Recently, I heard that one year, more than 900 phone calls to 911 were made from the Eco Village area. In contrast, the tough part of 6th St. where folks like Michael Klick and Brian Cheese are holding down the fort has never racked up more than approximately 600 phone calls a year to 911.

The last photo says it all. Here is where the crime, the slummy decay, the social problems that once haunted the Eco Village are heading.

To the dump.

My 311 Trophy Building

The graffiti on this building is visible on West Broadway, and has been since...well, since I started hanging around in North Minneapolis. So about a year. Well guess what? Nobody...

...had called this in to 311. I had often wanted to make the call, but the building was in a scary location, and the number (partially broken) wasn't very visible from the street. But a few days ago I was, like, what the heck...I'm going over there, I'm getting the number, and I'm calling it in. I honestly expected there would already be a report, given the prominent location and how long the graffiti had been there. But there was not report.

Well, there is now.

When people talk about West Broadway, and how rundown it is, and how it needs to be revitalized...they're pretty much talking about buildings like this one.

Wow, what a 311 trophy. I wonder where I can get it stuffed and mounted?

My Little "311 Art Shows"

Photos By John Hoff

I've fallen into a kind of routine with the 311 system...

I walk around with my camera and--as blog readers can see--I take a lot of pictures. I'm hardly ever without my camera, except by mistake. So, obviously, I have my camera with me when I encounter graffiti.

Most of the graffiti I see is NOT in North Minneapolis. We have a lot of different issues in North Minneapolis, but graffiti doesn't even make the top ten. In fact, it seems like most graffiti is not done by real gangsters but little "wannabe gangsters."

So I take pictures of the graffiti, almost casually and without thinking about it, taking mental note of the locations. At some point, when I'm sitting down with my computer doing WHATEVER, I just start firing off emails to the 311 system, attaching the images.

(Yeah, naturally I have 311 in my "address book." The email address, in case anybody wants it RIGHT NOW, is minneapolis311@ci.minneapolis.mn.us)

I don't know these business addresses by heart, so I look locations up before writing emails. In the photos above, top to bottom, the Triple Rock Social Club on the West Bank, a dumpster behind the Loring Pasta Bar, and 806 Washington Ave. SE. These are some email 311 reports I made yesterday. I hope the 311 workers enjoy my photos. I try to make the photos both informative (for documentary purposes) as well as expressive, like a little art show contained within an email attachment.

I sometimes think it would be really fun if there were incentives to call 311. For example, you could get an online "game piece," then play some kind of Monopoly Game for fabulous prizes. Each piece would represent a business or private property where a graffiti call was made. Right now, I'd be in control of a serious portion of the West Bank and Dinkytown. On the basis of calling in unsecured doors, I'd own a serious chunk of North Minneapolis. Who would pay for the incentives? A partnership between government and private business.

Yeah, incentives would be nice...but the real reward happens when you contact 311, and then the graffiti MAGICALLY DISAPPEARS. And you rejoice in a feeling of good citizenship.

And then graffiti comes back. But that's OK...you just call or email again. And again. It's like mowing the lawn. You don't get angry because the grass grows back.

You just sigh...and mow it again.

People might say, "How is there TIME to do this?" Well, in my observation, almost everybody has a serious chunk of time dedicated to messing around online. It's really just a matter of making that time productive.

Great Housewarming Gifts! (Well, When They Work)

Jennifer The Flipper buys a lot of houses, and every time she gets some kind of "housewarming" package...

A recent package included two "free rides" on Metro Transit. Jennifer lives in a suburb and doesn't really ride the bus a lot, so she gave the passes to Jeanie Hoholik, who passed the passes to me. So, yeah, those little slips of paper were getting handed around like a jar of prison-made "pruno."

The instructions on the coupons say to insert them into the light rail ticket machines, just like currency. I tried it. Didn't work. I called the Metro customer line. They explained the ticket machines are sometimes "glitchy" like that. Uh huh. They told me to go ahead and ride.

I paid for a ticket, anyway, because I didn't want to be in one of THOSE conversations with a transit officer. "But, officer, I was TOLD by some guy at the customer service line..."

Yeah, right. Here's your $200 fine.

A Civic Bodhisattva

It is my destiny to be a kind of glitch-magnet, because I'll always try to make the system fix itself, email a public official, etcetera. The universe wants to evolve and become more enlightened, so it notices people like me and guess what? I'M A GLITCH MAGNET.

So here's what I started doing: every time I rode the light rail, I tried to make the coupons work. And every time they didn't, I called it in. I did this, like three times. Well, one time I had to call in the fact the machine wasn't working AT ALL. The screen was not functioning.

Some people stand on a rail platform and wait, and get nothing accomplished at all. But there's always an opportunity to squeeze in another cell phone call helpful to your neighborhood, to send a text message, or add phone numbers to your directory or--good heavens--notice something amiss and call 311, or the Metro Transit Customer line or--heaven forbid--911.

Today the ticket machine finally accepted the coupons and issued me a transfer. I used it to go pick up my 11-year-old son in Burnsville.

My 311 Efforts THWARTED!!! CURSES!!!!!!!!

All along the light rail, there are instances of graffiti. But it's hard to call it in. How can you know the address of a building when you are just whizzing by on a train? Yet the light rail route is full of graffiti, contributing to a feeling of "civic disorder" among the passengers, a feeling that "anything can happen" along the route.

Yeah, I believe in the "broken windows" theory. I don't like the way people such as former Seattle City Attorney Mark "The Devil" Sidran have applied it, but I do believe the theory, absolutely.

"Alex," I said to my son today. "You know what would be cool? To ride a bike all along the light rail route, and call in the graffiti visible from the light rail. I mean...clean up the whole route, you know? So none of the passengers would have to see that crap."

My son didn't think the idea was cool at all. This from a kid who reads the Star Tribune on the light rail, and gets all excited about a story concerning a TAX AUDIT.

This is how I plan to lose weight when warm weather comes: riding a bike and making scores of 311 calls along my routes.

But, please, anybody should feel free to steal my idea.

The Gangster Cam Is Dead! LONG LIVE THE GANGSTER CAM!!!!

Photos By Unknown Individuals In Possession
Of Camera Now Owned By John Hoff

So I had to replace another camera. It was all Brian Thao Worra's fault. I was trying to take his picture, and he crossed his arms over his chest, self-conscious. I said something like, "Oh, don't do this thing, here," and energetically imitated Bryan's gesture...well, the camera in my hand went flying and...

...it was just a cheap little thing I bought at a pawn shop, and it broke. I called that camera "the gangster cam" because of the identity of its last owner, revealed clearly enough in the pictures left on the memory card, click here for a blog post.

So I had to replace the cheap $29 HP camera with ANOTHER cheap $29 HP camera, though I was willing to go as high as $39. There was only one other requirement, in addition to being CHEAP and being an HP. I also wanted some cool pictures on the memory card. Pictures of GANGSTERS.

Once again, my favorite St. Paul pawn shop had exactly what I wanted. Pictured here are some--certainly not all--photos from the memory card.

The photos appear to tell the story of a party at a sad, run-down apartment complex. I suspect the location is in St. Paul, based simply on where I bought the camera.

Several photos are taken in the parking lot, like the first photo, top. However, throughout the night's events, little children are present. People pose with the children, they take pictures of the children individually and in groups, and then the adults return to drinking, dancing, scoring (what appears to be) drugs out of a passing car, tagging, flashing gang signs, etcetera.

Photo, top: one of the party participants, posing on a vehicle. Second from top, somebody poses with (fresh?) graffiti outside the door of the apartment complex. Look at that expression of pride in the face. That's the look of a proud artisan.

Third from the top, a group of children enter the building where the party apparently took place. Out of numerous photos including the children, this is one of the "least identifiable" which is why I picked it for inclusion. Whatever adults do, it's not the fault of the children.

Next, flashing a gang sign near a vehicle.

In the following photo, upper right corner, the guy with cornrow braids who was next to the vehicle appears to be looking intently at...some substance? In plastic? Or is he just punching some kind of small, hand-held device?

Next, four photos...flashing gang signs, dancing with a booze bottle and money. Closer examination of the photos with the money reveals the currency to total a mere $40, in the form of two $20 bills. Sad signs of the "George Bush Recession." Good heavens, I remember when only $100 dollar bills, or at least a THICK wad of lesser denominations, were worth waving around while dancing to gangster rap.

Smoke drifts languidly through the air like strands of rope...and as the night goes on, the booty shaking only grows more intense.

The very last photo was not taken the day of the party. It is an image from inside the pawn shop where I purchased the camera, perhaps taken by a pawnshop employee to establish this was a working camera.

Well, this "gangster cam" now has a new life. I'm sure it will eventually get broken like all my other cameras, but when it goes down it will go down in the cause of neighborhood revitalization.

The old gangster cam is dead. Long live the new gangster cam.

2207 4th St. N. Cleans Up Its Act

Photo By John Hoff

There has finally been a positive development with 2207 4th St. N., the "condemned party house" situation which I wrote about here, and also here. (Click for links)

No sense dragging it out for drama: the graffiti got cleaned up. It appears to have been done at the last minute, right before the abatement order would have taken effect. However, I should note there appears to be a decent, good-faith effort made to match the paint with the color of the wood instead of slapping on any old thing. So....good.

The neighborhood is pleased to see progress and somewhat hopeful the initial situation may have been an aberration and misunderstanding about the community standards in this part of North Minneapolis.

This is what happens when we communicate and coordinate. We win. We take back our neighborhood. We turn things around.

(Do not click "Read More")