By Amanda Estes
Staff Writer
    South Portland police officers now have the authority to catch graffiti vandals before they leave their mark on public or private property. The city council unanimously approved the effective with passage ordinance, which fines vandals up to $250 for their first offense and up to $500 for subsequent offenses.
    “The business community is excited this is moving forward,” said Jim Soule. He said one local business owner promptly painted over graffiti on his building after Soule informed him about not only the ordinance, but that a local homeowner was having trouble selling his home because of its proximity to the building.
     At its April 18 meeting, the council voted to remove the graffiti nuisance property section of the ordinance in which property owners would also be responsible for paying fines if the graffiti was not removed within seven days of notification from the police department.
    Soule, who has been a proponent of beefing up the police department’s surveillance capabilities, also proposed a council order to allow the police department to spend up to $10,000 on new or rehabilitated cameras and software.
    At Linda Boudreau’s inquiry into where the $10,000 would come from, City Manager Ted Jankowski said most of the money would be homeland security funds and if needed, the contingency fund.
    Jankowski stressed the ordinance is a “comprehensive effort” to combat vandalism in the city. He said the Graffiti Task Force-made up of representatives from schools, businesses, the police department, and the public- would look for ways to educate and provide assistance with graffiti removal. Under the ordinance, minors possessing graffiti implements on or near school facilities and any person possessing implements near or on private or public property are subject to fines. Any person, other than a parent or guardian, providing a minor with graffiti implements is also violating the ordinance.