Photo by Craig FritzTribune

Tribune

Angelo Lucero cleans off a tag on a mailbox in a neighborhood in Northwest Albuquerque. Lucero has been a graffiti technician since the removal program began in 1994.

Photo by Craig FritzTribune

Tribune

Angelo Lucero makes his way back to his truck after cleaning graffiti off playground equipment in the Stonebridge subdivision in far northwest Albuquerque, just south of Rio Rancho. One of 18 graffiti technicians employed by the city, Lucero does 40-50 jobs a day to help meet a goal of cleaning up the paint sprays within 24 hours of receiving a report from a city resident.

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Scrawls of graffiti deface light pole after light pole along a busy Albuquerque street.

Angelo Lucero, 36, approaches the vandalized metal trunks one at a time, wielding nothing more than a can of spray paint. With one finger, he softly presses the button on the top of the can, releasing a cloud of silver mist that instantly settles onto the metal.

It seems as if the graffiti was never there. The light pole magically looks like new.

But it's not magic. It is merely aluminum spray - one of the essential tools of the trade for Lucero, a graffiti technician for the city of Albuquerque.

It is Lucero's job to clean up graffiti within a 24-hour period after it is reported.

Besides the can of aluminum spray paint, Lucero's arsenal includes a rag, a spray-on cleaner and variety of colorants for stuccoing or painting walls. His office is a white Chevy truck.

In his case, Lucero is responsible for the section between Monta¤o Road and Westside Boulevard.

The city's graffiti crew is divided among 11 different sections of Albuquerque. Some sections have two technicians assigned to keep them clean. Others will soon be divided into smaller areas, Lucero said.

The city's Graffiti Removal Program began in 1994. Lucero's been with the unit since its inception.

"I'm one of the originals," said Lucero.

Not just a painter

You would think combing the city with cleaners and spray paint doesn't require many skills. But it's just the opposite.

"We look to see if they have at least one year of professional painting experience, a journeyman's license and good people skills, such as experience meeting with neighborhood associations," said James Mora, the city's graffiti manager. "We want a go-getter who has speaking skills and is willing to make a difference in the community."

Lucero said the job fit him perfectly.

After graduating from Albuquerque High School, Lucero got his start working as a commercial and residential painter with a journeyman's license. But he was attracted to the city job because of the benefits.

Among them: city workers can retire in 26 years at 80 percent of their pay; they get health insurance (the city pays 80 percent, workers pay 20 percent); and city workers get uniforms (five pairs of pants, five shirts and a boot allowance).

To top it all off, the city graffiti technicians get to drive around in nice Chevy work trucks.

"I'll tell you what, the best place to work in the whole city is in the Solid Waste Division," Mora said. "We have good employees, good management and we're heading in the right direction."

Keeping the city clean

On a typical day, Lucero spends some of his time driving around looking for graffiti that needs to be cleaned up. But most of his stops are those that have been made by citizens calls or e-mails to the city's Citizen Contact Center.

"It varies, but on a busy day, I do about 40 to 50 jobs," Lucero said. The most challenging time of the year for graffiti cleaners is summertime, when kids are out of school.

If it's before 2 p.m. on any day, Lucero will receive a report over his radio and will attend to the location immediately.

Calls made after 2 p.m. are printed on a Daily Blitz Log, which Lucero will use to plan his locations the following day.

Lucero said he rarely works overtime. His workday starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. And if he's in a pinch and has to leave early or take a day off, other technicians are always willing to lend a hand.

There are a variety of ways to clean up graffiti, depending on how big the area is and what type of surface has been defaced.

If the job is small, such as scrawls on a stop sign, Lucero merely has to squirt on a chemical dissolvent and wipe the graffiti off with a rag, using all the effort that one would use when cleaning a dirty window.

Other jobs take more serious artillery.

"The worst is when they get together and do a `collage' of tagging," Lucero said. "There's times these guys will go out and tag a whole stretch of businesses all in different colors."

In instances like this, Lucero calls in a high-powered washer to blast the vandalized walls with water in an attempt to wash the thin paint off the hard surface.

If the washer is unsuccessful, then the surface must be painted.

This is where Lucero's buckets of tint come in. He mixes the appropriate colors together with a white base to match the original color of the marked surface as closely as possible.

Sometimes, property owners would prefer to do the cleanup. If that's the case, the property owner must complete the job within the same 24-hour time frame.

"Most people are pretty good about doing it when they say they're going to," Lucero said. "But if they don't, it's no big deal. The city will just come and do it. That's our job."

Sometimes, Lucero comes across huge murals.

"I remember one arroyo back in 1995 where someone painted all the characters from Iron Maiden," Lucero said. "It was the first time that I didn't want to have to cover (the graffiti) up. But you gotta do it."

Lucero said that he takes a lot of pictures of the artistic pieces as a way of preserving them. He said he wishes true graffiti artists would ask for permission from business owners so that more people could appreciate their artwork.

"I used to come across a lot of artwork in the University area," Lucero said. "It's a different type of crowd there. I think they are more artistic with their graffiti there than in any other part of the city."

Lucero said the worst scenario is when he cleans up a big job only to see it covered with graffiti all over again the next day. He said the most difficult area on his route is Kachina Street and San Ildefonso Drive in Northwest Albuquerque.

"It becomes like a war between them and us," Lucero said. "I get cursed at all the time in that area when I'm in my (work) truck."

Sometimes, Lucero catches kids in the act.

"You get this jittery feeling, like you really want to go get Õem," Lucero said, visibly cringing at the thought. "But there's nothing you can do except call (the Albuquerque Police Department)."

The removal program is seeing a lot of success. It has been honored as a "Best Practice" by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Despite the recognition, Mora said the city still has some work to do to combat the graffiti problem.

"We need everybody to help us by calling into 311 (the Citizen Contact Center)," Mora said. "Because otherwise graffiti is like a cancer, it just spreads."

Another challenge, Lucero said, is the pay. Technicians earn around $32,000 a year. Graffiti technicians also get longevity pay: $50 a week after five years and $100 a week after 10 years, Mora said.

Despite these few setbacks, Lucero said he enjoys going to work every day because of the job security, his co-workers and the independent nature of his job.

"It's good to be out here and around," Lucero said. "I couldn't be locked up in an office. There is no way."