City officials have ordered a 102-year-old wheelchair-bound California man to clean up spray-painted graffiti on his fence or face a fine of several thousand dollars.
FOX 2 in San Francisco reported that Victor Silva Sr., 102, often finds graffiti painted on the fence of his Oakland home, where he has lived and paid taxes for 80 years.
In early March, Silva received a city violation citation from Oakland, ordering him to remove the graffiti by Tuesday, March 19, or face a fine of $1,100, plus $1,277 for each reinspection failed.
His daughter-in-law, Elena Silva, told this channel that the situation was “absurd”.
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City officials asked Victor Silva Sr. of Oakland, Calif., to clean up graffiti on his fence. (FOX 2 San Francisco)
“It’s like a joke,” she said. “If you drive around town and see graffiti everywhere, I just don’t know what to say.”
Victor Sr. said that when he was younger, he painted graffiti himself, using only a roller and brush.
“It was very easy because I was an entrepreneur,” he said. “I'll be 103 in about two months. It's slowed things down a bit, you know.”
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City officials asked Victor Silva Sr. of Oakland, Calif., to clean up graffiti on his fence. (FOX 2 San Francisco)
His son, Victor Silva Jr., 70, these days helps cover up graffiti that some consider urban art.
Silva Jr. told the station that it was difficult to track graffiti because once covered, new graffiti quickly appeared.
A large utility box located across the street from Silva's home was reportedly covered in six types of graffiti.
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An Oakland, California, man's fence was cleaned of graffiti after authorities threatened to fine him thousands of dollars. (FOX 2 San Francisco)
Crime in Oakland is on the rise and several stores have closed their doors or changed the way they do business due to the number of retail thefts and other crimes being committed.
Silva Jr. said the family owns a small business that has been burglarized three times in the past year, and in one case he found a person inside.
Each time, Silva Jr. called 911 and was put on hold.
“So it’s hard to understand where our tax money is going,” he said. “They can’t answer 911, but they can come and bother you about the fence.
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“I would hate to think that there is [are] other 100-year-olds who are harassed like this,” he added. “Oakland needs to change. The system doesn't work.”
The station said it was contacted by a city inspector who told it he would immediately inspect the graffiti and, presumably, rescind the citation.