“Graffiti is now on the street corner — 100 feet from where I live,” said longtime Escondido resident Dennis Tomlinson as he spoke before the city council on Wednesday, March 2.

Tomlinson claims the amount of graffiti between Oak Hill Drive and Grand Avenue is “the worst” he has ever seen around his neighborhood. He said he counted 37 tags on the east side of Grand Avenue (where it intersects with Oak Hill Drive) and 31 on the west side.

“This is bad,” said Tomlinson. “It used to be around 25 total — we are heading for three times that number…. Why is it not being taken care of? I have reported this several times.” Tomlinson noted that there is also graffiti in front of Oak Hill Elementary School.

Tomlinson, who moved his family to Escondido in 1987, expressed concern that people will not want to move to the city and asked the council for instruction on what he can do to clean up his neighborhood.