In Oakland, California, a city struggling with rising crime and vandalism, 102-year-old Victor Silva Sr. finds himself in a daunting predicament. Bound to a wheelchair, Silva has been ordered by city officials to address the graffiti that is frequently put on his property. 

If he fails to do so by March 19, he faces a $1,100 fine, with an additional $1,277 tacked on for every failed re-inspection. Silva, a former contractor, told KTVU, “I just had a roller and a paintbrush and just painted it. It was very easy because I was a contractor, you know. I’ll be 103 in two months or so. That slowed it up a little bit, you know.”

The responsibility has largely shifted to Silva’s 70-year-old son, Victor Silva Jr., who finds the recurrent vandalism a challenge to keep up with. “It’s hard to keep up with it because as soon as we get it painted, It’s gonna be graffiti on it again, and it won’t last,” Silva Jr. expressed to KTVU. A utility box yards away from their fence plastered with graffiti yet untouched by city officials compounds the family’s frustration.

102-year-old California man ordered to clean up graffiti on personal property or pay thousands https://t.co/rtZOHSK6do

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According to local station KTVU, reports indicate a 34% increase in robberies and a 44% rise in auto thefts in Oakland over last year. The police department issued a public safety advisory on March 13, acknowledging the struggle against rampant crime while urging residents to remain vigilant.

The Silva family, owners of a small commercial business, have faced their share of the city’s security issues, with three break-ins in the last year alone. Silva Jr.’s calls to 911 often resulted in being placed on hold, leading him to question the allocation of their tax dollars. “They can’t answer 911, but they can come out and hassle you about a fence?” he lamented.

The story of Victor Silva Sr. not only highlights the plight of an elderly resident facing unreasonable demands from the city but also draws attention to Oakland’s broader challenges. The disparity between the city’s focus on penalizing citizens for the vandalism of others while failing to curb actual crimes paints a troubling picture.

Oakland’s approach to addressing graffiti on the property of a centenarian underscores a misalignment in city priorities. While Victor Silva Sr. and his family deal with the city’s demands, the sharp rise in crime rates suggests a need for a more effective allocation of resources and attention. The city’s insistence on fining an elderly, wheelchair-bound resident over graffiti in the face of rampant burglaries, thefts and auto crimes causes frustrated Americans to question whether many city governments are much more than systems used to generate revenue to support their own existence.