Cleaning up Seattle: Ex-graffiti artist uses his knowledge to fight tagging

A notorious graffiti tagger in Seattle, known for spray-painting the word “eager” thousands of times on both public and private property in Seattle, is making amends for his past transgressions by becoming part of the solution—cleaning up graffiti.

Prosecutors estimated that Casey Cain, the man behind the “eager” graffiti tags, has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. He was ordered to spend 80 hours cleaning graffiti as part of a 2024 plea agreement for a felony malicious mischief.

“Now he’s still cleaning (graffiti) up,” Ursula Reutin, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show,” said. “He did that, but he’s still cleaning up, and he’s actually getting paid for it. So Casey and another former tagger, Jay Volkman, now have a graffiti removal business called The Buff Man.”

Cain stated his graffiti removal business will be very effective in combating tagging because they “know how it works” better than most. Cain does want to work with the City of Seattle to establish a designated outlet for graffiti tagging.

How Gee, Ursula feel about the tagger-turned-cleaner’s business

“I have mixed feelings,” Ursula said. “First of all, I mean the part about them actually turning it into a business, I’m all good, as long as they’re not encouraging people to put more graffiti up because they know that group, and then getting paid to clean it up.”

Cain still faces charges from his prior cases, but he claimed his days of tagging are over, wanting to leave a better mark on Seattle instead.

“If you were to tell me that the new commissioner or the new czar for graffiti in the City of Seattle would be some former taggers, I’d be all for it,” Gee Scott, co-host of “The Gee and Ursula Show,” said.

Listen to the full conversation here:

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.