Man removing the ‘ghetto’ from a quaint city one piece at a time

One man has taken a city-wide problem into his own hands and refuses to let “the kids” win.

Kevin Lundsten told KIRO Radio that tagging is plaguing Sumner.

“Sometimes graffiti can be art … but this is nothing but malicious tagging,” he said. The taggers are spraypainting names on buildings and “nasty stuff.” “Totally senseless.”

Lundsten, 50, is the owner of a vintage guitar shop. He said his shop has not been tagged, because the “kids” are scared of him.

“I keep a good shine on my shoes,” he said. “If they need a kick in the butt, I’ll give it to them.”

However, the taggers have hit most of the surrounding businesses, Lundsten said.

The problem stems from Sumner itself. There isn’t enough to do, Lundsten said. At the same time, the city is growing.

Tagging has become so bad that Lundsten and a small group of people have been painting over the vandalism themselves. There was one building recently that was tagged three times in one week.

“No sooner did I get it painted, it’s repainted again,” he said.

Lundsten is convinced it is “kids” doing the tagging. The city still has a “Mayberry” feel, he added.

Though he’s complained to the city about the problem &#8212 and did get some feedback &#8212 Lundsten is determined to continue fighting the vandalism himself. He now lives by a new motto: “Every time I walk through town, I’m going to bring out a piece of ghetto.”