Gov. Gavin Newsom is catching flak after video showed anti-graffiti efforts in Los Angeles linked to a $1 billion beautification push allegedly failing within 24 hours of being put into place.
A clip shared on Sunday by a former candidate for LA office showed workers installing an ivy-like covering along the 101 freeway in Los Angeles to combat spray-painting vandals.
“Part of Gavin Newsom’s BILLION dollar ‘Clean California’ initiative, Caltrans is installing graffiti proof ivy along the 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles. Any bets on how long it takes for the graffiti proof ivy to be covered in graffiti?” Kevin Dalton, who ran for the LA County Board of Supervisors, wrote in a post on X showing the work being done.
Workers installed faux ivy along the 101 freeway – only for it to be tagged shortly after. grafftv1/Instagram“Holy Crap. The answer is less than 24 hours,” Dalton wrote in a follow-up post showing video of spray paint covering a section of the covering.
Criticism quickly circulated online, with users ridiculing the landscaping as performative and out of touch.
The covering “is god-awfully expensive and lasts about a year or two before the backing gets brittle and the ‘leaves’ start falling off,” one user wrote on X.
“This will end up costing more to replace than just painting over the sh–!!” another wrote.
Video shows graffiti over the freshly installed ivy. grafftv1/TikTokSome said that the government should focus on cleaning the city before spending funds on freeway beautification.
The effort is part of Newsom’s Clean California program, which launched in 2021 and aims to reduce litter, beautify highways and public spaces and create jobs across the state. Officials say the program has removed thousands of tons of debris across California.
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When Newsom launched the initiative, it was billed as a “first-of-its-kind” project aimed at making Los Angeles cleaner ahead of the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games.
“Clean California is an unprecedented investment into cleaning up our state and engaging directly in our communities to create public spaces that all Californians can take pride in,” the governor said in 2022.
Newsom has been criticized for the “anit-graffiti” fail REUTERS“It is past time to take serious action to remove the unsightly litter on our streets and highways and in local communities.”
“This is an amazing example of what can be done with serious investments in California’s future. Folks across the state will see and feel the difference as Clean California starts to take root – we are cleaning up our state,” Newsom said.
The governor’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Under California law, it’s illegal to deface or damage property that isn’t yours. Writing, spraying, scratching or otherwise marking someone else’s property is an infraction, while maliciously destroying or damaging it can be punished with fines or even jail time.
