In a recent Oakland Tribune article —provocatively titled “Extortion or Art”– reporter Matthew Artz put forth that “the city is enjoying a golden age of murals and street art. But it also is grappling with a graffiti epidemic like none it has ever seen.” Artz documented some of the failures of the Oakland City Council’s recently adopted anti-graffiti ordinance, noting that no fines have been levied against illegal vandals to date, while property owners in tagging hotspots in West and…