Most days for the past 17 years, Robert M.'s agenda has been the same — rubbing out graffiti.
St. Paul offers free graffiti cleanup to property owners, and Robert does most of it. After scrubbing a spot with solvent, Robert pulls on black boots, a black knit hat and a safety vest. Then he unwinds a long pressure hose to erase the toughest paint.
"This is my baby," he said.
Robert is a journeyman painter with the city and part of Local 61. He asked that his last name be withheld to protect him from angry taggers.
On average, he removes 10 to 15 "incidents" daily and works most days in a month. He tries to clean graffiti within 36 hours of a report. He totals 2,000 to 3,000 cleanups per year.
"I don't have slow days at all," he said.
Although Robert hasn't seen a change in his routine, graffiti incidents in the Twin Cities have dropped in recent years and appear to have leveled off, city statistics show.
Minneapolis saw the fewest incidents in January through April in recent history, with 1,776 reports of graffiti. That compares with 5,335 incidents for those months in 2007 and 3,388 in 2012.