The City Council yesterday passed the graffiti ordinance proposed by Councillor Tobin to hold property owners accountable for removing any graffiti defacing their buildings. The ordinance specifies that property owners have 30 days from the appearance of the graffiti to alert the city's Graffiti Busters program. The Graffiti Busters will come and remove the graffiti as a city service with no fee. If a property owner does not alert the city, then he or she has another 30 days to remove the graffiti or face fines.

''Graffiti affects the psyche of people every day when they see it," [Tobin] said. ''When you see it in a neighborhood, when you see it on a building, and it's there for a long time, it gives you a bad feeling."

The ordinance now needs the signature of the Mayor to become law.

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