(The Center Square) – Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth wants to balance crackdowns on illegal graffiti with beautifying public spaces, after a popular “Hot Rat Summer” mural was painted over.

During the public comment period of a Seattle Public Works Committee meeting on Wednesday, one resident spoke on a graffiti piece placed on a public building in Cal Anderson Park, located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

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Seattle City Councilmember Hollingsworth is considering ways to keep certain graffiti up after popular “Hot Rat Summer” mural gets painted over.

The art piece is made up of tiles and features a rat looking upward with a heart falling from the sky beside it and the sun featured in the background. At the bottom of the art piece reads “Hot Rat Summer.” The graffiti drew favorable responses from social media users, with some dubbing it “Saint Rat.”

“I looked at that and I thought that’s very Seattle, that’s very awesome. A couple of days ago, it had just been painted over, and it left me thinking who is this for? Who benefits from that?” public commenter Bennett Haselton asked during Wednesday’s committee meeting.

Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth directly responded to Haselton’s comment, saying she agreed that the “Hot Rat Summer” mural and other graffiti put up in the park should remain, adding that she will engage with the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department to discuss what discretion it can use to leave certain graffiti art alone.

However, she admits that may be something of a challenge.

Hollingsworth told The Center Square that she is considering separate legislation that would identify public spaces open for art displays, like dedicated mural spaces. She added that she was unhappy that graffiti put up on Cal Anderson Park, including the rat mural, was painted over.

The District 3 city council member is against illegal graffiti on private property without permission, places of worship and schools, as well as tags that indicate the area is claimed by various groups, like gangs.

“Those types of graffiti might not be as tolerated as the rat on the side of some of the buildings,” Hollingsworth told The Center Square in a phone call. “We need to have more murals, paintings and artwork in our city that makes it vibrant and inviting.”

Hollingsworth’s comments come as the Seattle City Council is set to vote on a proposed bill that establishes a fine of up to $1,500 per violation for illegal tagging. According to Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison’s office, there were a reported 28,816 instances of graffiti vandalism in Seattle last year that resulted in the city spending approximately $6 million on graffiti cleanup.

On Monday, Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka successfully proposed an amendment that the fine be increased from $1,000 to $1,500. Saka said the ordinance needs to hit taggers in the wallet. 

While Saka pushes for legislation to financially deter vandals, Hollingsworth said she is proposing an amendment to the bill that would seek to change patterns of behavior. This means if someone is caught tagging a church, for example, instead of implementing a fine, that person is ordered to remove the graffiti and meet the victims of the crime.

“We just want to change peoples’ patterns … it’s trying to deter that behavior and not penalize them, but rather change their behavior,” Hollingsworth explained. “We have to give them an outlet if we’re taking some of that canvas space away; I want to give them an alternative to beautify something else that can be enjoyed by a lot of people.”

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Hollingsworth said she envisions Capitol Hill to become similar to Miami’s Wynwood Art District, which is known for its abundance of street art. She said the city put funding toward 15 to 20 murals across Capitol Hill last year to add to the area’s character.

Despite the city’s cleanup efforts, “Saint Rat” has risen again, as the mural was back up at Cal Anderson Park as of Thursday.