Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $1 billion California beautification push is catching flak for its anti-graffiti efforts failing immediately after being put into place.
Video showed workers installing “graffiti-proof” ivy along along the 101 freeway in Los Angeles to combat vandals spray-painting the walls.
“Any bets on how long it takes for the graffiti-proof ivy to be covered in graffiti?” Kevin Dalton, a former candidate for the LA County Board of Supervisors, wrote in an X post showing workers installing the ivy.
Criticism quickly circulated online, with users ridiculing the pricey landscaping as performative and out of touch.
The ivy “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.
Some said that before spending funds on freeway beautification, the government should focus on cleaning the city.
“@CAGovernor is a complete moron!!!! This will end up costing more to replace than just painting over the sh–!!” another user wrote.
The ivy installation is part of Newsom’s broader Clean California initiative, a roughly $1 billion statewide effort launched in 2021 aimed at reducing litter, beautifying highways and public spaces and creating jobs. State officials say the program has removed thousands of tons of debris across California.
