SALT LAKE — Howard Shima dipped his roller into a bucket of gray paint in his car trunk and began painting over red graffiti on a wall in Salt Lake. He had just painted over graffiti on the same spot a week before.

"I used to get angry," said the 80-year-old Salt Lake resident. "But I've gotten used to it. You just gotta keep at it."

Shima has kept at it in the area for more than a decade, painting over graffiti on walls, power poles and bus stops in his neighborhood at least once a week.

The former Aliamanu/Salt Lake/Foster Village Neighborhood Board member also formed a community graffiti task force that is now made up of several individuals who have adopted different areas in the community to keep clean. They usually work independently of one other and regularly paint over graffiti on their respective turfs.

"Without people from the community doing stuff like this, it's impossible to keep up with these taggers," said Grant Tanimoto, chairman of the neighborhood board. "People have different areas, but Howard, clearly he's the leader of the pack. ... He's got so much energy, he has a great heart, and he keeps on going and going and going."

The anti-graffiti task force has been so effective at combating graffiti in the Salt Lake/Foster Village area that city crews are able to concentrate on other areas, said Gilbert Ha, trades supervisor for the city's Road Maintenance Division for the Honolulu district.

"It's like having a whole bunch of Howards," he said with a laugh. "They pretty much stay on top of it. Salt Lake is one of those areas I never have to worry about. I never have to send a crew down there."

Similar volunteer groups also have been regularly wiping out graffiti in other communities, Ha said.

Sometimes after painting over graffiti, Shima will tape a notice warning taggers "we are watching" and detailing the consequences they face "when you get arrested." He even puts his name on the notice.

Shima is quick to name others who help to get rid of graffiti in the Salt Lake area, including a pastor, a retired Ho-nolulu Fire Department captain and a retired federal worker. The key, Shima and others say, is to cover up graffiti as soon as it appears to not only keep the area clean but discourage taggers. That can mean painting over the same area numerous times.

Painting over the graffiti is gratifying, Shima said.

"It's like taking a bath," he said.

While driving in the area last week, Shima — wearing his "uniform" — a paint-splattered orange Adopt-a-Highway T-shirt, jeans and a Corona Extra hat — made mental notes of areas that were hit by taggers.

"I covered that bus stop over there," he said, slowing to get a glance. "They hit it again? I have to go back and get it. Just gotta go back and do it."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.