By RHYS WALTERS

Jesse Brown doesn't have anything against graffiti or tagging, personally. But it's his job to remove it.

It's a seemingly never-ending battle that begins anew for Brown every morning at 7 o'clock, when he reports to the Seattle School District's Logistics Center to receive his assignments for the day. Those assignments require him to visit schools throughout the city, ranging from elementary schools to high schools.

Brown, a native of Great Britain who moved to the United States in 1974 and still speaks with an English accent, worked a variety of jobs, including commercial printing and construction, before becoming the School District's graffiti removal specialist a few years ago.

When he's called on the scene to remove unauthorized "artwork" from School District property, he works fast.

"Basically," said Brown, "I have to get it off in 24 hours, except if it's racially insulting or threatening. Then it has to come off almost immediately."

That means well before school even starts, and well before students see it. Over the years, he's removed everything from gang slogans, anarchist banners, bomb threats and insults to individual teachers - all before the 7:45 bell.

You may see graffiti and tagging sometimes, when Brown is unavailable or if it's too big to take off in one day. But, the worst of the stuff is taken off before students even see it. Sometimes, Brown's ongoing tussle with taggers can be an interesting test of wills.

Brown recalls one time, he was called to visit a middle school where he saw a big red chicken spray-painted on the wall with the words "Mr. Brockman" next to it. "I took it off, and the next day, I got a call from the middle school, and it was back," he said. "This time, it also said 'do not remove.'"

"It can't get personal," said Brown, "but it gets frustrating. It's like a battle. Who's going to win? The take-offers? The put-oners?"

In removing graffiti, Brown has become something of an expert regarding the subject. Flipping through his collection of photographs of the various graffiti and tags he has removed, he can tell you what all the different gangs signs mean - even what significance the crosses and the sideways letters have.

"I should know," says Brown. "I've been doing it for five years."

Rhys Walters is a senior at Nathan Hale High School.