By Kevin Herrera
Editor in Chief

CITY HALL Seated on a bench outside City Hall on a recent Thursday afternoon, Jeri Wingo went about explaining what her duties are as the newly-elected president of the Municipal Employees Association, the union representing the majority of city workers.

But as the president, Wingo, who is serving her second term, couldn’t help but stop periodically during the conversation so that she could say hello to colleagues passing by — and to those several yards away. No one seemed to be too far away for Wingo to say “Hey” and offer a bright smile.

It quickly became apparent that Wingo, 47, a jovial, charismatic and caring mother of two grown daughters, is a popular person at City Hall.

And why wouldn’t she be? Not only is Wingo responsible for protecting benefits earned by her roughly 1,500 members, she’s also Santa Monica’s “Ride-Share Diva,” a title that was bestowed upon her because she is charged with coordinating alternative forms of transit for employees, helping to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution, thus making Santa Monica more sustainable.

“They are both very important jobs with a lot of responsibility, and I take pride in that,” said Wingo, who has worked for Santa Monica for the past seven years. “Santa Monica is a great city known throughout the world. To be president of the association and to be in charge of coordinating transportation for employees is amazing considering that I never thought I’d ever work for a city.”

When she was 18 she applied for a job at the U.S. Postal Service in Michigan where she spent most of her childhood and scored nearly 100 on an entry exam. However, that wasn’t enough to land her a job.

“I thought that they just didn’t hire people like me,” she said.

Fast-forward a few decades and Wingo found herself working as a temporary employee for City Hall doing data entry. After a few days, Wingo, who moved to Los Angeles when she was 25 with two daughters to raise on her own, was encouraged to apply for a full-time position.

“People liked me and said I should go for it, so I did,” Wingo said. “They said they’d call me back but I kind of felt like that lady waiting around for her man to propose. They say they’re going to marry you, but they never do.”

Well, City Hall did come through, and Wingo couldn’t be happier. As president, replacing the “outstanding” Mona Gandara, Wingo gets to interact with many different people, becoming more like a priest than a president, she said.

“You are the one people come to when they need help,” Wingo said. “You are there to listen to them, hear their problems and then see what it is you can do to help. It’s very rewarding.”

Wingo has strong ties to unions. As a kid growing up in Michigan, Wingo’s mother and uncle were active in the United Auto Workers union.

“We had a copy of the Solidarity Newsletter on our coffee table and I remember my mom would get calls late at night from people who would be crying because,” they had been fired just a day before finishing their probationary period, Wingo said.

After working for the city for a few years, Wingo felt it was “time to step up,” which is why she decided to run for president. Her two daughters, one an actress and the other a stylist for celebrities, were full grown, giving her more time to spend on other activities.

Now that she is in charge, Wingo said she wants to clear up some ambiguities in the union contract and get more customer service training since her members are “on the front-line.” She would also like to change the contract so that workers can donate sick time to employees in other departments.

“Some people are really in need and I think it’s terrible that we can’t donate our time to them to help them protect their jobs and make sure that they don’t have to deal with that stress while they are trying to recover from some serious illnesses,” she said.

Wingo is confident that some of her demands will be met. She likes City Manager Lamont Ewell and some of the changes he has instituted since he arrived two years ago.

“He’s brought a lot of integrity to the job and has shown that he is willing to listen and then act on what you say,” Wingo said. “He’s fair and appreciates the workers who put in hard work.”

When she’s not dealing with employee disputes or coordinating carpools, Wingo can be found curled up with a good book. She prefers non-fiction.

“I’m a bookworm, and proud of it,” she said with a laugh. “Ever since I was a little girl I’ve loved to read … I like to read about how to do new things. I think it is important to always be learning something new. That’s the story of my life.”

When she was young, Wingo said she had an allowance of 25 cents a week and she would spend nearly all of it on a 23-cent book.

Her love of the written word doesn’t stop there. Wingo works as a volunteer at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA, an annual event where she has met some of her favorite authors, including Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric who penned the motivational biography “Straight From the Gut.”

In the end, Wingo wants residents to get a better idea of what city employees do. So many times people see that employees are getting a cost of living adjustment, but have no idea what goes on the other 364 days of the year.

“Our members recycle 1,500 tons of food waste … we pick up the trash, we have a guy out there scraping gum off the streets and clean-up crews steam cleaning 2.5 million square feet of sidewalk a day. That’s huge,” Wingo said. “Others provide after-school homework assistance, work service counters, protect the environment and do traffic control … While residents are sleeping in their beds, we’re out there working.

“We’re doing a great job, and we will get better, too.”

kevinh@smdp.com