San Gabriel Mayor Takes a Hand in Cost Containment

Every school day morning, Dominic Polimeni outfits himself with a bright orange vest, a loud whistle and a big red stop sign, ready to shepherd San Gabriel children across a busy street.

Every other Tuesday night, he changes into business attire, and with the pound of a gavel, Mayor Dominic Polimeni calls the San Gabriel City Council meeting to order.

Each weekday morning in front of McKinley Elementary School, he performs double civic duty, dispensing friendly advice to his young wards while bringing a mayoral touch to his crosswalk duty.

“Some kids have come up to me and said, ‘You’re not really the mayor,’ ” Polimeni said one morning on the job. “They wonder what I am doing. But I’m just here to help out.”

In March, during his first 30 days as mayor, McKinley school officials asked the council to fund an additional crossing guard. But instead of voting to spend city money, Polimeni decided to take cost containment into his own hands, and volunteered to do the job for free.

“I get up early anyway, and there is nothing open until 9,” said the 57-year-old retired San Gabriel Municipal Court administrator. “I can schedule most things for later in the afternoon.”

So Polimeni took charge of the intersection at Lime Avenue and Manley Drive.

He saw congestion caused by rushed parents writing last-minute notes or handing out lunch money in the car, resulting in parking and moving violations. Drivers made U-turns in the middle of the road. Finally, after witnessing a number of near-accidents, Polimeni decided something needed to be done.

With a few phone calls, he ordered “No parking” signs for the area. He had a guideline painted to direct parents where to deposit their children. He had a pamphlet printed for parents, explaining the best places to drop kids off and the safest ways to get in and out of the school zone.

“It makes a whole bunch more sense to help keep the flow of traffic going. It’s safer for the kids, and it’s better for the people driving,” said Polimeni, who raised three children in San Gabriel and now has two grandchildren at McKinley.

The last tip in his pamphlet advises parents to give their kids a “hug and kiss before they leave.”

Even the school janitors noticed Polimeni’s can-do attitude.

“The trash bins are supposed to get changed every month, but sometimes the city doesn’t and I have go through a lot to get them here,” said janitor Gary Vasquez. “But Mr. Polimeni, he just calls somebody and they pick it up.”

Polimeni, who was first elected to office in 1990 and is serving his second turn at the largely honorary mayor’s job, brushes off the notion that he is doing anything special for the school community.

“As long as it’s within code, legal, and doesn’t cost too much, I have the ability to get things done,” he said. “I have just been able to speed the process up for things.”

*

Carol Chang, director of the school’s computer lab and a McKinley parent, said that Polimeni’s work “makes you feel safe.”

The heart of his morning duty, however, is chatting it up with the kids, many of whom he knows by name.

He asks about schoolwork, teases them into hurrying across the street, and needles them about being late.

When Christopher Gonzales, 8, runs up to Polimeni saying, “Hi, Dominic!” Polimeni knows exactly why the little boy is so friendly. Every once in a while, Polimeni allows him to hold up the stop sign.

Side by side, the mayor and the boy step into the middle of the street, Christopher walking proud as he leads a small pack of students across the street beneath the shadow of a stop sign.