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Living and working the dream

By Darryl McPherson

Geri Mondi, a youthful retiree.

There are certain people who are just there. You don’t really know or notice them, until they are gone. Geri Mondi may be one of those people.

To the uninitiated, she is the Secretary to the City Council, the self-appointed gate-keeper who protects those who legislate life in Niagara Falls. She credits this skill to the advice given to her by her predecessor. Muriel White told her, when dealing with council members, “Treat everyone equally and keep their confidence.” But in her role as gate-keeper, she was also a liaison with the general public.

“Do what you can to help the constituents.”

With that creed in mind, she’s been serving the City Council for ten and a half years. She’s gone through three mayors and thirteen council members. She finds it interesting that two of the council members she served with went on to become mayor of the city. She had a “nice relationship” with Vince Anello and found that the mayor’s and council’s offices could work together well. Similarly, she has seen the rise of Paul Dyster.

At the end of this year, she is retiring from her post.

The highlights of serving with the Council generally focus around the budget process. “None have been the same,” she recalls. “Irene Elia had no vetoes for one of her budgets. Some mayors vetoed almost everything that the Council did. Budget time stands out as a busy, but very different time.”

Though she is retiring, she’s walking away from what is, in essence, her dream job. “I knew I wanted to be a secretary. While I was in high school, our business club toured City Hall. I was absolutely in awe. I was with one of my friends and I said to her, ‘Someday I’m going to work there’. And when it actually happened, my dream came true, I had to pinch myself, because I couldn’t believe I was actually here. And working in this capacity in the Council office, it has been an absolute pleasure and I was very humbled by the fact that the Council entrusted me to run their office.”

Mondi came to the position after working for State Senators Anthony Nanula and Al Coppola from 1993 to 2002. She was in the Niagara Falls office and learned much about Erie and Niagara County government. In referring to Nanula, “he was an absolute pleasure to work for,” she says.

Her nurturing nature comes from her upbringing. “I’m the eldest of ten children, eight girls and two boys. I had to learn how to be a caretaker early. My father was ill a lot of the time; my mother had to take care of him, so I had to take care of the children. And that’s one of the things I brought into my work ethic when I started as a secretary.”

She expects to spend her retirement between Tampa, Florida and Niagara Falls. Most of her family is now in Florida, but she enjoys being here because we have four seasons. “I like the freedom to go back and forth.” Her husband is also retired, after working at the Seneca Niagara Casino for ten years, and previously working in a plant for thirty-five years.

Retirement is somewhat of a bittersweet affair, particularly for someone who enjoys her work. “It’s the little things, like the young people today want to be called professional assistants. I’m proud to be a secretary. And I do the little things like caretaking, I take care of the people I work for, and I think the people I’ve worked for have appreciated it.”

December 26 will be Mondi’s last Council meeting, though her impact on the job will linger on.

 

 

Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com

Dec 04 , 2012