Traffic Control in Sayulita: Traffic Warden German Perez Ruiz

German Perez Ruiz was born in San Pancho, just a short distance from Sayulita. As a young boy, his family moved here, where they have remained for the last 17 years. German currently is one of six local Sayulita traffic wardens, which is part of a traffic warden program that is run strictly on donations. 

Where are you stationed to direct traffic in Sayulita? Are you always in the same location?

I am on the street of the kindergarten, which is on Navarrete Avenue, and I am always at this location.

What are the locations for the other traffic wardens? 

Well, starting off we have one person by the bridge, next we have one person at Pelicanos and Navarrete, another person is on the street that is called Caracol, that’s the one that goes down towards Don Pedro’s on the beach, and another person is on Revolucion Avenue. There is also a general coordinator that goes around town to make sure that everything is running smoothly.

What does a typical day of directing traffic look like for you?

A normal day for me is seeing a lot of people since there are many stores on the street where I work. A lot of people don’t understand the importance of maintaining the traffic flow – mostly the mothers of the kindergartners, who always want to park outside of the kindergarten until it opens to leave their kids. They don’t want to walk and they don’t want to go ahead with the traffic control plan. That’s a normal day for me during low season. During high season, it is a very high stressed day and we have to ask a lot of cars to move. There are a lot of people who come to party, there are lot of people who come to have fun, and everyone is stressed out because there are too many cars in town, and it creates mayhem. And I think it’s the same for everyone else who does traffic control in Sayulita.

What are your days and hours for directing traffic?

My hours are 8am – 4pm and that’s everyday from Tuesday to Sunday. My day off is Monday.

What made you want to be a traffic warden?

So, more than a job, it’s a lot of help that our town needs. For what we are getting paid, it doesn’t match up to the work that we put into it because it is very hard work. But, somebody needs to do it, and I guess we have the youth, the energy, and the initiative to do what some of the older generations didn’t want to do in our town. So, now we are trying to take over and do what’s right.

Why do you think traffic control is important in Sayulita?

We think it is very important, and I think everyone can agree, that before the traffic program it was total chaos in this town. So, we are trying to make it different now.

What kind of response have you gotten from locals and tourists?

Well, we’ve gotten all types of responses. It varies – we get good responses, we get bad responses, we get responses that motivate us, and we get responses that disappoint us. But, when it’s just bad criticism, we try not to channel our negative energy to it. We try to think positive and sometimes even choose to ignore what people say, but if we see they are kind of right in something, we also pay attention to them.

What can people do to make your job easier?

People can make our jobs easier by using their cars less. There are so many things that they can do on foot, but many people choose to use their car or golf cart anyway, even to go just a block. We are losing what it used to be to walk through this town. Please try to use your vehicle less.

Is tipping appropriate?

We are always appreciative of any type of incentive or tip. It keeps us highly motivated when people pass by and they tell us we are doing a good job, they want to give us a bottle of water or a cool Gatorade, and man, we even freak out when people give us lunch. So, regardless of whether it is money, food, water, simply a compliment, it is very well received.

Donations to continue this traffic warden program are needed. The best way to donate is via the Pro Sayulita website by clicking here.