Most drivers being held up by a construction project become impatient — some even start fuming as they realize they’re going to be late for work or that appointment they’re heading to. Not so with anyone who’s been stopped by flagman Carey Steger on Civic Center Way as he stops and directs traffic past the major construction on the city’s new sewer project.
Steger, who stands six-foot-five, wears the loudest and most fun regulation traffic clothes he can find in the work catalog — fluorescent yellow head to toe with fluorescent orange stripes, topped off by a cowboy hat (actually a regulation hardhat). Around his neck, he wears a big smiley face necklace and strands of Mardi Gras-style beads.
“I want to be seen from the horizon,” Steger joked.
But the look is just the beginning — he smiles and dances his way through every traffic stop, and his version of the moonwalk with mime manages to put a grin on everyone’s face. Any cars stopped to let the latest dump truck or cement truck pass get a free Michael Jackson / James Brown style stage show, which makes it impossible to get grumpy. Drivers actually hate to move on once they’re signaled to go. Locals walking their dogs and going to Legacy Park stop and watch. It’s some of the best entertainment in town, and that construction project still has a long way to go.
The Malibu Times managed to catch up with Steger on his 30-minute lunch break to learn something about the man who’s putting a grin on so many faces. It turns out he’s been doing this job for much of the last 15 years, and accumulates fans everywhere he goes. Steger has been written up by The Topanga Messenger and the Orange County Register, been given a “Flagman Extraordinaire” award by the City of Yorba Linda, and has a fan site on Facebook called “The King of Traffic.” At a job in Brentwood in 2009, actress Halle Berry stopped every day to greet and share a word with Steger, according to the OC Register.
Steger was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1947 and will turn 70 this week, which is hard to believe considering his dance moves. His family moved to LA where he graduated from high school after being named his baseball team’s most valuable player (pitcher), so he had athletic talent. He served four years in the Navy, including an 18-month stint in Vietnam, worked for Meade Paper for 24 years and retired. He married in 1971, and his wife passed away two years ago after 46 years of marriage. He has two daughters ages 37 and 41, and one granddaughter.
Shortly after retiring at the relatively young age of 55, he decided, as a member of the Laborers’ International Union, to attend traffic school and get a certificate as a flagman. He took to heart what he learned in that school: “Be courteous, tip your hat and stand out from the others.”
Steger had some calf and leg problems from previous employment and as a flagman, felt the need to move around while working.
“That’s when I started doing James Brown and the Moonwalk,” he said. “People liked it so much, they came by the construction site bringing us lunches instead of telling us to …”
“I’m like the ‘Welcome to WalMart’ man … I could Moonwalk a marathon,” he said. “People would actually bring the kids and watch, and the cars waiting in line would be entertained.”
One of his favorite stories was about a driver that experienced an attitude adjustment. “There was a guy who used to come by blowing his horn, very impatient, and gave me the finger. I gave him the peace sign. The next day, he came by again, smiling, and gave me the peace sign.”
“My co-workers say I make people happy,” Steger said. “People have the same reaction to me even when I’m not in work clothes.”
The City of Malibu’s media team made a video of Steger, which is now posted on the city’s TV broadcast and online at youtube.com/watch?v=-fpvUG9UESA
In the video, Steve Mimiaga, construction manager for Vido Artukovich & Sons on the city’s water/wastewater treatment project said, “On this project, we have several miles of pipelines in the street, heavy equipment, traffic and pedestrians crossing the construction area … We’re lucky to have a very special flagman that we call ‘Moonwalker.’”
