Esther Viti carries three business cards. One depicts three styles of benches for the Village’s bench dedication program. Another card advertises the La Jolla Town Council and its palm tree logo. Her personal business card is mauve-colored with a lady’s hat hovering above her name. Viti is tremendously energetic for her 77 years of age. She was in a coma for 14 days two years ago, but her ailment isn’t apparent in her authoritative voice and “can do” attitude. Viti has garnered three nicknames for herself in the 22 years she’s lived in La Jolla. “They call me the ‘Hat Lady,’ ‘Bench Lady’ and ‘Trash Lady,’” Viti said. She earned her latest moniker five years ago for assuming the reins of the Town Council’s street cleanups. Viti now organizes monthly cleanups for the Village — the second Saturday of each month — as chair of the Nell Carpenter Beautification Committee. “People are willing to do it. They just need a leader,” Viti said. Viti’s style for spreading the word about the cleanups is to “bolt up” during public comment at community meetings and through e-mails to past volunteers. One volunteer asked to clean La Jolla’s streets for her 20 hours of court-appointed community service, which Viti agreed to and organized. Viti is looking for four others, like that volunteer, who need community service hours. Cleaning the streets is not Viti’s “thing,” but she said she’s so structured and organized she could manage anything with gusto. Viti began coordinating the bench program in the late 1990s and she continues to lead lead it today. Locals can pay $5,000 to dedicate a bench to a loved one with a plaque. Viti is no longer taking names for benches along the coast, but space is still available in the Village. Windansea’s ocean viewing grew from four coastal benches to 12 under her watch. She headed the installation of more than 35 benches in total in the Village. Viti coordinates each step of the process — from helping locals choose a bench to contracting the services. During the concrete pouring at Windansea, Viti guarded benches from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. from delinquents wishing to leave their initials. “[The city] doesn’t have to wonder what’s being done,” Viti said. “They know Esther has taken care of it.” “A goodwill ambassador” is how past Town Council president Paul Kennerson describes Viti. Kennerson had asked Viti to coordinate the bench program for the Town Council in the late 1990s. “Underneath Esther is a lot of very decent prudence and accommodation of various interests,” Kennerson said. “She’s very keen on that … the prime thing on the benches is that everyone wants one and wants it now and not everyone can have a bench and have it now.” Viti generated controversy in the Village two years ago, however, when she suggested volunteers sit on the benches to prevent the homeless from occupying them. Kennerson said he hadn’t agreed with Viti’s method for deterring the homeless. Viti’s final business card is her personal touch. She loves hats and is rarely seen without one. She favors high-end designers. She always dresses like she’s heading to a luncheon, meaning she doesn’t wear jeans or slacks. “I hear others say, ‘I wear a hat too,’ but when I see their hat, it’s not like my hat. My hat is a showpiece,” Viti said. Viti dons another sort of hat for her volunteer work with the city’s Neighborhood Code Compliance Department — for which she doesn’t carry a business card. Instead, Viti carries a digital camera, a badge and a letter from the department. She responds to concerns from the community about issues like trash bins and A-frame signs in the public right-of-way. She promptly strolls into businesses to inform owners of their violations and to straighten out the situation. “I’m the eyes and ears for code enforcement,” Viti said. Working hard — with or without pay — is a way of life for Viti. Her parents immigrated to Chicago from Italy in the 1920s, and Viti was the sixth of nine children. As a 10-year-old, Viti worked alongside her father in the insurance business after school and on Saturdays. She rose early each morning to sing at 7 a.m. Mass. She often found herself taking charge — or being put in charge — of school and church projects. Viti later moved to Phoenix, raised six children, worked for an insurance company and volunteered for a weekend shift at the hospital each month. She suffered with a bout of rare cancer in her 30s, shortly after she had her sixth child, but rebounded quickly. Nowadays, Viti plans to sell long-term care insurance policies — a policy that has provided Viti with a home assistant since her coma left her with ailments. The motivation for volunteering is straightforward for Viti. “Self satisfaction. That’s what it’s all about,” Viti said. “I’m fulfilled personally.” For more information about the monthly cleanups or the bench program, call (619) 742-1373.