Henry Arellanes spent the past 10 years working for CalTrain as a stations and facilities supervisor. In that role, he managed changes that the transportation organization made and gained deep experience managing facilities.
After the retirement of Paul Weir in the spring, Arellanes was named the school’s new operations plant manager. His job is to manage all aspects of facilities for the school, from routine custodial work to major maintenance jobs.
He applied for the position because he believed working in a school setting would be a better fit for him.
Arellanes did his undergraduate studies at Chowan University in North Carolina, graduating with a degree in psychology. While learning about the maintenance field, he substituted at Woodside High School in Redwood City. At CalTrain, his job focused on new construction, repair work and facility improvements. But just a few weeks into his new position, Arellanes has identified a major difference with his old position: the ability to be in one place.
“I enjoy staying home,” Arellanes said. “My last job, I traveled a lot and went to over 40 different railroads throughout the United States. The fact that I get to stay in one place and just hang out in one facility is really nice.”
His primary goal is to improve efficiency of his custodial employees and to keep them safe while they work. Additionally, he plans to improve employees’ organizational skills and upgrade planning on new construction projects, keeping larger endeavors on track by keeping check of progress and working on one major project at a time.
In the future, Arellanes hopes to improve other facilities on campus, starting with athletic fields and school gyms. He has already introduced two new projects, aiming to roof the softball batting cages and install water stations close to the softball field.
“I have a wife I’ve been with for 18 years [and] I have a 5-year-old and an 11-month-old down home, so it’s good to have a job in one place and get to go home at the end of the day,” Arellanes said. “I’m excited to work here. [The students] all seem like very sweet, sweet young adults.”
