Facilities supervisor takes pride in maintaining campus for students
Tony Cabeca | Photo by Randy Tunnell
September 28, 2021
Tony Cabeca has reached his 20th year with CSUMB in the Facilities department. He started in this line of work early. Fresh out of high school he got a job lugging tires from delivery trucks onto the sales floor at a warehouse chain store in East San Jose. He helped his fellow Teamsters build cabinets, pull wires, and do overnight resets. They taught him basic plumbing, electrical and welding.
“My dad was a painter, and I worked with him, so painting was easy for me,” Cabeca says.
At about age 30 he moved to Salinas, and found his way to CSUMB. He started on the night crew, working 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. They would check boilers, change filters, look for leaks, paint offices, fix electrical. In the dorms there were a lot of clogged showers and toilets, tripped breakers, the occasional broken window.
He began in maintenance in 2000, moved to the paint shop in 2006, and became project supervisor in 2017.
“He does so much for our department,” said Joe Nugent, director of Facilities Services and Operations. “He’s committed to the success of every project and getting it done on time. He organizes crews to make repairs, coordinates with the end user. He’s inspiring.”
Read more of Cabeca's story in the Monterey Bay magazine.