Trash on campus

It is the Maintenance and Operations mission to try to keep a clean campus and a safe environment for students, faculty, and staff. Maintenance and Operations has a 15 hour work day. Some of their jobs include sending out a sweeper truck, sending out men with backpack blowers, and also sending a few men to pick up trash all over campus. They all manage to achieve cleaning the campus every day before 8 a.m. right before the students and faculty arrive at Chabot College.

So when I asked Cord Ozment, who is the Grounds Supervisor of the Maintenance and Operations department, “What is the greatest challenge for grounds keeping here at Chabot”? He stated that “We spend a lot of time cleaning up garbage like I said, fifteen hours a day. Five people. Every morning and then we go on to the mowing and the pruning. That’s the fun stuff. It’s the garbage in the morning that’s a hassle.”

M&O Sign

Maintenance and Operations work very hard to keep this campus clean. Wouldn’t you agree that it is also the student’s job to keep the campus clean as well? Ozment stated that ”If we weren’t here for a couple of days, it’ be amazing how dirty this place would get”. So remember, the next time you finish a meal, throw away your trash and make Chabot College shine. This is a home for many students, and it is yours as well. Treat it like one.

I also inquired to Ozment about any plans in regards to the plants at Chabot College. They have been affected by the weather and construction which can get in the way of landscaping. Ozment replied, “We have plants going into dormancy, so it looks like they’re dying, but they’re not. They’re going to come right back.” Ozment followed with, “I work closely with the construction superintendent on the projects, and we’ll make a bullet point list as they start opening up some of these gardens and you’ll see at the end of the whole project, we’ll come through and start replanting these areas.”

Maintenance and Operations does a fantastic job of keeping the campus clean and safe. We shouldn’t take them for granted.