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City of New Bedford Commissioner of Public Infrastructure Zeb Arruda announced he will be leaving his city position to become the Plant Engineer/Facilities Director for Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School. Arruda has served as Commissioner of the Department of Public Infrastructure since July 2016; he has worked at the department since 1998.
“It has been a great honor to serve the residents of New Bedford and Mayor Mitchell, and to be a part of the remarkable progress the City has been making across many areas,” said Mr. Arruda. “I am especially grateful for the dedication and high professional standards of my staff at the Department of Public Infrastructure. I could not be more proud of the work that the men and women of DPI do every day to improve the quality of life in our City, so my departure is very bittersweet. That said, having had a deep, lifelong passion for working with youth, I found it very hard to pass up an unexpected opportunity which would allow me to interact daily with Voc-Tech students and help them study and appreciate the operations of their own school’s physical plant and facilities. It’s a unique position that simply appeals to me at a very personal level.”
“The Department of Public Infrastructure is a high-functioning department that provides a range of critical services. DPI has been led very ably by Zeb since the retirement of longtime Commissioner Ronald Labelle last year,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. “While he will be missed, we wish him much success in his new role.”
The details of Arruda’s transition to the Voc-Tech position later this year have not been finalized, and plans for his temporary and permanent replacements have not been announced.
