Los Banos native to manage San Jose postal service

A Los Banos native who started his mail service career delivering correspondence locally will be sworn in as the top officer at the San Jose Post Office.

Aron Jones will take his oath of office as the 27th San Jose postmaster Friday, Oct. 28, according to a USPS news release.

“Becoming the postmaster of the City of San Jose is a lifelong dream,” Jones said in the release.

The postmaster is a head of a post office and oversees operations, delivery and all other functions.

Jones, 41, will be responsible for delivery at 19 post office branches with 638 city and rural routes, 27,310 P.O. boxes and more than 391,000 delivery stops with an annual revenue of more than $140 million, according to the release.

He also will manage 1,075 employees and oversee delivery of more than 1.5 million pieces of mail daily.

Jones told the Enterprise on Tuesday that he grew up in Los Banos, attending Henry Miller Elementary School and Los Banos Junior High before graduating from Los Banos High School in 1993.

“When I graduated high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” said Jones, explaining that his search for a stable government job led him to the USPS.

Jones started his career in Los Banos as a casual clerk and mail carrier in 1994.

“I carried mail, and that was $5 an hour in Los Banos at the time,” Jones said. “That was about 75 cents more than minimum wage at the time.”

Jones said he took a liking to it, learning all aspects of the job while striving to move up.

According to the release, Jones was promoted to his first management position in Morgan Hill in 2000. He then became the senior plant manager in Salinas, senior manager of distribution operations at San Jose Processing and Distribution Center, and manager of customer service at Scotts Valley, East Santa Cruz and the Sanchez Annex, Santa Clara.

He held postmaster positions at Hollister, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz before holding executive positions at the San Jose Post Office.

According to the release, Jones demonstrated strong leadership and an ability to develop cooperative teamwork.

“The Post Office from its very beginning is woven into the fabric of what connects all Americans,” Jones said in the release. “We serve as the common bond to all Americans, as the carrier of news and knowledge and an instrument of trade and industry. My goal is to continue in that proud tradition.”

Jones and his 13-year-old daughter, Vanessa, reside in Corralitos. He enjoys spending time in Lake Tahoe hunting duck and deer. He also is a member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce.

This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 5:49 PM with the headline "Los Banos native to manage San Jose postal service."