Reflecting on the Leadership and Legacy of Clinton B. Forbes (Replay)

Stop Requested. Welcome to Stop Requested, a podcast where we discuss everything transit. I’m your host, Christian Londono, senior customer success Manager at ETA Transit. And I’m your co-host, Levi McCollum, product manager at ETA

Transit. Today, Christian, I, I wanna talk about, uh, a rather difficult subject, uh, I think for both of us, um, and that’s the passing, uh, uh, of Clinton B. Forbes. A year ago, on November 2nd 2023, uh, Clinton passed away, and he was an inspiration to many. Uh, you know, he was a colleague to us, uh, and that was, that was hard to deal with. Uh, but today, during this episode, I want us to talk about what he meant to us, the impact that he had on our lives both personally and professionally, and, uh, just celebrate this one-year anniversary.

Uh, so I’ll start with, what did Clinton mean to you? What was his impact on your life? Uh, thank you for that question, Levi. That, that’s, uh, you know, a tough question because it’s, uh, the answer, uh, in my mind is a very long answer because he meant a lot. I met Clinton, um, about… A little bit over nine years ago, actually, uh, before he started working for PalmTrend when he was just a candidate for the executive director, uh, position. And when it comes to what, uh, he meant, uh, for me in, you know, the impact that he had is, is tremendous because, uh, he became a friend, um, a mentor, and just a, a great, uh, leader and person to work for. You know, if I could describe, uh, Clinton in a few words, I would say, um, you know, a tremendous, uh, charismatic leader. Like, his presence was noticeable. He would, uh, fill the room when he would walk in an- and hear him speak, I mean, he was an incredible speaker. You know, he… That had, um, charisma that is so important for leaders to actually motivate people and get them to, to move and, and to support a vision. You know, a great visionary, uh, leader, and, um, the impact that he had, uh, for, you know, on… Uh, for the agency, uh, uh, particularly at PalmTrend, for the industry, and all the ones that we had the privilege to work with him is, is just tremendous. So, uh, yeah, I’m really happy that we’re, um, recording this episode today and we’re discussing, um, you know, Clinton and, and just remembering, um, all of his legacy and everything he contributed. Uh, but let me ask you the same question. So, uh, you know, who is Clinton Forbes, uh, for you, and how would you describe him?

Yeah. Uh, you know, I didn’t work with him as long as you did. Uh, in my couple of years working alongside of him, I, uh, I saw a man of integrity, uh, a really passionate and strong leader, someone who had a clear vision and was able to get the most out of people to execute that vision. You don’t see many people like that these days.

And if you do, they… They’re almost charlatans, you know? They, they have an ulterior motive. I never got that with Clinton. It was always him trying to seek the best version of you, the best version of the transit system, um, the best version of the leadership team. Uh, he really drove people to, to think deeply about what they were passionate about and express that in, in some way. Uh, h- you know, his, his energy was unmatched, really. I don’t know how he kept going so strong. And, uh, y- you know, just when you think the, uh, he would… He’s gotta tire out, this guy just kept going and going and going. He was able to get so much done in such a short amount of time. Uh, I, I think in short, that’s, you know, that’s my answer, just a, a really passionate and strong leader. I mean, the, the passion was very obvious. I mean, you hear him talking about any project, and, and particularly about customers, right? Like that w- i- i- you know, i- in my opinion, that was something very, um, important to him, right? Anything that had to do with the customers or if the customer, uh, was experiencing any discomfort or we were not, uh, providing that customer with our best customer service. I mean, customer service was, uh, paramount for him and he said, “If you’re in the transit industry, you’re in the customer service business.” As simple as that. And, uh, you know, we have to make sure that we’re doing our best job treating those customers. You know, I, I remember, you know, talking about, you know, any business, like, you know, you…

When you go into a business, the minimum you expect is that the staff is gonna greet you. You know, “Good morning, good afternoon, how are you?” You know, and, and, and how important that was in our business as well as, of, we’re trying to drive ridership in our transit systems and just make sure the people have an enjoyable experience. You know, we, we have, um, uh, particularly at PalmTrend and a lot of transit agencies, you have that, uh, fixed-route system or, you know, just a, a, uh…… the type of, or the mode of service that is available to everyone. And then you also have the par transit service, which is, uh, you know, for those

ADA, seniors, you know, transportation disadvantage, a lot of ’em that are life depending, uh, they go to life depending, uh, or sustaining, uh, treatments, and they need that transportation more than anything. So, uh, uh, all those things were very important to him, to make sure that they were treated fairly and that we’re doing our best job. Then one of the things he would say is, “I’m very demanding but not demeaning.” And, and he would demand the most of you. You know, based on, uh, or following up on what you just said, you know, he would ask a lot from the people working for him. I mean, he, he, he would have you working for sure. Uh, but he would never ask for something he wouldn’t do himself, right? He would get dirty, you know, along your side just working, eh, and, and getting things done. Uh, and, you know, another word that comes to my mind as I’m reflecting on this is accountability.

You know, he, he would ask the boards and, and his superiors, “Hold me accountable. Hold me accountable.” Eh, but at the same rate to his staff he would say, you know, “Because I want to be held accountable, I’m gonna hold you accountable as well.” So accountability was, was definitely something big, and I think that drove, um, a lot of the projects at Palm Tran, just a, a, a tremendous transformation during his tenure. You know, I think the amount of projects that were completed and how the agency grew and, and flourished had a lot to do with the leadership and that accountability. Uh, so, you know, on that vein, uh, I want to ask you, Levi, you know, some projects that come to your mind, uh, that were achieved during his tenure and, and, you know, what they… what those projects meant for the agency.

Yeah. Well, a big one that comes to my mind is the RPM project. And when I first encountered the RPM project, I was actually at Vtran, uh, so not working under, you know, under Clinton B. Forbes at that time. Uh, but I, I remember seeing the, I think it was an APTA newsletter, and, you know, I saw Forbes there, I saw Steve Anderson, our good friend and former colleague. Um, you know, that photo of him, along with some other Palm Tran folks, uh, expressing their, their joy, their excitement for public transportation, uh, for the launch of this route performance maximization that was just underway. And, uh, you know, that, that gave me plan a, a, a breath of… Uh, you know, it, it breathed some excitement into me. It, it was really, uh, kind of an emotional experience because you see how, uh, driven and how passionate he was about making sure that the, the, the service was of quality, that it wasn’t just a, um, you know, a, a service that people looked down upon or that the downtrodden used, you know? It was, it was elevated in some way. Um, so

Route Performance Maximization the Plan, you know, I remember seeing, as I mentioned, in that APTA newsletter a year I think after it had launched, this may have been in, like, 2019. And, uh, y- you know, the ridership is up, customer satisfaction is up. Uh, it, you know, it reduced a lot of the inefficiencies in the system, and there were still some there, but, y- you know, it, it cut out some of the services that were, uh, underperforming and put those in higher performing areas. And I was fortunate enough that whenever I came on board at

Palm Tran in 2021, I got to work under Steve Anderson for a little bit. Uh, and, you know, Steve departed, but that, you know, that gave me the opportunity to work side by side with, with Clinton. And for those two years, we worked on the Route Performance Maximization 2.0 plan, uh, which was about further finding those efficiencies, putting the services where the most people are, increasing the passenger per hour count, which was, you know, a key metric for us in the planning department, as well as finding opportunities to leverage on-demand services like Uber and Lyft, uh, a- as well as, y- you know, using some of the experience that we had from the GoGlades project, um, you know, and, and trying to launch something of our own. Uh, had a never-ending drive to continuous improvement.

he Uh, a- and that was expressed in that particular project, and I know you probably have many more than that. Uh, but he was a, a prime advocate to use public transportation whenever you can and, you know, make sure that you’re serving the community. It’s not about you. It’s about the community that you’re serving. What are some of the projects that stick out for you? That’s, that’s true. Y- you know,

I, I… There’s a few more that I want to mention, but there’s a few things that you said that, uh, about the RPM that, that I want to, uh, um, discuss or, or just, you know, reflect on. You know, one of the things is, again, shout out to, uh, Steve Anderson. He, he… You know, Clinton referred, um, to him as Mr. RPM. You know, he, he was the, the person in the planning department leading the charge and, and just he worked tirelessly on the project. Like, all the hours in a week, he was working on this. Uh, and even when we implemented the Route Performance Maximization, we changed routes, we’re putting new bus stop signs, we’re changing bus stop numbers, we’re changing route numbers on bus stop signs.

And pretty much a… one of the, the… I think the most inspiring, um-… pieces of that project is that the organization was lacking a little, a little bit of, um, trust in the community and, and the board, you know, in terms of, you know, being able to actually deliver good, uh, transportation services in the community. And that project was pivotal, because it regained all that trust from the community and, um, it brought all the organization together. You have all the bus operators were involved, all the employees from every single level of the organization, and people… all the stakeholders. Like all the people in the community were involved. And even the day that it went into effect, uh, you know, all the staff had assignments. I mean, pretty much we put everything on hold but to get this right, because this was important to gain the trust… to regain that trust from the community and open the door for all these other projects that, uh, Palm Tran was able to deliv- to deliver, eh, particularly under, uh, Clinton’s, uh, leadership. Um, you know, a- another project that, that, uh, I want to bring up is, um, you know, I got the, the privilege, uh, in, in a way the learning experience to work with Clinton in, uh, starting a performance program at Palm Tran. Uh, participated on that. Uh, he called that program Palm Tran Statistics, PT Stat, uh, which also was very transformational and it’s changing the culture of the organization, right? That was something that was important to him, is to change the culture, the way the employees were seeing the company as a whole and their role in making the company better. And this program was a, a, a program… a performance improvement program, eh, where employees from all levels of the organization, they were involved in cross-functional teams and their goal was to come up with performance improvement initiatives to improve the organization. A- and I tell you,

Levi, just from what I recall, eh, the program generated a lot of initiatives. Some of them at zero cost, some of them with a cost associated, but initiatives that actually, um, translated into national awards.

You know? So, i- i- it’s, it’s something that it was, uh, definitely transformational and, and the most important piece was the component that has to do, um, of that with, uh, changing the culture, changing your employee culture. The way they, they see the organization, the way they see their role in making the organization better. And then, again, we talk about RPM and, you know, I’m even bringing up this PT Stat initiative that Clinton brought to Palm Tran. And all these things started transforming the organization. You know, gaining the trust from the community and from the, from the boards and getting us into, i- i- into a motion, right, where things are now changing and, you know, projects are getting done. So, um, you know, th- there’s just a whole bunch of projects to think about, but is there another one that you want to bring up that you can, um, think of? Yeah, I think the Paradise Pass.

I- I… That one sticks out to me because, one, that’s a great name. Like a hell of a name that Cl- that Clinton came up with. Not some marketing firm. He came up with Paradise Pass. Uh, y- you i- it was his vision. Like you, you could see his brain working whenever you’d have conversations with him about know,

Paradise Pass. “This is what it should look like. These are the colors and, uh, this is how people are going to interact with the system.” He, you know, instructed all of us, “We’re gonna go to, uh, the transit center. We’re gonna go talk to people. Everyone’s going to be… You know, everyone needs to wear your shirt. Uh, we’re all going to match and we are gonna give the best customer service possible to make sure that people are ready to go when the Paradise Pass goes live.” Uh, he was involved in the calls and, uh, you know… The- the reason that project got done, and got done in the, the way that it did was because of him. Uh, I don’t know that anyone had the vision, you know, at least i- in terms of how this should roll out e- and where are the pitfalls, how can we overcome those? Um, y- you know, I’m not sure that we would have had a successful roll out of Paradise Pass if it wasn’t for Clinton. Well, you know, and the roll out was very ambitious, Levi, you know. It was. I- I-

I had the, uh, opportunity to, uh, co-present with Jen Fair, uh, at APTA Tech, and actually Mr. Fortes was supposed to do that presentation, but, you know, his, his schedule, his agenda is, is… It was always overbooked and packed, and then he asked me to go on his behalf and do this presentation. And, and one of the things that was very, uh, impressive for a lot of r- the other agencies that were in the audience and, and, you know, were listening, is that we’d roll out almost all the technology available for, you know, a, a state of the art, eh, fare technology, uh, system. You know, like some agencies come up with a smart card. Some agencies come up with, uh, an app where you can, you know, pay. Uh, you know, eh, i- i- you know, some agencies upgrade their fare box so it’s able to take wearables, right? Like maybe, you know, contactless payment and so on. And typically agencies do one of these projects at a time or maybe they do a mix. Clinton wanted it all at once, and it was successful. I mean, that’s, that’s tremendous. And, and, you know, sometimes when you’re working on these things and you have a leader that is pushing t- to a vision like that, you… Of course you have to support your leader and, and go after the vision. But you don’t realize sometimes how ambitious, uh, you know, those visions are sometimes. And reflecting back and looking at that it gets… it got done, I mean, it was transformative. Is, is, uh, fulfilling, right? Like you feel good about being part of that project and, and being able to deliver that to the community because his vision was literally that any person…… and, eh, that wanted to, you know, access PalmTran would not have to think about their payment. They could pay with anything they had on them, cash, credit cards, wearables, you know, their Apple Watch, uh, maybe use the app on the phone, you know, if they don’t have any cash or cards they could pay on the app. I mean, almost anything, uh, i- i- and all the technology that is available and, and that’s when it was delivered so i- it was quite impressive and, and a major project for sure.

Christian, I know that you and Clinton were both involved in the United Way. Uh, can you share some of your experiences working alongside of him, uh, you know, specifically in the United Way, uh, but also what were his, his lessons about nonprofit organizations and your service to your community?

That, that’s a great question and, and definitely something that, that is worth mentioning because, um, eh, Clinton used to, uh, have a term for giving up, uh, to giving back to the community and he would call it paying your, uh, civic rent. And he said that, you know, just the, the, the price you have to pay for living in this earth, you know, like, with, with the community, with everybody that you live and share this world with, eh, you know, you have a duty to give back and to contribute to, to that community you’re part of.

So, you know, he did that in many ways. Uh, you know, he created a chapter in Palm Beach County for COMTOE, uh, and, you know, that’s the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, a- and created a movement so, you know, COMTOE, uh, promotes minorities in transportation, you know, advancement in the industry, and, and that was very important for him. But also related to the United Way, he was a, um, a leader and a champion for the United Way. He, he was a board member, he was a, a leadership donor, uh, for several years, and as a matter of fact, eh, you know, initially, eh, when I was at PalmTran, I started getting a little bit involved with the

United Way but not heavily involved. But he reeled me in, and he pretty much made me a leadership giver, you know, somebody that has donated 1,000 plus. Uh, of course he has donated, eh, you know, way more than that, eh, eh, for several years. And then he, um, pretty much, eh, encouraged all his leadership team and, and managers to join in as well and contribute. But, um, you know, as part of the United Way, he led several campaigns, including the campaign for Palm Beach County. Collectively through all this, eh, eh, the United Way campaigns he was involved, uh, with, he raised more than $1 million, uh, for the community. And, and that’s a significant amount. I mean, you’re, you’re talking about, you know, uh, funding a lot of agencies that serve all kinds of, uh, you know, people in need. Uh, so it was very important for him, and, and one of the, eh, fundraising events, eh, that, uh, you know, I collaborated on with him, it was a lot of fun and he had a lot of fun doing as well, was called Men in Heels. And that’s when a lot of men in, you know, uh, county government at different levels, uh, they would wear heels and they would kind of like parade and do games wearing high heels, and all that to raise money for the United Way. And of course people would pay a donation to be able to watch the show and, and see all these, uh, manly men, uh, trying to walk in high heels, so that was a lot of fun. He had a lot of fun doing it as well. And again, this is something that, you know, I remember the first time I was asked to participate, I was like, “Uh, no, I’m not gonna wear high heels.

You’re crazy.” But, uh, he would do it himself. And he would do, like, uh, film promotional videos where he’s in his office wearing heels and calling other people in the county, asking them if they’re gonna participate. And of course all of us would end up in heels, uh, walking around or at least trying to, and just, uh, you know, just raising a lot of funds for the United Way. And I tell you, that year that he led the campaign, uh, for the county, that was, uh, a record fundraising. That was the highest amount raised in the history of the campaign thus far. So giving back to the community is just something that was very important to him, um, and, and, you know, you learn from these things, right? That’s leadership, right? That’s what leadership looks like, and, and that’s where you’re like, “Wow,” you know, it’s, it’s inspiring and it’s something that stays with you or, or at least inspires you to try to follow. And, you know, in that vein, I’m gonna just kick it back to you. I’m gonna ask you about, you know, one or two lessons that you learned from his leadership in, in the time you got to spend with him.

Yeah. The, the big one is anticipate, execute, and follow up. Uh, that phrase has stuck with me since I met him. And he started sharing that with, you know, I’m sure he was sharing that before I got there, but, you know, he was sharing it in front of me and, you know, in front of other staff, at board meetings, that our j- our duty, uh, in, in public service, um, but specifically under his watch, was to anticipate what may happen, eh, follow, you know, uh, to execute on what needs to be done, and then follow up afterward to inform and to communicate, uh, make sure that people are aware of what’s happening. Uh,

I, I really love that AEF philosophy. Eh, for me, you know, that acronym alone is, is just pure gold. Uh, you know, it’s something that you can easily fall back on and, you know, it serves as a, a constant reminder that those three steps are really crucial. You have to think ahead, you have to do the work, and you need to communicate afterward.

Yeah, that follow-up was very important. And it was, you know, I think the, for him, the most obvious. Why are you not following up? Right? Or why would someone not follow up? Like he, he, he really made a point of that, like, “You’ve done the work. Now tell everybody about it. Tell people what you’ve done.” And that seemed to be the, the sore spot in, uh, was the communication after the fact. Not with him.

You know, he was great about communicating what he did and what the organization did after the fact, but, you know, his staff needed to communicate with him. Right? And the staff below the managers need to communicate with them. So, it had, all of that had to work its way up. And he would be sure to, you know, praise the folks who worked on the project. Mm-hmm.

I think another thing is, is trust but verify. You know, he said that a lot to me. He’s like, “It’s good to trust your staff, but you should really go out and verify that that’s actually the case.” And there were a couple of times where he caught me. I didn’t do the verification.

And he knew. Yeah. He, he knew. And he would call me out on it. He’s like, “That’s, uh, you know, I appreciate that you, that you trust, uh, the people that are reporting to you, but I don’t know if that’s right.

You should go check.” Uh, so those are the two things that stick with me. Yeah, that, that was certainly, uh, uh, a leadership, uh, tip from him, especially, you know, managing your people, right, your team. Uh, he would, he would ask me the same, you know, “Trust but verify,” you know. “Did you check this? Did you review this?” You know, because sometimes, especially when you’re in a director level, high level, you, you… A lot of the work that you’re presenting is coming from your team. It, they’re, they’re working on it, they’re passing it to you, and then you’re supposed to review it, right, before it goes out, uh, as you should. But he would ask you, “Did you?” And, you know, “Did you trust this work was done, you know, uh, uh, correct?” Is, you know, remember to trust, but verify.

Make sure everything is good. Uh, and, and at the same rate, he’s doing the same, right? Like he, you know, you’re, you’re providing work, you’re, you know, bringing up the food chain, you know, projects and so on, and he would do the same thing. So yeah, d- d- definitely great lessons. Uh, I have, uh, um, you know, one more, uh, to share. I mean, I, I can think of, uh, um, more than one, but I’ll share this one that I think is very important. Uh, he would share, uh, all the time, you know, I, I, I can recall almost vividly a lot of, um, you know, the speeches he would do. Uh, to new bus operators, to staff in general, uh, to new employees. And, uh, this has to do with, uh, what he called customer service guarantee, and what customer service guarantee is. And, um, you know, he would say that, you know, good customer service, uh, you know, it would be great if people would just apply the golden rule. You know, uh, uh, treat people as you would like to be treated. And he would say, you know, “Wouldn’t the world be a perfect place if everybody would apply that?

You know, everybody would just get along and, and, and everything would just be nice and, and great?” But he said in customer service and in terms of customer service guarantee, how does that look in transit? How do we translate it into transit? And he said, “I don’t know if, if, you know, the golden rule can be improved, if I could take an attempt, I would say, treat people but better than they expect to be treated.” And he said, “If we do that in customer service, we would be running a, a stellar organization.” Uh, so, you know, I think that that was a, a great, um, learning lesson and just thinking, wow, you know, that, that’s, that’s true. And in many ways, um, no matter where you work or what type of industry you’re in, you have to provide customer service, either directly to, you know, whoever is consuming your product or serv- services, or to those customers that are buying, you know, like the, the, the organizations that are buying goods and services from you. You have to provide that good customer service and, you know, treating people better than they expect to be treated, like, you know, exceeding their expectations. Of course that would be excellent customer service. So, th- that was one of those, uh, takeaways that, that I think, you know, I would always, uh, keep with me. I love that. Uh, that’s so powerful. Uh, wow. Uh, he had a lot of those. He was good, uh, and quick on his feet. He was able to think through problems, be strategic. Uh, you know, this reminds me too, uh, this whole conversation, of, of course, reminds me of when, uh, you know, when he passed, uh, in those few days after, we got together with Yash Nagel and Steve Anderson, who were also former planners at Palm Tran. Well, Yash still is a, a current planner at Palm Tran. Uh, but Steve, a former planner at Palm Tran. And, you know, the four of us got together, and we said, you know, “What’s a way for us to be able to, uh, remember and celebrate our experience with Clinton B. Forbes?” And we put that into an, an article. Uh, we sent that over to FPTA, uh, and they accepted it. Uh, you know, put it on the December edition, I believe, or the winter edition of the 2023, uh, uh, newsletter. And that meant a lot. It meant a lot that people were able to see our experience, uh, to understand that we have this great admiration and appreciation for his leadership, that he’s going to be missed, that, you know, that we, we loved him as a colleague, as a friend. And yeah, I want to give a, uh, shout-out here to Yash and we’ve g- given one to Steve, but, you know, another one to Steve that, you know, thank you for contributing some time and helping us write that article. Uh, it, it meant a lot. I think it was therapeutic in a way to be able to express our thoughts and feelings, uh, about someone who, you know, we, we just had tremendous admiration for.

Uh, and, you know, with that, I’d, I’d like to go ahead and close out the, this episode of Stop Requested. I’d like to thank everyone for listening. You know, hopefully, Clinton, uh, was impactful in your life. Hopefully you got a chance to, to meet him. Um, you know, and if you didn’t, then you got to hear about how great he was in these 30 minutes or so on, on today’s podcast. So, thank you again for listening. Uh, please join us next week for another episode.