For their contributions to the industry, 10 fleet veterans were recently inducted into Government Fleet magazine’s Public Fleet Hall of Fame. The new award, sponsored by the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA), recognizes fleet leaders and pioneers who have significantly contributed to the profession.

Public Fleet Hall of Fame is established with 10 founding members. In 2015, eight fleet veterans will be inducted, followed by six in 2016, four in 2017, and three in 2018. Thereafter, three honorees will be inducted into the Public Fleet Hall of Fame annually.

Nominations are accepted at the beginning of the year, and the industry votes for candidates via an online ballot. To qualify, nominees must have at least 20 years of experience in the industry, 10 of which must have been spent working for a public fleet or a private company contracted to manage a public fleet.

These inductees were honored at the Government Fleet Expo & Conference (GFX) during The Honors Celebration on June 4. Their photos will be displayed in Torrance, Calif., at the headquarters of Bobit Business Media, publisher of Government Fleet.

Richard Battersby, CAFM, CPFP
City of Oakland, Calif.; University of California, Davis;
Contra Costa County, Calif.; State of California
Years in Fleet: 30

Battersby has become a trusted adviser and mentor to his fellow fleet managers. He is the coordinator of the East Bay Clean Cities coalition and is a sought-after speaker at various fleet events. He was named the 2013 Government Fleet (GF) Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year, the 2012 American Public Works Association (APWA) Professional Manager of the Year in Public Fleet, and a 2012 Dept. of Energy Clean Cities Hall of Fame inductee.   

Larry Campbell, CPFP
City of Fort Wayne, Ind.
Years in Fleet: 34

Campbell has led the Fort Wayne fleet to become an award-­winning fleet operation. He was named GF’s 2012 Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year and has served as the local Clean Cities president. He also sat on the board of the Indiana Chapter of the APWA as well as on the ­APWA’s Certified Public Fleet Professional (CPFP) certification board. He joins the Ford Police Advisory board this year.

John Clements
City of San Diego, Calif.;
San Diego County, Calif.
Years in Fleet: 40+

Clements has successfully won managed competitions at both the city and county of San Diego and has helped fleets all over the nation by sharing his knowledge. Under his leadership, the fleet operations have won awards, and Clements has been a featured speaker at various fleet conferences. He was GF’s 2007 Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year.

Bill DeRousse
Hendon Media Group; City of Everett, Wash.; Everett Transit, Wash.
Years in Fleet: 45

At the City of Everett, DeRousse was successful in saving the city money through various fleet changes. He served for six years as president of the Public Fleet Managers Association and 15 years as its information officer. He has also worked with NAFA, GFX, APWA, the Rocky Mountain Fleet Management Association (RMFMA), and other state and national associations. He is still active in the fleet industry and currently works with Hendon Media Group as the managing consultant for the Police Fleet Institute.

John Hunt, CPFP
City of Portland, Ore.; City of Fresno, Calif.
Years in Fleet: 37

Hunt was GF’s first ever Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year in 2005 and in 2008, he was the APWA’s Professional Manager of the Year in Public Fleet. He led the Portland fleet to become the No. 1 fleet in 2011. He serves on the APWA certification commission and is a member of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of NAFA and the Department of Homeland Security’s Sustainability and Efficiency Task Force. He is a sought-after speaker at fleet conferences.

Sam Lamerato, CPFP
City of Troy, Mich.
Years in Fleet: 39

Lamerato has organized the APWA Michigan Chapter conferences for 17 years. The Troy fleet was named the No. 1 fleet in 2010, and Lamerato was GF’s Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year in 2011 and APWA’s Professional Manager of the Year in Public Fleet in 2010. Lamerato served on Chrysler’s Fleet Advisory Council for two years and its Police Advisory Board for four years.   

Rick Longobart
City of Santa Ana, Calif.; City of Inglewood, Calif., City of El Segundo, Calif.
Years in Fleet: 31

Longobart has been a leader in the movement to create safer, greener fleets in Southern California. He served as president of the Municipal Equipment Maintenance Association for 10 years, and is now a board member of the NAFA Pacific Southwest Chapter. He was named the RMFMA’s 2013 Fleet Professional of the Year and has spoken at various conferences throughout the nation and in China.

John McCorkhill, Jr., CFM, CAFM, CEM, CPFP
City of Lynchburg, Va.; City of Indianapolis, Ind.
Years in Fleet: 32

While in Indianapolis, McCorkhill created the model for fleet management benchmarking against the private sector while leading the organization through the first successful large city outsourcing exercise. He was GFs 2006 Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year and received the Honorary Lifetime Membership Award from NAFA in 2012. He is a former NAFA leader on both the local and national levels, served several years as the chair of the APWA national fleet committee, has taught numerous workshops, and has been published by many fleet groups.

Win Mitchell (deceased)
King County, Wash.
Years in Fleet: 35

Mitchell worked on greening the county fleet, developed and implemented an anti-idling policy, wrote a Green Fleet Standards proposal, formed the Heavy-Duty Hybrid Truck Consortium, and secured $400,000 in grants for consortium members. He authored numerous articles in industry publications on alternative fuels, greenhouse gas mitigation strategy, outsourcing, and other fleet management topics. Mitchell was named the Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year in 2008. He passed away in 2012.

Bob Stanton, CPM, CPFP
Donald C. Stone Leadership Fellow; (retired) City of San Antonio, Texas; Hillsborough County, Fla.; Polk County, Fla.
Years in Fleet: 38

Stanton turned Polk County’s fleet around from the brink of privatization to become an award-winning fleet. He received three Larry Goill Awards from NAFA and the Excellence in Supervision Award from the American Trucking Associations. He pioneered numerous initiatives and has been a featured speaker at many fleet events. As a Donald C. Stone Public Works Leadership Fellow, an APWA program, he provides mentoring and assistance to other Public Works professionals.