Supervisor Spotlight: Highlighting those behind the scenes who keep us moving
It takes a lot of people to keep a transit system running smoothly across 150 routes and over 300,000 boardings a day.
Bus drivers are the most visible part of any transit system, but there are people behind the scenes who are just as vital in the day-to-day operation of King County Metro.
Their responsibilities include training operators, planning the routes that run throughout the region, and literally being the “traffic controllers” who keep track of the buses on their daily runs.
They’re also the former bus drivers who use their knowledge to guide current drivers. Some were interested in transit from a young age and who put their backgrounds from other fields into good use.
And sometimes, they’re invisible co-pilots that help you get where you need to go when you ride with Metro.
We’d like to introduce you to the staff that help keep the wheels on the bus going “round and round” every day.
Debra Freeman, Communications Coordinator
Supervisor Debra Freeman joined King County Metro in 1989 and has been a Supervisor since 2001. Debra started out in Base Operations, moving to Service Quality, the Transit Control Center (TCC), and Tunnel Control (buses), then Training. She is one of the few people to have worked in all five sections.
Born in New York (the Bronx) and raised in California, Debra has a large family throughout the United States, with five generations right here in Washington. She enjoys gardening, especially growing anything edible.
Debra was encouraged to join Metro by a driver on the Route 2. At the time, she was working seven days a week in the loan department of a local bank. Coincidentally, one of her peers at the bank also applied to Metro and ended up being hired before her.
One humorous memory Debra has is that on her first day of driving, she went off route, and got lost. She recalls she did a lot of things wrong, but she learned from her mistakes and got better. She reassures operators that whatever mistake they make, she has made before too, so she understands.
Debra takes pride in the operators she has helped along the way, especially those who have moved on to do things they want to do. She shared she is also proud to be among the first bus operators to drive through the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel.
Debra shared she has too many good work memories with other operators and peers to list them all. She does miss all the events they did as operators—picnics, baseball competitions, car washes, and basketball shooting competitions. For her, these were the bonding activities that increased the sense of community at work.
Valuable career advice Debra has received includes: “From the beginning, I was advised it was required to know The Manual, policies, procedures, and contract. Also, to get involved in the union from the get-go ….it helps you to understand your job, your responsibilities, and what your protections and rights are.”
Some career advice she would like to share with others would be: “Be able to educate and take care of yourself. Not be dependent on others. Find a study partner when you can and remember sometimes people are sharing their opinion, not necessarily the facts.”
Debra likes the operators she works with to know that she is doing her best to take care of them. “I try to make sure I assist operators in the most efficient way.”
One of the challenges she faces as a supervisor is recognizing that the public Metro serves now is different from the community she transported when she was a driver.
To stay motivated day-to-day, Debra shared her operators keep her on her feet. They make her laugh and show her their integrity by how they handle things. The operators show up every day and try their best in a tough environment, so she says she has to show up for them too.
Debra works to ensure that Metro’s Bus Operations Vision Statement: “Safety comes first for us and our customers. We serve with pride, respect each other, and solve problems together. We are one team” is put into practice every day.
“The experience of the people who have been on the ground for a long time with Metro should not be ignored,” Debra said. “The information and experience they provide is valuable. Would love to see it incorporated in what we do now.”
Gil Anselmo, Communications Coordinator
Gil’s journey to Metro started with a newspaper ad.
Born and raised in the Bataan province of the Philippines, Gil was the last of his family to move to the United States in 1985. He worked for an import company located on the northeast corner of 6th Ave. S. and Royal Brougham St. While there, he saw a newspaper ad for part-time drivers for Metro. He applied for the job and started at Metro in 1991.
At the time, Gil thought all of Metro was located at Atlantic/Central Base so it would be convenient to come from his job at the import company and head to the base for part-time driving. He compares that routine to how Superman changes from regular attire to his superhero cape, except Gil’s was his brown Metro uniform. He did that routine for about a year and a half until the import company closed.
Gil became full-time operator in 1996 and became a supervisor in 2001.
One of the challenges Gil faced in this role was navigating through the different perspectives, cultures, and outlooks of employees and co-workers. According to Gil, as time went on, these challenges gave him a wider perspective of the world around him, making him a better person and supervisor.
As he reflects on his time here at Metro, Gil is proud of the impact he has made in the lives of fellow employees especially when he was a part-time operator trainer. “I consider myself very fortunate to be where I am in this stage of my career, especially coming from an immigrant background.” He went on to say, “The opportunity to help and work every day with wonderful people is a privilege to have in one’s career.”
Two favorite memories stand out for Gil. The first was when he brought his sons –when they were toddlers– to the Central/Atlantic Safety Fair in the early 2000’s and seeing their eyes widen as they took in everything that was on display, particularly the fire truck and police cars.
His other favorite memory was watching people lined up along the streets clapping and cheering for Metro during the parade of buses on the way to Key Arena for Mark McLaughlin’s memorial service. McLaughlin was shot and killed by a passenger in 1998 while driving the route 359.
In his words, “It was the only time in my career that I’ve seen the whole city all come out at the same time to cheer for every single Metro employee.”
When not coordinating immediate responses from the Transit Control Center (TCC), Gil enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and gardening. He is married and has two sons and a daughter.
Reflecting on Metro’s vision statement, Gil shares, “Respect for one another brings people together. It allows everyone to serve with pride and creates an environment where every member is as important as the next one, which is the key to a great team. When people feel respected, they feel safe – safe to formulate, establish, and practice safety protocols for themselves and for the customers”.
Interested in becoming a part of Metro? Visit “Start your Metro career” to explore well-paying positions with full benefits and a pension in transit operations, trades, rail operations, customer information and countless other fields.