He was also instrumental in the effort to elect Carl Stokes as the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city.
About a year later in 1975, Forbes and other (unspecified) investors bought out popular AM talk-radio station WERE and converted it into an all-news format that promptly flopped.
Forbes was a polished politician and knew the ins and outs of the trade, eventually training future Cleveland mayor, Michael R. White.
Guess you can swing chairs around when you've got a bodyguard.According to author Edward P. Whelan: "Depending on the prism through which one views him, Forbes is either the city's savior or the most destructive, self-aggrandizing and divisive influence around.
Forbes told Cleveland journalist Dick Feagler on Friday, August 21, 2009, that he believed he lost the mayoral race due in part to the bombastic persona he projected as host of a local radio show where race was a frequent topic.
In late 2008, Forbes helped broker a deal with African American ministers to drop their effort to repeal Cleveland's Domestic Partner Registry ordinance.
The case was the first in a series of trials involving allegations that some city officials had accepted kickbacks from carnival operators.
[13] In 1984, Forbes launched into a profanity-laced tirade when WJW I-TEAM Reporter Carl Monday asked him about his unpaid $400 water bill.
[14] In 2002, Forbes was among the list of high-profile victims of convicted former Cleveland stockbroker Frank Gruttadauria.
[15] On July 5, 2007, Forbes pleaded guilty to ethics charges related to an investigation involving the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's Coingate scandal.
In October 2008, the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline of the Ohio Supreme Court recommended that Forbes receive a public reprimand.