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I just heard today that the Sacramento Magazine released its list of the top 100 Powerful people and that you can go onto their site and vote for your top 10. I was happy to see some very good people made it on the list. My top 10 looked like this.
(Update: I am adding Sena Christian, from the SN&R I didn’t put together that it was her on the list. Way to go Sena for making it! You deserve it.)
I know its a lot of people who are in my line of work but I only wanted to vote for people that I either knew personally or knew of their work on a higher level than just reading about them in the paper.
Who makes your list?
Levi
18 responses so far ↓
1 dustin // Aug 27, 2008 at 8:12 am
Here’s my top 3:
BRIAN FISCHER, Internet activist
RON VRILAKAS, architect
LEVI BENKERT, green developer
Levi, How’d they manage to leave you off the list?
2 Levi // Aug 27, 2008 at 10:26 am
Um… Because I am nowhere near being that important. I am just a geek who has a blog and thinks that cities need attention.
3 este // Aug 27, 2008 at 10:33 am
interesting that there are absolutely no women on this list and very few in the sacramento magazine list
4 Levi // Aug 27, 2008 at 10:39 am
Yeah, good point. I can assure you no ill intent was included. I just did not know any of the women listed. Checked again to make sure and I have not crossed paths with any of them.
5 steve // Aug 27, 2008 at 10:51 am
I added Jude Lamare for all her tenacity at preserving some open space around here. And Darrell Steinberg who is a great down to earth guy and keeps pushing for the state to remove some of the incentives for sprawl.
6 steve // Aug 27, 2008 at 10:57 am
It would be nice if more non profit people made it in there too. Walt Seifert with SABA, Anne Geraghty with WalkSacramento, and Rob Kerth and Ray Tretheway at the Tree Foundation would have made my list.
7 dustin // Aug 27, 2008 at 11:38 am
I second Steve’s comment regarding non-profit leaders. Those people are working to challenge established ideas and have many followers willing to do the same.
8 este // Aug 27, 2008 at 11:48 am
standard-bearers like ljurban should continue striving to think differently . unfortunately most non-profit people would never get the time of day from an establishment rag like sacramento magazine, if you open their pages, they seem to pander to advertisers or potential advertisers and ads = articles. based on the number of developers on the list, money is the ultimate arbiter of power.
9 jms // Aug 27, 2008 at 11:58 am
I was also struck by the lack of women in your list, Levi. How unfortunate. And that’s not a criticism of you or your rankings but rather a general comment on the nature of “importance” not only in this City but also in our country and the world in general.
Are there really so few women that deserve inclusion on a list such as this??? Or perhaps is it that women tend to work more behind-the-scenes to affect change and thus don’t receive public attention or recognition?
Just curious…
10 jms // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I just realised that the word used in the original post was “powerful” rather than “important,” but that only makes the disparity even more glaring, as the idea of labeling a woman “powerful” often seems to cause great anxiety and fear.
Perhaps we need a new definition of “power” in order to fully appreciate the wide range of human talent and ability.
11 este // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:08 pm
yes, i was trying to articulate that but jms just nailed it
12 Levi // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Interesting point JMS. I know many women that would not enjoy the label “Powerful” The whole discussion makes me think deeper about the intent of the list in the first place. After pondering it more I can see that there do seem to be undertones in the motivation for a magazine to publish such a list in the first place.
13 dustin // Aug 27, 2008 at 12:51 pm
Hillary did a pretty good job at being “powerful” durning last nights DNC.
14 MJ // Aug 27, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I am with este. Developers are full if themselves and lists like this only make them feel better about what they do. I am not saying LJ Urban is any better or worse. I just dislike lists of people that are better than me.
15 Ian M. // Aug 28, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Levi- I don’t know if you’ve crossed paths with Sena Christian, but she wrote an article about you and she’s on the list. I wouldn’t think of her as exceptionally powerful or influential, but she does have one of the coolest jobs in town.
I noticed that the list was missing some of the more senior folks who may be semi retired but still push on, such as Barry Wasserman, former State Architect and current Planning Commissioner; Anne Rudin, former Mayor and current environmental advocate; and Kay Knepprath, historic preservation advocate.
16 Donna Sangwin // Aug 28, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I am LOVING that Sena made that list - she is doing a great job keeping GREEN top of mind.
Yep - the list was very short on women - and some selections on men where a stretch in my mind anyway.
17 Levi // Aug 29, 2008 at 6:10 am
Ian, Seena!! Oh yes that is her. I always knew her by first name and did not even know that was her. I am so adding her to the top of my list. She rocks!
18 Brian Fischer // Sep 3, 2008 at 12:23 am
Thanks for the kudos Levi. I feel that it’s rather odd that I made this list, but I hope that those of us interested in gathering and honing the creative capital of this city bring our combined energy to the forefront.
It is really the collective that is influential. Very likely, I would generate a very different list.
Some comments offered tremendous insight into our paradigms or struggles with definitions for power, influence, and knowledge.
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