Power’s slippery. We asked scores of people engaged in St. Louis’ common life, “Who really made things happen this year?” Then we took that list of people and asked them who they thought made things happen. When ranking was impossible, the kinds of power too different to compare, we used a simple test: What happens if you subtract this individual from the equation? Does the work continue or does chaos descend?
First, the names flew. Gradually, they settled into a certain rough order. But we also heard wildly different names, too many to form a pattern at all. That, we realized, is the present nature of power in St. Louis. The days when Civic Progress members moved the city around like they were playing a board game are over. Familiar names still run powerful boards, but as they retire, they’re not so much passing the baton as laying it gently on the asphalt—or hurling it into the bushes.
Power’s up for grabs.
A handful of the people on our list gave us their picks for the top five most powerful people in St. Louis. Their lists can be seen here
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1. The Rev. John C. Danforth
Former U.S. senator, partner at Bryan Cave LLP
Too often, descriptions of John Danforth reference physical qualities—his towering height, his commanding baritone—to convey the simple fact that this man’s power cannot be written off to inherited money or status. Danforth’s power is his alone. The Bryan Cave attorney and Episcopal minister has invigorated moderate Republicans, championed the stem cell–research initiative and revitalized St. Louis through his work with the Danforth Foundation and St. Louis 2004. People listen to him because he’s authentic, because he’s willing to put not only his money but also his values, commitment and faith where his mouth is.
In 2007: As far-right Christian conservatives lose faith in the Republican Party, Danforth’s call to action empowers the moderates the GOP may come to depend on.
2. Andy Taylor
Chairman and CEO, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Since taking over as CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car in 1994, Andy Taylor has guided the privately owned company into first place in the industry, reporting more than $9 billion in revenues last fiscal year—more than quadruple its ’94 earnings. He’s also cemented his reputation as a man who makes things happen. Fortunately, he’s chosen to make great things happen for St. Louis—the Taylor family has given $30 million to the Missouri Botanical Garden, $10 million to the Danforth Science Center and $8 million to Forest Park Forever.
In 2007: Will Enterprise continue its steady rise? Can it challenge Hertz at the airports while holding its own in home-city rentals?
3. David W. Kemper
Chairman, president and CEO, Commerce Bancshares
In addition to running one of the most powerful banks in town, David Kemper chairs two of the most powerful boards—Washington University and Civic Progress. That puts him right at the heart of the city’s future: the point where economic development intersects with talent. There will be no more brain drain, Kemper insists, pointing to the high-energy redevelopment that’s tempting graduates to stay here. His double role? To steward the $1.5 billion Wash. U. just raised—and keep the city’s momentum.
In 2007: Diplomatic maneuvers, as the university begins the tortuous, inevitably political process of making a new strategic plan.
4. August A. Busch IV
CEO, Anheuser-Busch Companies
Getting married for the first time wasn’t enough for this heir apparent. The Fourth also assumed the top slot at the brewery at a time when the beer business has seemingly softened and a billionaire hedge-fund guru named (fast) Eddie Lampert is rumored to want to wrest the company from the family dynasty. Here’s hoping the business stays in the family and in St. Louis—and Four-Sticks begins to throw himself into the community, making the kind of difference his grandfather did.
In 2007: As long as the brewery stays in the family, the world is Busch’s pub—even China and India, now. With the addition of new international markets, just how many billions of bottles of beer on the wall might we be talking?
5. Bill DeWitt Jr.
Chairman, St. Louis Cardinals
Busch Stadium wasn’t the architectural marvel some had hoped for, but DeWitt and company did pony up the lion’s share of the funding. The new stadium has already pumped energy into its section of downtown—and the team purchased a 50 percent stake in KTRS that changed the local AM-radio landscape and gave the Big 550 a big boost.
In 2007: Even with October’s deal in ink, Ballpark Village is still the 12-acre gorilla in the room, and real progress—with or without public funds—will need to happen this year to silence the doubters.
6. Mark S. Wrighton, Ph.D.
Chancellor, Washington University
While others fretted about global warming and our dangerous dependence on oil, Wrighton created a new department with a bioenergy initiative. While others wrung their hands over Asia’s competitive advantage, Wrighton brought 17 of the finest young Asian scholars to campus in the first American version of Oxford’s Rhodes Scholarship. People climb in and out of his ivory tower every day (although he did raise the drawbridge earlier this year, when a few overconfident outsiders thought that commerce could dictate university research).
In 2007: It’s time to position Washington University as an international university, not just Ivy League on the prairie.
7. John Dubinsky
Executive director, CORTEX
If St. Louis is going to be the buckle of the bio-belt, this is the guy responsible for holding up the pants in the meantime. Finding a compromise in the acquisition of the 180-acre tract of land in Midtown that CORTEX is hoping to develop into an urban biotech hub was a big win that paved the way for what the city hopes will be a cornerstone of local commercial rejuvenation and scientific progress.
In 2007: The first building in the new biotech corridor opened last January, but Dubinsky will have to keep the momentum going.
8. William H. Danforth, M.D.
Chairman of the board, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
This was Bill Danforth’s first year of official idleness after 24 years as chancellor of Washington University. So he led the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, guided the plant-science center (his brainchild) toward biofuel, proposed a $1 billion national institute of food and agriculture, co-chaired a state task force investigating the city schools and threw himself into the fractious stem cell–research campaign.
In 2007: Well, he’s planted the seed for that $1 billion institute ...
9. The Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J.
President, Saint Louis University
When Biondi was given papal authority at SLU in 1987, he announced that he was going to transform the down-at-the-heels university into the nation’s preeminent Catholic university. As one insider says: “He had a vision, and he’s not letting anybody get in his way.” The campus has never looked lovelier, enrollment has never been higher, the ground has been broken on the new stadium complex and the $67 million Edward A. Doisy Research Center nears completion.
In 2007: You won’t find any embryonic stem cells there, but the new research center cranks up its labs this spring.
10. Sam Fox
Chairman, CEO, founder, Harbour Group
The latest feather in this philanthropist’s cap: the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, encompassing Wash. U.’s schools of art and architecture. Dedicated at the end of October, it was funded in part by a $10 million gift from Sam and wife Marilyn. Fox also chaired the public phase of the Wash. U. $1.5 billion capital campaign, the seventh-largest campaign ever completed by any university, public or private. A longtime member of Civic Progress, Fox contributes oodles of bucks to everything from the Saint Louis Art Museum to the Boy Scouts. “Sam has never forgotten who he is and where he comes from,” says executive Frank Jacobs.
In 2007: More of the same. As one friend says, “He’s got a lotta money”—and he (and Marilyn) are sure to be giving still more of it away.
11. Jeff Rainford
Mayoral chief of staff, city of St. Louis
Once he stood behind the mic (KMOX, 1120 AM) and in front of the camera (KMOV, Channel 4) as a reporter. Now he’s the mouth—and some contend, the mind—of Mayor Francis Slay. Nicknamed Crash, he’s earning the moniker as he runs over the toes of not just a few politicos and embarks on the occasional rant and rave. According to one insider: “Since Slay is basically mayor for life—or until he finds something else he wants to do—people who do business in the core city of the region better get used to Jeff Rainford. He’s the gatekeeper, the bodyguard and the go-to guy when you want something done.”
In 2007: Maybe a school board that actually functions—without fighting? A bridge across muddied water? A decrease in crime? Pass the word, Mayor Rainford.
12. Francis Slay
Mayor, city of St. Louis
This year, Slay has some big, concrete successes to point to: a new and well-attended ballpark, an increase in downtown population of more than 230 percent and a study showing that for the first time in 50 years the city has gained—rather than lost—residents. Although the seeds for the city’s revitalization were planted before Slay took office in 2001 (e.g., Metropolis) it’s also true that St. Louis has hit warp speed when it comes to development—which wouldn’t happen under the rule of a narcoleptic City Hall.
In 2007: The defeat of the well-funded, Slay-endorsed Clinksdale-Buford slate for the St. Louis Board of Education suggests that voters may no longer be buying what he’s selling, at least on that issue—and, ultimately, schools are the key to the city’s recovery.
13. Barbara Geisman
Deputy mayor for development, city of St. Louis
The title might be a euphemism for “lackey” in other cities, but St. Louis’ deputy mayor for development, Barbara Geisman, has ideas—and influence—all her own. Not a cog but a powerful engine, Geisman is known for her Herculean efforts to revitalize the city. Her intense focus has been known to alienate, but no one can deny that Geisman kick-started St. Louis development—and keeps kicking to this day.
In 2007: As Ballpark Village plans are put in motion, the project may prove to be Geisman’s greatest triumph—and bargaining chip.
14. Richard Callow
President and founder, Public Eye Incorporated
Oft-disputed and ever-ambiguous, Richard Callow’s power is, despite his protestations to the contrary, very real. He is the president and founder of Public Eye, the public-relations firm of choice for the city’s highest-profile organizations and individuals, including the St. Louis Cardinals, SBC Communications, Anheuser-Busch and the last four mayors, one Mayor Francis Slay prominently included. If ever you hear “a little bird told me,” chances are, it’s Callow that’s been chirping.
In 2007: Will ever-increasing media attention make Callow a less appealing confidant as his bevy of fair-weather alliances are scrutinized?
15. Larry J. Shapiro, M.D.
Executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean, Washington University School of Medicine
Now that they’ve decoded the human genome, researchers at the Wash. U. medical school have begun using its secrets to tailor medical treatments for each of us. They’re also learning how to repair DNA, cure childhood diseases, overpower cancer, map and intercept brain signals and use neuroscience to chart the brain and unlock the secrets of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and schizophrenia. The web of their research spans the globe. The man spinning the silk? Shapiro.
In 2007: He needs to find new research money, fast. Grants from the National Institutes of Health, the school’s most reliable source of funding, are expected to stay flat.
16. Steven H. Lipstein
President and CEO, BJC HealthCare
In addition to being germane to our continued existence, health care is quite a lucrative business. BJC’s 13 health-service organizations net $2.6 billion annually, making Lipstein’s a multipronged power. BJC oversees Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, Washington University’s teaching hospitals, and employs almost 26,000 individuals. That kind of reach is certainly nothing to sneeze at—but if you must, you’ve come to the right place.
In 2007: As lease agreements are negotiated, BJC could gain—or lose—substantial chunks of its empire.
17. Emily Rauh Pulitzer
Founder and president, Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts
The Riverfront Times’ phony October cover story on Ballpark Village, which had Pulitzer partnered with Frank Gehry—and (eek!) moving the Kiel Opera House across from the stadium, attests to Randall Roberts’ legerdemain, but it also reveals our utter faith in Emmy Pulitzer’s power to make big things happen. There were many who were not entirely sure it was faux news 'til the paper announced that, uh, someone’s lawyer had requested a total retraction.
In 2007: We’re relieved that a squiggly-wiggly “Gehry” won’t be straight across from the ballpark. But we wouldn’t mind seeing one someplace else …
18. Sister Mary Jean Ryan, F.S.M.
President and CEO, SSM Health Care
SSM Health Care’s power is that of any large health care system—enhanced by a deeply resonating legacy. The organization can trace its roots back to 1872, but the abiding faith that empowers its president and CEO, who has held the position for 20 years, is far older. Sr. Mary Jean is powerful not only because of what she does at the helm of the non-profit organization, which owns, manages and is affiliated with 21 hospitals and 2 nursing homes, but because of how she does it—constantly vigilant of SSM’s stated values of respect, compassion, excellence, stewardship and community.
In 2007: If plans for their new facility, scheduled to open in 2008, continue to run smoothly, SSM Health Care will be painted as a St. Louis innovator and will ensure that the city keeps its faith in Catholic health care.
19. Larry Salci
President and CEO, Metro
Larry Salci wrenched Metro from its Bi-State Development Agency obscurity into the ambitious infrastructural system it is today. Love it or hate it, you’ve got to admit—Salci moved mountains to build those rails, the first urban rail system Metro has ever built (MetroLink was originally constructed on abandoned railways). Infrastructure breeds residential and commercial development, and if you control the former you’ve got a lot of say in the latter.
In 2007: When Salci’s current contract expires in June, will his achievements warrant another raise—or will the job be done?
20. Peter H. Raven, Ph.D.
Director, Missouri Botanical Garden
Dale Chihuly’s reeds and spheres glowed through the foliage of the Missouri Botanical Garden like presents from a more colorful planet. Art in nature—another triumph for Raven, who is as sensitive to beauty as he is knowledgeable about its vulnerability. A world-class conservationist, he knows tropical rainforests better than most of us know our back yards. In July, he co-authored a report warning that, contrary to previous estimates, a full 12 percent of the world’s bird species could be extinct by the end of this century.
In 2007: Raven has advised everyone from the pope to the president about scientific matters. Maybe he can convince them that the climate’s really changing?
21. Michael and Steven Roberts
Michael Roberts, chairman and CEO, The Roberts Companies
Steven Roberts, president and COO, The Roberts Companies
The Roberts brothers’ empire spans more than 60 businesses—and is still growing. Their habit of making sensible business choices and pursuing them with an irrational passion has established them as innovators in the St. Louis business community and earned them huge influence in every industry they deign to dally in, including hospitality, broadcasting and real estate.
In 2007: Some have said their unparalleled success has made the brothers daring, reckless even. As the Roberts dig deeper into radio and television broadcasting this year, it remains to be seen whether they’ll unearth diamonds or coal.
22. Joe Edwards
Loop developer extraordinaire
It’s hard to find a year in the last three decades when Edwards didn’t get something done on Delmar. This year, he continued to press for a vintage trolley system and handpicked Alice’s Vintage Clothes and Donnaland Vintage to fill properties he owns, but the biggest news had nothing to do with the Loop: Edwards’ plans to open the Flamingo Bowl on Washington Avenue represent a huge departure—and a clear effort to get involved with downtown’s revitalization.
In 2007: No one questions his reputation for accomplishing what he says he will, but will people really follow him east of Rosedale, especially with another bowling alley planned for Ballpark Village?
23. Mary Strauss
Arts philanthropist
Set this Strauss a-waltzing and the arts community stops, stands and listens. She saved the ornate Beaux Arts palace we love—Post-Dispatch readers voted it the seventh wonder of St. Louis—and last year she brought Josephine Baker back from the dead. The life of the Fox is now ensured by the Fox Foundation, which Strauss quietly and steadily funds. She also slips cash to community theaters throughout the city; as one colleague noted, “She gets up early in the morning and works her butt off all day, all for not-for-profits and for the arts community. She’s the hardest-working person I know who’s not in a salaried position somewhere.”
In 2007: Strauss is now one of the powers behind the Kevin Kline Awards; prepare to see them grow.
24. Nancy Kranzberg
Arts philanthropist
Name the most powerful art institutions in town—the Contemporary, the Art Museum, Laumeier—and you’ll find her name attached. She sits on boards, donates money like crazy (“Ken has been very successful selling those bottles,” she once said, referencing her husband’s plastic business). She knows all the heavy-duty art dealers. But she also trucks with little guys like KDHX and Art St. Louis. In the end, those relationships—both large and small—are heavier currency than a check writ out with a chain of zeroes.
In 2007: At 62, Kranzberg heads into her third year as jazz singer with the Second Half Band (a.k.a. UM–St. Louis Chancellor Tom George and music prof Jim Widner). Maybe she’ll do Live on the Levee?
25. Kathy Bader
Chairwoman, U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation
Money talks, but lots of money shrieks, “Pay attention to me!” It’s not hard, then, to understand why Bader’s got some clout in these parts. After all, USBCDC has almost $2 billion in assets, and, with its recent $135 million allocation from New Markets Tax Credits, the company is in a position to provide equity and loans to city developers that could well change the face of urban St. Louis.
In 2007: Are the New Markets Tax Credits a sufficiently tempting carrot to lure investors to dilapidated areas whose profitability has yet to be proven?
26. Albert Pujols
First baseman, St. Louis Cardinals
Like arithmetic? St. Louis = the Cardinals. The Cardinals = Albert Pujols. Therefore Albert Pujols = St. Louis. El Hombre will keep Cardinal Nation paying for tickets for a long time (49 home runs will do that for a guy), and the fact that he’s fronting a new restaurant in Westport Plaza says a lot for his cult of personality. (The cachet of being GQ and Wash. U.’s guinea pig didn’t hurt his rep, either.)
In 2007: Pujols’ current pace seems almost inhuman, and his sometimes prickly ’tude could become a liability.
27. Tony Ponturo
Vice president of global media and sports marketing, Anheuser-Busch
You say “oversaturation,” Ponturo says “firm grip on influencing the beer selection of an entire generation.” In June, A-B locked up the Super Bowl’s exclusive alcohol sponsorship through 2012, and, in October, Bud Select ads featuring the reigning don of hip-hop, Jay-Z, rolled out during the NLCS, further hippifying the brand’s image. Did Ponturo have his ad-buying bases covered this year? Uh, yeah.
In 2007: If the online venture Bud TV is a hit, Ponturo’s stranglehold on YouTube youth will only tighten.
28. Nelly
Hip-hop magnate
No, he didn’t have a new album in 2006. He didn’t pop up in another movie or release a new flavor of Pimp Juice. But he did ink a new deal with A-B and host one of the most talked-about parties of the summer (the Black and White Ball). His 4Sho4Kids is still a charitable force, and by virtue of his rep alone, he continues to keep St. Louis on the minds of everyone in hip-hop. Who else is going to get our music scene national press? Gretchen Wilson?
In 2007: If his follow-up to Sweat/Suit drops in 2007 as expected, brace for an all-out media blitz.
29. Tom Schlafly
Founder, Saint Louis Brewery
The title of his new book is A New Religion in Mecca. Indeed: Schlafly introduced microbrew to the land where consumption of Bud trumped that of water. He disproved the Eeyores who said St. Louis was too lame to support a microbrewery, much less one in then-desolate downtown. And then he turned Maplewood hip with the Bottleworks. The Business Journal is fond of naming him to its list of “100 influentials” year after year—and not just because he’s Phyllis’ nephew, a director of Citizens National Bank and a Priory alum. It’s because the guy’s equipped with that rare thing known as vision.
In 2007: His book (subtitled Memoirs of a Renegade Brewer in St. Louis) has gotten the official thumbs-up from Joe Edwards and Bill McClellan. Could a spot on Fresh Air—and a writerly career—be far behind?
30. Donald M. Suggs, D.D.D.
President and publisher, St. Louis American
He’s at the helm of the largest black newspaper in Missouri—a paper that won 83 awards last year, including a National Newspaper Publishers Association award for best black paper in the nation. That’s power. But the diversity of folks who attend his annual Salute to Excellence in Education ceremony says even more; this September, it drew 2,000 people of all colors and ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. In fragmented St. Louis, that’s saying a lot.
In 2007: While mainstream papers struggle, niche publications such as the American are flourishing. We hope that’ll mean a fatter paper to grab off the stand on Thursdays ... not a corporate buyout.
31. Don G. Lents
Chairman, Bryan Cave LLP
Life’s a chess game, and, as chairman of Bryan Cave, Lents plays on several boards at once. This is the man who handled Anheuser-Busch investments of more than $1 billion in Mexico, shepherded WorldCom through $16.6 billion in acquisitions and helped local powerhouses such as Emerson Electric protect themselves from takeover. Now he sets strategy, keeps the kings in check, moves the pawns. When Bryan Cave increased associate salaries to $100,000 earlier this year, the bar went up a few notches for every other law firm in St. Louis.
In 2007: Bryan Cave just couldn’t bring itself to merge with Squire, Sanders & Dempsey last summer and become one of the 10 largest firms in the country. Will Lents try again?
32. Kathy Osborn
Executive director, Regional Business Council
When she was vice chancellor at UM–St. Louis, Osborn was tapped to help form and run the Regional Business Council, an organization made up of CEOs of midcap companies with sales of $50 million and 100 employees or more. People in power, Des Lee among them, wax poetic whenever her name is mentioned, and she’s the first choice of many to get something done ASAP.
In 2007: With her urging, the group is continuing its efforts to line the coffers of the United Way, help schools in distress and work on the new bridge over the Mississippi.
33. Steven J. Stogel
President, DFC Group
Stogel left McCormack Baron in 1990 to head up Civic Progress’ St. Louis Technical Assistance Corporation, where he advised the city on the Renaissance Grand/Gateway Mall project on Washington, as well as the ArtLofts; in ’94, he founded DFC, a real-estate consulting and development company. Fond of creating project-specific companies, he’s often linked with Mark Schnuck’s development firm DESCO; together, they undertook the controversial Old Post Office project. Stogel and Schnuck, as CLR Consultants, were retained in February by the St. Louis Municipal Library District to renovate the Central Library downtown.
In 2007: DESCO’s bidding to buy the million-square-foot Lemp Brewery complex for redevel-opment. Judging from past patterns of collaboration, it won’t be shocking if DFC—and Stogel—appear somewhere in the mix, should the deal go through.
34. Amit Dhawan
Founder, Synergy Productions LLC
Nelly tapped him to put together the froufrou Black and White Ball at the Contemporary. Two months later, he pulled off a post–MTV Video Music Awards party in New York that managed to build buzz for a new club in the Central West End. Not only that, he continues to give this stuffy city a hip shot in the arm. Many people are hyping St. Louis in St. Louis, but he’s hyping St. Louis everywhere.
In 2007: Continued downtown development will only offer more opportunities for Dhawan’s brand of “relationship marketing.”
35. John Steffen
President, Pyramid Companies
At last count, Pyramid’s real-estate empire had reached 3 million square feet of space, much of it downtown. Steffen’s big move in ’06 was purchasing the Stix, Baer & Fuller building and the 540,000-square-foot St. Louis Centre (arguably one of St. Louis’ most embarrassing city-planning failures) and announcing that he’d strip the former mall down to its steel skeleton and turn it into condos and retail. And the dreaded skyway? Toast. That plan earned a full page of coverage in The New York Times this past October.
In 2007: Steffen says that the projected completion date for 600 Washington (SLC’s new name) is 2009. With many irons in the fire—$609 million worth—from West County to North City, it’ll be interesting to see whether that timeline gets stretched a bit ... as it was for the Keystone Place units that were to rise from the Sears building site on Grand.
36. David Steward
Chairman of the board and co-founder, World Wide Technology
There’s something about the ring of being the founder of the largest African-American–owned business in this country, with $2 billion in sales, and serving as its head that resonates throughout the halls of power. But when Steward took the highly visible job of chairing the 2005 United Way of Greater St. Louis annual fundraiser (the first African American to assume the gig), he blew predecessors out of the water with the record $65.5 million he helped raise. He’s also the first African American to sit on Civic Progress.
In 2007: Steward is now chairman of the local United Way (again, the first person of color to hold the job). Insiders are waiting for the organization to hit new heights with him at the helm.
37. Pete Rothschild
Owner, Rothschild Development
The man takes crazy risks, always has—but now he owns so much property in areas about to take off, you can feel the synergy building. Rothschild controls huge chunks of the Central West End and hundreds of apartments in Soulard; he’s making Maplewood hip and just sank more than $50 million into Downtown West; he has blueprints for loft apartments between Patty O’s and the ball park and multiple projects in Carondelet, near the future casino. He’s put a charter school in his Old St. Boniface Church project; will he dare a saloon in the rectory?
In 2007: We wouldn’t be surprised (although he might be) if Rothschild ran for the St. Louis school board.
38. Amrit and Amy Gill
Amy Gill, CEO, Restoration Saint Louis
Amrit Gill, chairman of the board, Restoration Saint Louis
The Gills’ projects are ambitious in every sense, from the 30,000 square feet of the Coronado Ballroom to the $17.5 million invested in the Moolah. Now the couple is busy rehabbing whole swaths of Forest Park Southeast (rechristened the Grove), hoping to invest $50 million here by the time they’re done. On their good name alone, new investors, old residents and more foot traffic have been lured to the area—and, despite the wobbly housing market, the Grove’s continuing on its upward trajectory.
In 2007: Watch for apartments and shops to appear in the under-rehab “Castle Building,” at the corner of Boyle and Manchester, the neighborhood’s centerpiece.
39. Robert Archibald
President and CEO, Missouri Historical Society
The Missouri History Museum’s current exhibit is named “Shifting Gears”— exactly what the museum has done under Archibald’s leadership. Since he arrived, in ’98, the building has grown in space and stature, and Archibald, extremely active in the community, has extended his reach right into the city and onto the dysfunctional St. Louis school board. “He’s been the canary in the mine,” says Karen Kalish, a local community activist. “He’s sensible, smart and understands education of urban kids. He’s not afraid to say that we have some people on the board who don’t have their eye on the ball.” She adds that Archibald is committed to ensuring that “black kids get the same education as the richest white kids.”
In 2007: Into his last year of his first term on the school board, here’s hoping Archibald can add sanity to the inanity.
40. Ted and Sam Koplar
Ted Koplar, president and CEO, Koplar Properties
Sam Koplar, vice president, Koplar Properties
With Maryland Plaza’s bumpy road behind them (literally), the father-son Koplar combo fended off Maryland Place developer Pete Rothschild and started cobbling together a list of retail tenants early in the year, beginning to make good on a years-old promise to revitalize the CWE’s shopping district (see p. 78). They’re refusing to settle for cheesy chains, and adding the Mandarin Lounge to the mix this fall may have been the smartest play yet.
In 2007: Landing a high-end dining spot from Levy Restaurants was huge, but when will the rest of the vacancies fill up?
41. The Rev. James T. Morris
Pastor, Lane Tabernacle CME Church
When the state voter-ID law was passed earlier this year, Morris met with Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and labor unions to organize a network to help poor, elderly and disabled voters cast their ballots. A self-described “liberation theologian,” Morris is fearless in the face of controversy, speaking out against the death penalty and police brutality while supporting stem-cell research. As one observer notes, his willingness to “stick his neck out there” because it’s the right thing to do is what gives him authority in the eyes of so many.
In 2007: Just because another controversy-ridden election year has passed, don’t expect Morris to gear down—there’s still plenty of poverty, suffering and oppression to heal.
42. Brent Benjamin
Director, Saint Louis Art Museum
Seven years ago, Brent Benjamin moved into the art museum and started rearranging the paintings. Gallery after gallery glows with new meaning—and with works never before exhibited, thanks to Benjamin’s ability to charm private collectors. He also charmed the commissioners, who just OK’d the master plan for the museum’s dramatic expansion. And this summer he called the bluff of Zahi Hawass, an Egyptologist who claimed that the museum bought a stolen Egyptian funerary mask (but has produced no documentation).
In 2007: Beware the Egyptologist’s return; according to the London Times, “nobody crosses Zahi Hawass and gets away with it.”
43. Anna Crosslin
Executive director, International Institute of St. Louis
More than 8,000 refugees and immigrants pour into St. Louis each year—and maybe 20 people understand what they’re going through. At the head of that list: Crosslin, who’s worked at St. Louis’ tiny United Nations for 28 years. She explains America to bemused refugees and refugees to Americans … interprets the bewildering cultural nuances for staid business leaders and nervous city officials … teaches conflict mediation to leaders of different ethnic communities.
In 2007: With increasing public hostility toward immigrants, both legal and illegal, Crosslin’s one of the few who can keep the conversation rational.
44. Maxine Clark
Chief executive bear, Build-A-Bear Workshop
“Growing a business” is one thing. Growing a nationwide army of plush playthings is something else entirely. Because having a DIY teddy-bear outpost in every mall in America wasn’t enough, Clark expanded her reach this year to the Saint Louis Zoo and even landed a spot in the new Busch Stadium—savvy plays for prime real estate in the fight for young hearts and minds. Plus, she’s still got the kids doing all the work.
In 2007: She’s a Wash. U. board member—could a campus stuffing station be far off?
45. Dave Senay
President and CEO, Fleishman-Hillard
He doesn’t rack up public appearances, and he looks ... well, like somebody’s dad, more sweater guy than suit. But this summer Senay quietly ascended to the throne of one of the least visible, most powerful PR firms in the world. An expert in crisis management, he’ll control 80 offices in Europe, Asia, South Africa and the Americas, and God knows what he’ll need to spin. Past F-H clients include everybody from the Department of Defense and the Social Security Administration to the meat industry, the Ritz-Carlton ... and Egypt.
In 2007: We’re wondering just how far the “FH Out Front” program (which targets gay and lesbian markets) can afford to go.
46. Joyce Meyer
President, Joyce Meyer Ministries
Follow the glow of the five-story floodlit cross in Fenton and you’ll find Joyce Meyers Ministries, headquarters for the woman many consider the top female evangelical in America. Her radio/TV broadcast is beamed out across two-thirds of the globe, with her “practical Bible teachings” translated into 25 languages. An unabashed member of the “prosperity gospel” movement, Meyer has been reported to take in $90 million a year, a healthy chunk of it from her number-one New York Times bestseller, The Confident Woman.
In 2007: We’ll see whether Post reporter Carolyn Tuft, who was suspended without pay for allegedly misreporting facts on JMM’s finances, can successfully arbitrate with the Post to reverse its printed apology (which the Newspaper Guild says was influenced by legal pressure from the church).
47. Missouri State Sen. Jeff Smith
St. Louis, 4th District
Even a clandestine phone campaign to sully Smith’s reputation wasn’t enough to keep him from winning a seat in the state Senate—the Jeff City rookie was practically bulletproof all year. His grassroots campaign galvanized District 4 residents and gave them hope that they could expect big things from someone outside St. Louis’ established political power base. Who says you need connections?
In 2007: A people-first campaign earned him a lot of ink, but the GOP-dominated state Senate will put his durability—and relevance—to the test.
48. U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello
Illinois, 12th District
Democratic Congressman Jerry Costello, though technically of Illinois, enjoys a broad appeal that, since he took office in 1988, has expanded to include St. Louis and the surrounding area. He was instrumental in securing $150 million for the incredibly ambitious and now-struggling Mississippi River bridge project—and he could wrest it away if he had to.
In 2007: Costello doesn’t want a toll bridge, and, if Democrats continue to gain clout nationally, he may be able to make that stipulation locally.
49. Steve Smith
Owner, The Royale
Steven Fitzpatrick Smith is cooler than you. His attire is a harbinger of hipster trends to come; his bar/restaurant, The Royale, is the place you go to take St. Louis’ cultural pulse; and his blog (www.stlstreets.com) portrays St. Louis as a medley of natural curiosities worthy of adulation and respect. He uses his powers for good, working with kids through his boxing gym, the Panda Athletic Club, and promoting underdog causes with ceaseless vim, so you have to like him, too.
In 2007: Smith’s got his sights set on Cherokee Street as the location of his next tavern. But will 20th Ward Ald. Craig Schmid lift his bar ban and condone the project?
50. Steve Patterson
Blogger, www.urbanreviewstl.com
He’s the Jedi master of sunshine laws, the seeker of clandestine city meetings, the guy who can suss out the minutiae of St. Louis politics and explain it in a way anyone can understand. Some call him strong medicine: Jennifer Florida described him to us earlier this year as a “zealot,” and the RFT just crowned him Best Gadfly. But his knack for digging up information that makes those in power squirm—for example, a site plan for the proposed South Grand McDonald’s that Florida claimed did not exist—has been throwing a wrench into local machine politics.
In 2007: With even-numbered aldermanic elections coming up in the spring and Lewis Reed eyeing Jim Shrewsbury’s seat as president of the Board of Aldermen, Patterson will have plenty to blog about next year.
