San Diego Magazine / January 2009 / 50 People to Watch in 2009

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50 People to Watch in 2009

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Scientists and singers. Doctors and lawyers. Politicians and . . . pitchers. Our list of watchables this year includes restaurateurs and artistic auteurs. We’ve selected two guys named Grier and two gals named Kim—none related. But see if you can relate to our choices for local notables worth keeping an eye on.

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	Jeffery Adler The founder of Dlush started his chain of beverage boutique stores in 2001 with the idea of creating a youth scene. The modern, circular store in Fashion Valley attracts a cult following with “linger longer” surroundings and cute servers who deliver exceptional service and delish creations such as the cookies ’n’ crème frappe. Six more outlets are planned for this year.
	Carlos Algarin A Marine who served in Afghanistan, Algarin suffered an injury and for the first time was helping pack stuff for a family move, including the kids’ toys. A light went on, and he recently started up Rent A Toy. Much the way Netflix mails movies, Rent A Toy ships educational and developmental toys. “Not everybody can afford a whole lot of toys,” Algarin says. “Rent A Toy can help anybody look like a hero to their kids.”
	The Council Four It’s not going to be Mayor Sanders’ dream council. On the coattails of Barack Obama, three Democrats won seats in the November election, giving Democrats six of the eight seats on what’s nominally a nonpartisan San Diego City Council. Sherri Lightner and Marti Emerald, both seen as slight underdogs, beat their Republican opponents by slim margins. In a contest between two Democrats, Todd Gloria defeated Stephen Whitburn, who poured nearly $300,000 of his own money into the race. Carl DeMaio, the lone Republican, captured his council seat in the June primary. But the fiscally conservative DeMaio isn’t likely to be rubber-stamping the mayor’s spending proposals.
	Christopher Ashley A Tony nominee last year for Xanadu, Ashley took over as the new artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse a little more than a year ago. Ten months later, with the resignation of Steven Libman, he was joining the search for a new managing director. But that’s show business. And Ashley, who’s directed more than 60 productions in the 20 years since his graduation from Yale, definitely knows show biz.
	Deborah Barrow With fund-raising for a new main library just short of its $150 million goal with a New Year’s Eve deadline approaching, and Mayor Sanders’ talk of cutting seven branches to balance the city’s shaky budget, Barrow might be wondering what she walked into. But she isn’t. The San Diego native, who served as director of library systems in Northern California before coming home last year as our city’s public library director, says, “San Diego libraries changed my life growing up, and I am excited to be back working with the community to create the libraries of the future that America’s Finest City deserves.”
	Carol Kuhl Barry Formerly an Area 1 superintendent, Barry became a chief elementary-school improvement officer under new superintendent Terry Grier’s reorganization of the district. She says technological applications are one of the keys to becoming more efficient. “We have an opportunity to rethink how we educate our children,” she says, “so they are prepared for the demands of the dynamic workforce they will enter.”
	Steve Becvar Best sports ticket in town? Big aspirations for a small program, but that’s the goal of Becvar, associate director of athletics for marketing at the University of San Diego. Becvar vaulted Mission Valley from San Diego State University to USD last year, fearless of inevitable size comparisons. But Toreros sports programs are growing their own loyal following. And home football games have an exciting intimacy not found in a near-empty Qualcomm stadium. The men’s basketballers return from last year’s NCAA Big Dance with promise and valuable experience.
	Jackie Bradford In 2008, Bradford was named the new president and general manager of the local NBC TV affiliate. She oversees daily operations of the television station, as well as all digital platforms. Several on-air changes were implemented, as was an overhaul of NBC 7/39’s Web site (which shares content with sandiegomagazine.com). Bradford was formerly finance director of the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C., and is a University of Virginia grad.
	William Brody The incoming president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies spent the past 12 years as president of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. While at Hopkins, an esteemed research university, Brody was a strong proponent of keeping healthcare costs down, and other concerns of Joe Six- Packs. He says his job in San Diego will be to lure top stars of the scientific community, and he plans to advocate in Washington, D.C., for more research funding.
	Aaron Bruce Marketing and consulting positions for organizations in Mexico, Cuba and Kenya helped prepare him for the job of director of diversity for San Diego State University, where more than half the student body is ethnic minorities. Bruce says San Diego’s economic success is connected to the academic success of SDSU graduates, and he is focused on preparing them to be competitive leaders in a globalized workforce.
	Carlo Cecchetto He arrived at local CBS affiliate News 8 in 2003 as a reporter and fill-in anchor. In 2006, he left for Omaha, where he worked as an evening news anchor. Last August, Cecchetto happily landed back at News 8, where he anchors the weekday evening news. “The most important thing in reporting is to be passionate about the stories you’re covering and to be passionate about truth and accuracy,” says the father of two.
	Carol Chang Chang and other former chairs of the Charity Ball, one of the city’s venerable philanthropic traditions, have been hard at work planning this year’s version, celebrating its centennial on Valentine’s Day. A former president of the San Diego Women’s Foundation, she’s a visible advocate of women in philanthropy and was honored as a Woman of Dedication by the Salvation Army.
	David & Leslie Cohn Already shuffling 11 restaurants in San Diego (and one in Hawaii)—including Island Prime, The Prado and Corvette Diner—the Cohns have been extraordinarily successful in a brutal business. Next up: 333 Pacific, their first North County site, opening soon in Oceanside. But that’s not all they have on the menu. In late 2010, on the site of the old Reuben E. Lee paddlewheeler on Harbor Island, they plan to open an expansive event site and adjacent 800-seat seafood restaurant called Coral.
	Mary Curran In 2009, Curran becomes just the second woman in 50 years to chair the board of the newly named San Diego Sports Commission (formerly the San Diego International Sports Council). Her full-time job is as executive vice president at Union Bank of California, where she oversees more than $4 billion in loans and deposits, more than 300 staffers and a significant expansion of the bank’s wealth-management division.
	Jared Davis A former personal trainer who serves as fitness guru Jorge Cruise’s factotum, Davis is a perfect fit. But when the day job is done, he pursues his true passion: the movies. Making them. With no formal training, Davis is winning critical acclaim and film festival trophies for his new movie, Residue, based on the CIA’s involvement in Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Davis, who spent his youth hanging out with Cambodian refugees in his native Mobile, Alabama, wrote, codirected, produced and starred in the film (speaking Khmer).
	Daniel Eaton An on-air legal analyst for Channel 6 San Diego, Eaton is a Harvard-trained attorney who chairs the UCSD Board of Overseers, which consists of about 40 civic leaders who serve as ambassadors. The group guides the decisions of Chancellor Marye Anne Fox and links the community to the developing work and insights of faculty, staff and students.
	Gaidi Finnie Finnie served as business manager of the intimate North County Repertory Theatre before accepting the position of managing director last year. His plans include increasing the theater’s regional presence. “We will be bringing more actors and directors from around the country,” Finnie promises. “San Diego will have to take notice of the small but elegant theater.”
	Bill Grier In his first year as men’s basketball coach at the University of San Diego, Grier scaled heights rarely seen in this hoops-starved town. His Toreros went 22-14, won the West Coast Conference tournament (besting ranked teams Gonzaga and St. Mary’s) and then topped Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Oregon State tried to lure Grier away, but he’s coming back to coach an exciting team that returns all five starters.
	Terry Grier Last year, more than $50 million in state budget cuts called for reform that included laying off teachers, eliminating more than 100 central office positions and assigning school improvement officers to oversee 20 schools. The good news is that Grier, the new San Diego Unified School District superintendent, hopes to lower class sizes in elementary schools and ensure that every high school offers at least 10 advanced placement courses.
	Ruben Galvan He’s an identifiable character playing man-about-town reporter for San Diego 6 News in the Morning. Galvan—okay, Ruben; nobody calls him Galvan—and the whole former Fox News crew switched call letters and stations earlier this year. But if you’re flicking the dial, it’s his frenetic and energetic interview style that gets some viewers to stop (and others to hit the mute button). Love him or lump him, he’s becoming iconic.
	Jan Goldsmith Here comes the judge. The Republican challenger for city attorney routed incumbent Democrat Mike Aguirre. Goldsmith has promised to bring reason and sanity to the post Aguirre used to promote his political agenda, as well as himself. Goldsmith also promised to return the position to an attorney who represents the body politic of San Diego, and will let the city council decide if Aguirre’s pension appeal lawsuit should go forward.
	Cole Hamels This product of Rancho Bernardo High is the new owner of a World Series ring. The 24-year-old, left-handed pitcher won four post-season games for the championship-starved Philadelphia Phillies and hurled six strong innings in the rain-delayed Series-ending contest. The All-Star ace and World Series MVP is already promising a repeat performance for the team next season.
	Chase Headley We waited and waited to watch Headley in 2008, while the Padres plummeted in the standings and the 24-year-old slugger got hot on the club’s Triple-A Portland farm club. The 2007 Texas League Player of the Year had a decent season after finally getting called up to the bigs (.269 average, nine homers). We’ll cross our fingers the Padres get better in 2009, as the newly married Headley helps carry the offensive load—we hope.
	Robert Hughes He’s president and CEO of Compass Radio, which independently operates KPRI (102.1 FM), and he’s also one of the deejays. KPRI does “Rock Without Rules”— playing acoustic hours on the weekends, classic rock, indie singer/songwriter tunes and/or anything across all genres for its 25-54 demographic. Hughes, a true maverick—and guitarist in cover band Left4Dead—recently had the station’s transmitter repositioned to double its potential audience.
	Duncan D. Hunter A little name recognition can go a long way. Republican Duncan D. Hunter succeeded his father (fleeting presidential candidate Duncan Hunter), by winning the 52nd Congressional District race in November. The son beat Democrat Mike Lumpkin with 57 percent of the vote. Hunter has served three combat tours as a Marine—two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan—and is still a captain in the reserves.