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Feed50 People To Watch in 2008
By Julia Beeson, Tom Blair, Ron Donoho, Adam Elder and Marcia Manna
(page 2 of 3)
 | Stuart GrauerYou’ll need a passport to keep up with Grauer. An innovator in local college preparatory education and the founder of The Grauer School, he’s introduced a successful small-school model and “values-based education with a strong emphasis on humanitarian outreach” to North County. This year, he’ll take students to St. Ignacio Lagoon on the Baja peninsula and trek the Himalayas. A recipient of the Fulbright Award, Grauer will travel to Latin America for an educational exchange. “But the pièce de résistance,” he says, “will be leading a mission to Jerusalem to create forums with our students and Israeli, Pakistani and Christian kids.” |
 | Trevor HoffmanLast season, the Padres’ premier closer passed Lee Smith to become the all-time saves leader, with 482 games. Will that number climb in 2008? We all hope so. Hoffman ended last year by blowing two saves. Even though the All-Star converted 46 of 51 save opportunities (a .902 percentage), some think the 40-year-old hurler may have hit the wall. Hell’s Bells! After an off-season elbow surgery, Hoffman will attempt to return to his position on the roster and re-create his ninth-inning magic on the mound. |
 | Mark JorgensenAs park superintendent of the 640,000-acre Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Jorgensen keeps watch over California’s largest state park, which comprises 20 percent of San Diego County. In 2008, he’ll serve as honorary mayor of Borrego Springs, a major focal point in the coming year as environmentalists come head-to-head with San Diego Gas & Electric over the controversial $1.3 billion Sunrise Powerlink. If approved, it would erect a 150-mile link of 100-foot power-line towers running through the heart of the protected park. “Wilderness, by its very definition, is forever,” says Jorgensen. “It’s not for some future time when it’s convenient to use for development.” |
 | Dr. Carol A. KruseAfter losing her husband to brain cancer 20 years ago, Kruse devoted her life to finding a cure. Today, she is the physician head of the brain tumor research program at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, where she and her colleagues are currently researching a therapeutic agent that will trigger the body’s immune system to attack malignant cells in the brain. |
 | Tracy LambWho needs a gym membership when you’re director of Chula Vista’s Olympic Training Center? Certainly not Lamb. Appointed last August, the Lake Placid native, former biathlete, coach and longtime Olympic official brings both experience and ambition in this Olympic year to a world-class facility he says has yet to reach its potential. “It’s important that we engage our youth in the Olympic movement—it’s the greatest peace movement in the world,” Lamb says. “We’d like to make our venues more accessible to the public, so they understand they are part of the movement.” |
 | Chuck LongHe was hailed as a savior when he was hired on December 17, 2005, to be the head football coach for San Diego State University with his “Win Now!” motto. But Long has led the Aztecs to two disappointing seasons, including a 3-9 mark in 2006 and an only slightly less dismal 4-8 in 2007. We’re still waiting for the success that was a hallmark of his past. Long was the 1985 Heisman Trophy runner-up and played eight years in the NFL. As an assistant coach at Oklahoma, he won a national championship and went to six consecutive bowl games. Could we start with just one SDSU bowl appearance? |
 | Whitney LylesAt 26, “chick lit” author Lyles published Always the Bridesmaid, her most popular book to date. Follow-up efforts include Here Comes the Bride, Roommates and a short story in the anthology Catch of the Day. Another career high¬light was appearing as an answer on a Jeopardy! episode. Her most recent novel, First Comes Love, the third installment in her Always the Bridesmaid series, follows Cate Padgett through her humor-laden pregnancy. She’s also working on a book for young adults, to be released this year. |
 | Dr. Lester MachadoDespite the fact that water fluoridation is widely considered to be among the most important dental advancements of the 20th century, San Diego still does not provide fluoridated water for all its citizens. As head of the San Diego County Dental Society, Machado has galvanized his colleagues and associates to facilitate water fluoridation throughout the county. “We know that fluoride is the number-one way to prevent tooth decay,” he says. “It benefits everybody.” |
 | Sharon Majors-LewisLast February, former San Diego prosecutor Majors-Lewis was chosen to be the first woman of color to hold the position of judicial appointments secretary for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. “There are countless attorneys in our state who can serve on our courts with distinction,” she says. “It is my honor and privilege to search for those remarkable individuals who are committed to ensuring every litigant will receive a fair day in court, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status.” |
 | Bill McDannellLast year, to protest the war in Iraq, this Vietnam War veteran and former Methodist preacher sold everything he and his wife, Jonna, owned to finance a San Diego–to–Washington, D.C., walk. Local papers covered his travels, but he got zero national attention. In 2008, McDannell plans to continue the protest by reconfiguring his Internet site (AmericanDialogue.us) to include opinion pieces on the war. He’s currently looking for a publisher for a book about his trek. And he’s serious about a possible second trip along a similar route. “Maybe that will get some attention,” he says. |
 | Michael MitchellThe Gaslamp Quarter’s multiple award-winning Oceanaire Seafood Room feels nothing like a chain restaurant. Mitchell is the biggest reason why. He earned his stripes at a succession of San Diego’s finer locally owned restaurants, from the Grant Grill to Anthony’s Star of the Sea to the Marine Room. A hands-all-over-it general manager, he runs a tight ship with a ready smile and steady hand. Mitchell’s time-management skills will get a serious test this year. He’s the new president of the California Restaurant Association’s San Diego County chapter. |
 | Kasra MovahediFounded in 1933 to help people escape the oppression of Hitler’s regime, the International Rescue Committee serves refugees and communities victimized by violent conflict. Movahedi directs IRC in San Diego. “Many refugees cannot access mainstream financing,” he says, “and given that IRC has developed a lending infrastructure over the past seven years, we are perfectly positioned to help this population start businesses, build credit, attend school and have access to loans that can serve as a cornerstone for financial self-sufficiency.” |
 | Marco MurilloBorn in San Diego, Murillo spent his first four years in Tijuana before moving back to San Ysidro with his mother and brother. When his middle-school teacher handed him an application to Preuss School, he embraced the educational opportunity. Today, Murillo represents about 27,000 UCSD students as president of the Associated Student Board. “Education is very important to me,” he says, “not only to help me to achieve my goals but also to be able to go back to my community and make a difference.” |
 | Austyn MyersSome actors wait their whole lives to make it on Broadway. Heck, most never make it at all. But it took Myers only nine years, by which time he was playing Gavroche in Les Misérables and starring in the traveling production. Now 11, the High Tech Middle School student will be seen on the big screen in Starship Dave, starring Eddie Murphy, opening in May, as well as USC student film Moonrocks and Lighter Fluid. However, Myers seems not to take it all for granted. Asked what he’s most looking forward to this year, he says, “My first movie is coming out. That’s pretty exciting.” |
 | Heather MyersThis hometown girl switched TV news stations on November 19. Myers was a reporter and fill-in anchor at KFMB; now she’s the 10 p.m. anchor on Fox 6, sharing the desk with Jim Patton. She was born in Fallbrook, attended Poway High School and graduated with a degree in journalism from San Diego State University. She vividly remembers her first day at KFMB: “It was the start of the 2003 fires. I was at one of the evacuation centers.” During the 2007 fires, Myers was stationed for coverage on the street where she used to live in Poway (her former house is still standing). |
 | Irene OberbauerLast August, Oberbauer was named president and CEO of San Diego County Credit Union. She’s been with the credit union for the past 12 years, most recently serving as chief operating officer under now-retired president/CEO Rod Calveo. One of a growing number of women to hold such high titles in the industry, Oberbauer says she’s honored to oversee San Diego’s largest locally based financial institution (title sponsor of the annual Poinsettia Bowl), with 188,000 members and assets of more than $3.9 billion. |
 | John OhanianOhanian recently became the CEO of 2-1-1 San Diego, a nonprofit that connects people with resources and services through a free, 24-hour phone service. He was in charge during the October wildfires, when citizens were able to reach a live phone specialist who offered information about recovery sources, road closures and evacuation shelters. “My ultimate goal is for 2-1-1 to be the center for information about community and health programs” he says. “And that 2-1-1 can identify areas of need to the cities, county and other organizations to better improve lives in San Diego County.” |
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Reader Comments:
You gotta be scrapin' the bottom of the barrel for your list of "50 people to watch"...C'mon...including Bill Mc? Exactly what did HE do that is worth watching?
He didn't walk across the country...what he did was was 20 miles a day and then rested in a motor home!!! There's plenty of more people that are newsworthy than someone who will pull a stunt like he did and then cry and whine like a little girl when he doesn't get publicity.
I can give you the names of 100 people right now who also walked across the country in 2007...only they actually walked the entire way, carrying their tent and backpack with them and working their way across.
Get real...
Jerry Nelson
Someone who DID walk across the country!
Dear Mr. Nelson,
Please accept my apologies. When the idea came to me to walk from San Diego to Washington, D.C. I did not realize there were rules I had to follow in order for my walk to "count". I was under the apparently misquided impression that walking consisted of putting one foot in front of the other in order to cover the distance between point A and point B, so that is what I did - for 3,185 miles.
This, for me, was not some macho contest or effort to somehow prove myself. In fact, it was not about me at all. It was about the nation I love and our Constitution. My measure of success was not how much publicity I could attract, how swiftly I could accomplish it or how much hardship I endured - my only measure was completing the journey. I did that. Yes, it would have been nice if, through the effort, more people had had the oportunity to consider what I had to say, but I don't recall ever whining or crying about a lack of publicity. In fact, local media covered my walk clear across the country, thousands of people signed my petition, and upon arrival in D.C. I had the oportunity to meet for personal discussions with the offices of nine of our senators and representatives. My voice was heard. And in the process I received one additional unanticipated benefit - I now have a string of very dear friends stretching clear across the country.
By the way, I should also mention that I did not present myself to the good people at San Diego Magazine - they contacted me; and I am both honored and humbled to have been included in their annual feature.
Congratulations on your own walk. I hope that you won, well, whatever it is you win when you follow the rules.
Peace,
Bill McDannell
You're right...there are no 'rules' to travelling across the country...just ethics. And said to say, you've demonstrated you're lacking in that department. How so?
Well, first off...you admit in your journal that you left home with $30,000.00 and your website asks for donations! MMmm...
Next, a pic on your website plainly shows you carrying what appears to be a bedroll, yet you slept like a baby in a camper each night?
Then your comment about not wanting publicity? C'mon man...if you didn't want publicity, then why did you do it? Also, you mention with a sad tone in your writing that no one is "beating down your doors" to talk to you...and how about the day you met Cindy Sheehan in D.C.? YOu state that it became obvious that you weren't going to have a part in the events...
WOW! You contacted NINE of our senators and representatives? MMm, let's see...with 435 representatives and 50 senators, that means you contacted, let's see...HALF OF ONE PERCENT of our representatives? Yah...that would qualify for reasons for the media to contact you...or to put it another way...$30,000 when you left home....nine contacts...that means it cost almost $3400 dollars for each contact...yah, that's good use of the dollars.
Dear Mr. Nelson,
I'm not sure why I'm bothering, but point by point:
Yes, we left home with $30,000 - everything we had. We hoped that at the end of the walk we'd have something left to restart our lives, thus the desire for donations. And as you point out, none of this was a secret. Those who donated knew, just as you did, what our situation was.
From Lakeside to Yuma, and from Tucson to Van Horn, Texas, I was in fact completely on my own, carrying a backpack and sometimes sleeping under the stars. With everything else you gleaned from my journal it seems you should have been aware of this.
I did not say I didn't want publicity - I said I did not measure my success by the amount of publicity I attracted. Sure, I hoped many more people would find out about what I was trying to do and what I had to say - because I believe I have been offering a unique and rational perspective on the current actions of our leadership in Washington. But my only measure of success was completing the entire walk - and I did that.
I had personal, one-on-one meetings with the offices of nine of our senators and representatives while I was in Washington. I was very well received by every one of them during discussions that ranged from thirty minutes to an hour. Until you've actually tried to arrange a meeting like this I don't think you should belittle the accomplishment of having nine in a 30 day period of time. For someone with no connections whatsoever - and no money - I think I did pretty darn good.
If you want to try to belittle me further may I suggest that you contact me directly? You've been to the website, so you know how to get in touch with me. I doubt that other visitors here are terribly interested in all of this, so while I would be perfectly willing to engage in a private dialogue, this is the last time I'll respond to your public barbs.
Peace,
Bill McDannell
Heather Myers on your cover? What a joke. Not a role model for anyone to follow. This is a self-centered and self-serving young woman. What has Heather done for others, except report the news, a job for which she gets paid. Someone who backstabs her colleagues to get where she thinks she needs to go is no role model of mine. I am sorry but I will be watching something else in 2008. Someone who neglects her own family should not be on the cover of anything. I hope she soon comes down from her cloud and realizes what is really important in life.
Now Gary Aguirre deserved the cover. Someone who is remarkably honest, despite the reputation of his profession. I have friends who have worked with him and speak highly of him -- not your usual comment about attorneys these days.
Kudos, Gary! Hopefully the next cover is yours!
How did you pick Heather Myers for the cover anyway? This is like, the least interesting person of all 50 of them.
Wow SDSun, why are you so bitter toward Heather Myers? Did you ask her out and get rejected by her or something?
Heather's on the cover because she's HOT.
They just attempt to pick someone that is visually pleasing for the cover. Sometimes the most interesting person in San Diego isn't going to be the right person for the cover.