Power, Perception and a Few More Names to Add to the List

It was so inspiring to see Barbara Kerr, president of the California Teachers Assn., on the cover of the Power Issue (Aug. 13). And to see a teacher next to billionaires and in third place in your list of the 100 most powerful people in Southern California. Wow.

She is a great leader and motivational speaker. Best of all she is humble. Bravo to your selection team.

Karine Armen

Glendale

A person who has influenced the lives of tens of thousands in Southern California was glaringly omitted. Roy Romer has led the Los Angeles Unified School District and made incredible changes to improve the lives of children and their families. It is truly puzzling why The Times would choose to omit a person whose influence has improved the lives of so many.

Liane B. Jacob

Principal

Calahan Elementary School

Northridge

To limit the most powerful people in Southern California to 100 individuals is like finding a needle in a haystack. However, leaving out Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, the third most important guy in California politics, or L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, the county’s most important female, is surprising.

Cesar Anda

Los Angeles

How sad that of the 100 most influential people in Southern California, only 14 are female.

Cheryl Kohr

Redondo Beach

I found it astounding that you did not include Wallis Annenberg in your list. With the region’s loss of so many Fortune 500 companies and their accompanying philanthropy, no one has stepped up more to fill that gap than she has. The Los Angeles nonprofits would be in sad shape if not for Annenberg’s involvement.

John A. Sussman

Pacific Palisades

The Times would have us believe that relatively few of Southern California’s most powerful people are people of color. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans make up about 60% of Southern California’s population. Certainly we can explain the discrepancy, in part, as The Times’ failure to imagine power in more inclusive ways. But just as certainly, the Power Issue shows that race and power remain intertwined in Southern California. Rather than looking at a narrow elite and asking “Who’s No. 1?” The Times should help us understand why power remains in the hands of the few and how this might be changed.

John Rogers

Santa Monica

It was sad, but entirely appropriate, that the first item cited about the extent of Cardinal Roger Mahony’s power in Los Angeles had to do with his efforts to keep the public from learning the truth about criminal priests and how the archdiocese protected them. Power, indeed.

John C. Richards

Los Angeles

The star on the cover of the Power Issue was easily Eli Broad: brilliant, slim and beautifully dressed. What class.

Julie May

Malibu