Edited by Max Weiss. Written by Jess Blumberg, Ken Iglehart, Suzanne Loudermilk, John Lewis, Amy Mulvihill, Evan Serpick, and Max Weiss

Delegate Keiffer Mitchell Jr. is at a cafe, being interviewed for this story, when his cell phone rings. “Hang on a sec, I’ve got to take this,” he says. He leans away and answers the phone. He’s discussing the Baltimore Grand Prix —the upcoming Indy car race that Mitchell was a key player in bringing to Baltimore. All of downtown will be affected by the race, and whomever Mitchell is talking to is clearly concerned about logistics.

The delegate’s omelet arrives and sits untouched as Mitchell continues to talk in a cheerful and reassuring manner. More than 10 minutes later, he’s off the phone. He looks up sheepishly. “Sorry, that was Brian Rogers,” he says, referring to the chairman of T. Rowe Price, who is on our list (under Finance Power). “Speaking of power. . . .”

Mitchell digs into his (now cold) omelet and resumes the interview.

The moment was not staged for the benefit of this story, but it very well could’ve been. Rogers has access (he was calling Mitchell’s cell) and influence (Mitchell was bending over backwards to accommodate him) and probably could’ve interrupted the breakfast (or lunch or family dinner) of just about any politician in town.

This story is our attempt to explore Baltimore power and the various ways it manifests itself in the region. Political power and financial power are perhaps the most obvious kinds, but there are other, less conspicuous types of power at play in such arenas as culture, health care, sports, and technology. What follows is our examination of power in all of its incarnations—from the boardrooms to the chatrooms and beyond.

Politics

The position comes with power. But it’s how you wield it that really counts.

Governor Martin O’Malley
He spends a lot of time in Annapolis, but Governor O’Malley is still a Baltimore guy, and he wields an enormous amount of power here. For one thing, the former Baltimore mayor was a mentor to Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and the two frequently acknowledge their close working relationship. Further, the road-tested, iron-tough Democratic political machine that O’Malley built (or rebuilt) endures. And every time he has an important moment, whether launching a reelection campaign or declaring victory, O’Malley is in Baltimore, flanked by the city’s political elite, including Rawlings-Blake and Rep. Elijah Cummings. O’Malley is still captain of Baltimore’s Democratic ship.

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake
When fiery Sheila Dixon resigned last year, Rawlings-Blake’s low-key technocratic style was a welcome change. Now, the quiet machinations of her power are bearing fruit. After capably managing the biggest back-to-back blizzards in local history, she balanced an out-of-control budget, overhauling the police and fire department pension systems, making huge spending cuts, and passing a bottle tax—all without raising public ire too broadly. She announced ambitious new projects, like the 2011 Grand Prix race, and moved to renovate vast swaths of vacant housing. With all due to respect to Dixon, Rawlings-Blake demonstrates that one doesn’t have to wave a shoe to demonstrate power.

Rep. Elijah Cummings
Like all of Maryland’s U.S. Senators and Representatives, Cummings spends a lot of time in D.C. But more than any of the others, Cummings is a fixture in Baltimore. He fights for local interests, defending the fishing industry (maritimeprofessional.com calls him “the domestic maritime industry’s biggest advocate in Congress”) and proposing $2.25 billion in federal funds to clean up the bay. He sits on the board of trustees for the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore and the National Aquarium, and generally weighs in thoughtfully and impactfully on every issue of consequence, from slots to education funding.

And don’t count out:

• New Baltimore State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein upset incumbent Pat Jessamy with support from police commissioner Frederick Bealefeld and a tough-on-crime approach that resonated with voters and could elevate him to higher office.
• Otis Rolley, Frank Conaway Sr., Councilman Carl Stokes, and Council President Jack Young have all been mentioned as potential 2011 mayoral candidates, but for our money, former Congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume seems ripe for a return to prominence.
• As deputy mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development, Kaliope Parthemos oversees the Baltimore Development Corporation, Board of Estimates, and Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals. More importantly, she’s the Mayor’s most trusted consigliere.

Religion

For the faithful of all stripes, these men of the cloth carry the most clout.

Frank M. Reid III
Rev. Frank Reid, 59, is senior pastor and CEO of northwest Baltimore’s Bethel AME Church, the largest congregation in the city at over 10,000 worshippers and the choice for a number of politicians and other movers and shakers in the African-American community like Sheila Dixon.

Archbishop Edwin Frederick O’Brien
As if being the spiritual leader of half a million Catholics in central Maryland wasn’t enough, the O’Brien-led Archdiocese of Baltimore oversees five hospitals, 70 schools, two seminaries, a food kitchen that serves 250,000 meals a year, plus countless other social service programs. O’Brien’s military background—he was an army chaplain with the rank of captain who served in Vietnam—has undoubtedly served him well in dealing with the challenges of leading his flock in what have been difficult times for the Catholic Church.

Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg
For 32 years, Rabbi Wohlberg has been the guiding light of 1,400-member Beth Tfiloh, the largest modern orthodox synagogue in the United States, serving both as rabbi of the congregation and as dean of Beth Tfiloh’s 1,000-student, K-12 school. Dubbed “the master of the sermon” by the Baltimore Jewish Times, he is an author and regular panelist on WMAR-TV’s Square Off.

And don’t count out:

• Bishop Walter S. Thomas Sr., 60, is longtime pastor of the 7,000-strong New Psalmist Baptist Church in northwest Baltimore. Like Bethel AME, New Psalmist claims its own VIP members (like Rep. Elijah Cummings), and Rev. Thomas’s live Internet broadcasts and regular radio services are followed by thousands.
• Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg, 34, the charismatic new rabbi at Beth Am synagogue, is packing the pews.
  “He is already the talk of the town,” says one member of the congregation.

Development

They’ve built this town, and, very often, they call the shots (and slots).

John Paterakis Sr.
Paterakis, 81, made his money as president of the family-owned H&S Bakery, the largest privately owned bakery in the U.S. H&S and its sister companies supply McDonald’s, as well as house brands for Giant Foods, SuperFresh, and others. But he’s as well known now for his H&S Properties, which has developed the $600 million waterfront Harbor East district, which includes high-end condos, office towers, restaurants, hotels, and retail space. Financing, schminancing: In the early years, his Harbor East vision was largely kept alive by Paterakis’s own checkbook, which also has bankrolled numerous political campaigns. And now he’s developing Harbor Point, a former industrial site just to the east that will be an $800 million complex of homes, offices, hotels and shops.

David S. Cordish
The 70-year-old president of The Cordish Companies is from a family that’s been doing urban redevelopment for more than a century (his sons are now VPs). He’s been behind Harborplace-esque urban renewal projects all over the U.S. that include entertainment venues, retailing, restaurants, gaming, residences, and hotels. His big new roll of the dice? The gaming casino at Arundel Mills shopping mall that voters signed off on in a November referendum. Cordish went door to door to make his case. Was there ever any doubt that he’d hit the jackpot?

Edward Miller
What’s the top guy at arguably the best hospital in the world doing under “developers”? Because Johns Hopkins Medicine Dean and CEO Edward Miller is the man behind the curtain for entire medical mini-cities, including the massive renovation projects that have transformed East Baltimore. The two new state-of-the-art hospitals for adult and pediatric patients represent one of the largest hospital construction projects in the nation. In his 13-year tenure as dean, he’s been the driving force for dozens of other Hopkins projects, too, and was a key mover in the Baltimore City-initiated biotech park north of the campus on a once-blighted 80-acre tract. We’re guessing Miller isn’t anywhere near done with his ceremonial hardhat and gold shovel.

And don’t count out:

• Michael S. Beatty, president of H&S Properties Development, is the guy who’s made John Paterakis’s ambitious and complex projects look like a cake walk.
• Edward St. John‘s company, St. John Properties, has built more than 13 million square feet of apartments, offices, retail, and warehouses worth over $1 billion. But St. John, 72, is also known for his generosity—he’s given more than $43 million to various causes through personal, corporate, and foundation donations.

Finance

Money is power and these financiers manage it, spend it, and control it.

Mark R. Fetting
Fetting, 56, the president and CEO of Legg Mason, was the board’s choice three years ago to fill the shoes of retiring founder Raymond A. “Chip” Mason, who in 40 years grew the global firm to nearly $700 billion in assets under management. Fetting was an executive senior VP at Legg for seven years prior to his appointment. He serves on several community boards, including Mercy Hospital and Gilman School.

James A. C. Kennedy and Brian Rogers
T. Rowe Price Group CEO/president Kennedy and chairman Rogers oversee a global investment firm that manages $440 billion in assets. Besides employing 5,000 people, the most noticeable impact that the duo has on the region is the culture they promote of community involvement by T. Rowe staffers, who contribute heavily to local education, arts, and social causes.

Charles Newhall
Got a great business idea? Wouldn’t you love to bend the ear of venture-capital giant Charles “Chuck” Newhall, cofounder (with Dick Kramlich and the storied Frank Bonsal Jr.) of New Enterprise Associates (NEA)? In the past 30 years, NEA has committed more than $11 billion to bankroll some 650 new information-technology, health care, and energy-technology companies here and abroad, of which more than 165 have gone public and more than 265 have been acquired.

And don’t count out:

• Since relocating to Baltimore from New York in 2002 to oversee the takeover of the former Allfirst Financial, Atwood “Woody” Collins III, the M&T Bank Mid-Atlantic Region president, has gotten involved in everything from mayoral task forces and the Greater Baltimore Committee to the city’s economic development board and the Babe Ruth Museum.

Media

Traditional media may not be as omnipotent as it once was, but it still has plenty of juice in this town.

Mary Corey
Corey has been at The Baltimore Sun for more than 23 years, starting as an intern. Over that time, she’s risen up the paper’s masthead, earning allies and kudos. In May, she took over as director of content, the first woman in the paper’s 173-year history to lead the newsroom, replacing Monty Cook, an out-of-towner brought in by the paper’s owners at The Tribune Company who oversaw massive layoffs and downsizing. Under Corey’s leadership, the paper has stepped up coverage of breaking news—evident in its coverage of the September shooting at The Johns Hopkins Hospital—and added new sections, including The Sun Magazine.

Jayne Miller
There is one journalist in Baltimore that virtually every public figure is afraid of: WBAL-TV reporter Jayne Miller. Her investigative reports have exposed corruption in public officials and failures of the criminal justice system. Her 2003 coverage of irregularities at mortgage servicing company Fairbanks Capital was picked up nationally, as one of the first stories to expose problems in the subprime lending industry. These days, whenever there is an important story in Baltimore—from Sheila Dixon’s trial in January to the November elections—everyone looks to Miller for the most decisive analysis, which impacts how everyone else reports the story.

Bob Philips
Philips, the market manager for all CBS radio stations in Baltimore, including The Fan, WLIF, and WWMX, plays a subtle but powerful role in determining the stories, events, and topics that become major in the area. By directing the news departments that Marylanders listen to in drive time, even on a non-news station like WLIF (which is often the number-one rated station), Philips helps to set the agenda for other outlets in town and directs the conversations at water coolers throughout the region.

Mark Miller
Miller has long led the WBAL-AM’s comprehensive news operation, and when longtime program director Jeff Beauchamp left the station last year, the unassuming Miller took on that role, too, playing a quiet but powerful role in the way Baltimore gets news. Over the last year, Miller has made WBAL more news-oriented—launching anchored news programs during morning and afternoon drive times—while still leaving it opinionated, installing right-leaning talk-show host Shari Elliker as anchor for the afternoon program and keeping former First Lady of Maryland Kendall Ehrlich on the air through the elections. It’s the kind of formula that has worked on national outlets like Fox News, and time will tell if it works locally and affects the way other stations in town operate.

And don’t count out:

• Larry Young’s talk show on WOLB (1010-AM) is a powerful voice on national and local affairs, particularly in the African-American community.
• Local NPR affiliate WYPR, led by president and general manager Tony Brandon, has probably the second biggest radio news operation in town, after WBAL (with more in-depth features), and an audience of affluent movers and shakers.
• Dogged Sun reporter Justin Fenton has been behind some of the biggest stories in town, scrambling to get to the bottom of the Hopkins shooting and breaking the news that Ehrlich operative Julius Henson was behind election-day robocalls.

Culture

The ever-strengthening arts community has some of its most high-profile leadership ever.

Fred Lazarus
Lazarus, the president of Maryland Institute College of Art, could vie for the top spot in the education category—MICA is, after all, one of the best art schools in the country—but that designation is too narrow for such a visionary leader. Lazarus has fostered strong ties with the business and nonprofit communities and gracefully shepherded an expansion of the school’s footprint that’s utterly transformed the Station North Arts District and enhanced the city’s cultural riches.

Marin Alsop
Alsop, the music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, has set the bar high for leaders of the city’s major arts organizations. Not content with being a programming genius and a captivating presence on the podium, Alsop isn’t shy about flexing some marketing muscle—putting the BSO in front of new audiences, whenever possible—partnering with non-classical artists, and reaching out to the community at large.

David Simon
Simon’s work (The Corner, Homicide, The Wire, and Treme) has resonated far beyond Baltimore to shape an ongoing dialogue about urban America. Its been the subject of college courses and even won him a MacArthur grant last year. As if that weren’t enough, he’s also married to author Laura Lippman, no minor powerhouse herself.  

John Waters
Baltimore’s bonafide cultural icon continues to evolve beyond film, with art exhibits at A-list venues like the Gagosian Gallery in L.A., a witty memoir (Role Models), and speaking gigs around the world. Whether trading quips with Letterman or hobnobbing at an Oscars party, Waters is our most enduring and effective ambassador.

Doreen Bolger
Under Bolger’s leadership, The Baltimore Museum of Art has shed its old image as an insular organization and forged stronger relationships with other arts institutions and community groups. While spearheading ambitious capitol campaigns and renovation projects, The BMA director is just as liable to turn up at a warehouse gallery opening as she is a corporate boardroom.

And don’t count out:

• Bill Gilmore, executive director of Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, oversees a $6.4 million budget and local events such as Artscape, the Baltimore Book Festival, and the Preakness Parade.
• Carla Hayden, executive director, Enoch Pratt Free Library, has reinvigorated the Pratt as a vital cultural center and been named by President Obama to the National Museum and Library Services Board and the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities.
• Jed Dietz, director of the Maryland Film Festival, also serves on the board of Centerstage, where he’s heading the search for Irene Lewis’s replacement.

Education

They’re the toughest——and most important——jobs in Baltimore. These leaders are making a difference.

Andrés Alonso
Since coming to the Baltimore as CEO of public schools in 2007, Alonso has turned the system upside down, decentralizing power from North Avenue, closing failing schools, and opening more than a dozen new ones, with the intention of giving parents more choices. In the process, test scores and graduation rates have gone up, drop-out rates have declined, and many families who had previously fled public schools are taking a second look. With this year’s new contract between the city and the Baltimore Teachers Union, Alonso took on an even more prominent role as a reformer on the national stage.

Nancy Grasmick
As Maryland’s Superintendent of Schools, Grasmick led the charge to win some of the $4.3 billion in federal “Race to the Top” funds. With 19 years in the position, Grasmick was able to quickly mobilize the legislature and education officials across the state to overhaul tenure and evaluation systems, set new curriculum standards, and design a new way to collect student data. As a result, Maryland was one of nine states (along with D.C.) to win funding, earning $250 million that will go toward implementing reforms and creating new schools.

Ron Goldblatt
Tough economic times have meant that many private schools have struggled to maintain enrollment, but the Association of Independent Maryland Schools (AIMS) and executive director Goldblatt have provided a steely backbone for its 115 members. This year, the organization flexed its muscle to help shoot down new legislation that would have required greater state regulation of independent schools and held a steady stream of workshops to help increase enrollment.

Marietta English
The Baltimore Teachers Union took a bold step this year, approving a new contract that includes pay increases, but also ties salary to student performance, making it one of the most reform-minded contracts in the country. After the membership initially voted down the deal, union president English worked with schools administrators to nail down more specifics and held information sessions in every school in the city, which resulted in an overwhelming 1,902-1,045 vote.

And don’t count out:

• Alonso’s hand-picked Baltimore City Public Schools’ new chief academic officer Sonja Brookins Santelises is already getting attention for talk of increasing standards in city schools and raising elite schools to the level of the top public schools in the country.
• Cheryl Bost, president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County (TABCO), led the fight against a cumbersome new student evaluation tool, the Articulated Instruction Module (AIM), delaying its implementation and putting county superintendent Joe Hairston on the hot seat for granting the program’s copyright to an employee.

Legal

These are the 800-pound gorillas of Baltimore’s law scene, and their firms have the revenue to prove it.

Peter G. Angelos
A honcho among honchos, Angelos, 81, could obviously fit into a number of our categories, including sports (as CEO and chairman of the board of the Orioles) and philanthropy. He’s made his millions representing the victims of faulty products, medical malpractice, and personal injury, but is best known for class-action suits against manufacturers of asbestos and tobacco.

Francis B. Burch Jr.
Frank Burch helped turn the regional law firm Piper & Marbury, with its 250 lawyers, into DLA Piper, an international practice with more than 3,500 lawyers and revenue of $2 billion. And he’s a trustee of The Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and the Carey Business School of Johns Hopkins University, as well as past board chairman of the Greater Baltimore Committee and the University of Maryland School of Law.

James L. Shea
Shea, 58, is chairman of the board of law firm Venable LLP, with 600 lawyers based mostly in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York. He’s also on the boards of the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.

And don’t count out:

• Senior Venable partner Benjamin Richard Civiletti, probably the best-known name in American law, was U.S. Attorney General during the Carter administration, and recently became the first U.S. lawyer to charge $1,000 an hour.

Underground

Baltimore has become a national center for underground culture. Below, the leaders of the artists, hipsters, and tastemakers who make the scene.

Dan Deacon
In 2004, musician Deacon moved to Baltimore with a mantra: “The future surrounds us. Let us begin.” Setting up camp in the Copycat building on Guilford Ave., he and some friends founded Wham City, an arts collective bursting with creativity. Wham City threw massive dance parties in industrial spaces, drawing artists, musicians, and patrons from local colleges, especially MICA, and beyond. In 2006, they founded Whartscape—a more D.I.Y. answer to Artscape—giving a platform to local bands like Beach House and Ponytail, who would go on to gain national followings. They staged theatrical programs like Shoot Her! Jurassic Park: The Play. The excitement around the scene helped spur an arts renaissance in Station North. After a successful Whartscape in July, he announced that it would be no more. “Part of the fun was making it grow,” he said. “But we’d like to move on and try something new.” At the photo shoot for the cover of this magazine, Deacon huddled with BSO maestra Marin Alsop about a potential collaboration. Later that day, a BSO rep called the office looking for Deacon’s contact number. We can only imagine what he has in store for Baltimore next.

Matt Porterfield
Porterfield has a legit shot at being mentioned in the same breath as Levinson and Waters as one of the city’s finest filmmakers. Porterfield’s latest movie, Putty Hill, has been a hit on the festival circuit—screening in Berlin, Lisbon, Copenhagen, and Austin’s SXSW—and elicited raves from The New Yorker’s Richard Brody, who opined that “if there’s an independent cinema, [Putty Hill] is it, and if there’s a new director, here he is.” Porterfield gets extra credit for crafting music videos for local bands such as Double Dagger and teaching film at Hopkins.

Scott Berzofsky, Dane Nester, and Nicholas Wisniewski
These three MICA grads formed the arts collective Baltimore Development Cooperative (BDC), which addresses urban issues with a powerful mix of creative moxie and grassroots organizing. Their recent The Food Network exhibit at the Creative Alliance included installations by community groups such as Hamilton Crop Circle and info-sharing forays into city neighborhoods. The BDC also cosponsors STEW, a dinner (held three or four times a year) that raises money for various social justice projects.

And don’t count out:

• The folks at Red Emma’s present talks and performances at their Mt. Vernon bookstore/coffeehouse and at 2640 in Charles Village, and they operate The Baltimore Free School.
• Program director Megan Hamilton books a wide range of events at the Creative Alliance—a recent run of shows included Ethel Ennis, the Baltimore Men’s Chorus, Mink Stole, Maria Broom, a klezmer band, and a burlesque performance—and is a tireless advocate for the local arts scene.

Business

These impresarios of commerce provide the tax base that is the lifeblood the city.

Jack B. Dunn
The man behind the success of the $1 billion-a-year FTI Consulting has been CEO and president Dunn, a lawyer and former officer at Legg Mason (and current Orioles partner). Besides its corporate consulting services, FTI has some unusual skill areas, especially “forensic accounting,” or the science of finding out where the money went. (Investors hire FTI when a company fails——so that part of the business had been booming.) He’s also a board member at several major corporations.

Fred Festa
Yes, Festa, the chairman, president, and CEO of W.R. Grace, heads a company that went Chapter 11 after facing millions of dollars worth of awards in asbestos suits filed by the likes of Peter Angelos. But the Columbia-based Grace is back, selling close to $3 billion in specialty chemicals, catalysts, sealants, and construction materials worldwide. Better yet, both the company and its thousands of employees donate significantly every year to education, health, and human services causes.

Kevin A. Plank
Under Armour President and CEO Kevin Plank’s big idea (to create a synthetic, moisture-wicking fabric) sells close to $1 billion a year and has gone public. Now Plank is going after the industry giant Nike, with a foray into athletic footwear. (Don’t be too surprised if Nike tries to buy them.) Plank sits on the UM’s board of trustees, as well as serving on the board of directors for the Baltimore City Fire Foundation, the Greater Baltimore Committee, and Living Classrooms Foundation.

And don’t count out:

• Allegis, founded 27 years ago (as Aerotek) by Steve Bisciotti and James Davis, and now controlled by Davis, is a mammoth staffing company with more than $4 billion in revenues in 2005.
• Willard Hackerman, president and CEO of construction giant Whiting-Turner, may be 92 now, but he shows up at the office every day and still wields considerable influence in commerce, philanthropy, and politics.
• Mayo Shattuck, president and CEO of Constellation Energy, took his shareholders for a queasy ride after the market collapse in late 2008, but he’s stayed on the job because he’s making money again and even growing the $16 billion energy giant.

Green

Meet the eco-warriors who are fighting the good fight——and winning.

Malcolm Woolf
Anyone who doesn’t think finding sustainable ways to meet our society’s energy needs is the challenge of the 21st century hasn’t been paying attention. In Maryland, the man with the plan is Malcolm Woolf, head of the Maryland Energy Administration. He’s been instrumental in toughening up the state’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, which requires reducing statewide energy consumption by 15 percent by the year 2015 and generating 20 percent of energy from renewable sources (including two percent from solar) by 2022. “He knows how and when to push and when to ‘play ball’ in crafting legislation,” praises Jim Pierobon, the communications director with the Maryland Clean Energy Center.

Michael D. Smith
Giving a Constellation Energy executive props for green power seems counterintuitive, to put it mildly. But who’s better poised to transform the energy industry than someone on the inside? Enter Michael D. Smith who, two years ago, became the chief sustainability officer for retail energy at Constellation NewEnergy, a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 company/utility that handles development and installation of sustainable product offerings, including its burgeoning solar business. If you want to go green, save money, or both in the future, chances are you’ll be buying what he’s selling.

William C. Baker
William C. Baker is the president of the 200,000-member-strong nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which boasts a $22 million annual operating budget, 160 full-time employees, and offices in three states plus D.C. Because of these resources, the CBF is a player on both the state and federal level. They deal with “the big picture,” acknowledges Jana Davis, associate director of The Chesapeake Bay Trust, which contributes funding to some of CBF’s programs. Baker is “organizing their priorities the right way, and he’s getting a lot of big wins for the bay,” she adds, citing CBF’s role in strengthening storm water runoff regulations and Maryland’s new environmental literacy high school graduation requirement.

Beth Strommen
As manager of the Baltimore City Office of Sustainability, Beth Strommen is the city’s green guru, heavily involved in drafting and editing many of our metro’s most important environmental and land use regulations, including the Forest Conservation Program, the Baltimore Bicycle Master Plan, and the Maritime Master Plan. Says Prescott Gaylord, the owner of Baltimore Green Construction, “Beth is highly effective and may be the most well-known face of green in the city.”

And don’t count out:

• David Borinsky, CEO of nonprofit One Green Home at A Time, oversees green rehabs in some of Baltimore’s most blighted neighborhoods.
• Thanks to president and CEO Chickie Grayson’s leadership, Enterprise Homes has already built 1,275 green, affordable homes in the area and is committed to creating or preserving 5,000 more by 2013.
• As chair of the House of Delegates’ Environmental Matters Committee, Del. Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City), holds sway over a matrix of issues ranging from agriculture to motor vehicles.

Technology

These tech titans heard the 21st-century bell——and answered it.

Dave Troy
Even those not too involved in tech circles know about Bmore Fiber, last year’s initiative to bring Google’s ultra-high-speed broadband network to Baltimore. Troy was one of the leaders of the movement, not to mention he has 25 years of experience in technology and design. “Dave is hugely influential in the startup scene,” says programmer Mike Subelsky. “He is definitely the man for our times.”

Sid Meier
Sid Meier has been called “the godfather of computer gaming”—and rightfully so. He’s had 26 years of experience and has helped create the popular simulation game genre. As current director of creative development for Firaxis Games, Meier established Hunt Valley as the gaming capital of Maryland when he started in the early 1980s.

Heather Sarkissian
Heather Sarkissian is somewhat of a tech renaissance woman. She was the CEO of mp3car.com, a local company that builds sophisticated mobile computers for corporate and government clients. She helped found Betascape, which is the tech version of Artscape. She also heads BmoreSmart, a group of social entrepreneurs in Baltimore aiming to make the city a better place. “Heather really knows how to get things done,” says programmer Mike Subelsky.

Jay Steinmetz
Steinmetz is CEO of Barcoding, a company that sells and programs inventory-tracking systems and has been included on several of Inc. magazine’s coveted top business lists. As chair of the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, which provides funding for local programs, Steinmetz is also helping the next generation of techies.

And don’t count out:

• Mike Subelsky is cofounder of Ignite Baltimore and web startup OtherInbox.com.
• Brian Reynolds was mentored by Sid Meier, and is now chief designer at Zynga East (creator of the infamous Farmville).
• Jennifer Gunner, the interim executive director of the Greater Baltimore Tech Council, is known for bridging “old” and “new” tech circles.

Philanthropy

Where government and the corporate world fall short, these captains of charity fill the gap.

William J. McCarthy Jr.
There are foundations and charitable organizations with more money and equally worthy causes, but few are more visible to average Baltimoreans than Catholic Charities, headed by executive director McCarthy. With 2,000 employees and 15,000 volunteers, Maryland’s largest private provider of human services, with an annual budget of $127 million, answered more than 600,000 requests for food and emergency services last year and served 350,000 meals to the hungry, as well as operating 80 other programs.

Marc B. Terrill
Since 2003, Marc B. Terrill has been the face of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, a 90-year-old foundation whose charitable reach extends far beyond the Jewish community through partnered initiatives in the region with Catholic Charities of Baltimore, the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation, and other groups.
As president, Terrill, who is also on the Baltimore Community Foundation board, oversees 20 agencies that meet educational, religious, humanitarian, health, and social service needs locally, nationally, in Israel, and throughout the world. And The Associated has financial clout: It raised $31 million last year and has a $500 million trust. (Among other Jewish Federations across North America, Baltimore’s boasts the highest per-capita giving.)

Deborah Flateman
Deborah Flateman oversees 80 employees, two warehouses, and $32 million a year at the Maryland Food Bank, all resources that are focused on gathering food donations from manufacturers, growers, retailers, and individuals and getting it to the needy through 600 soup kitchens, shelters, and other providers in central Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Economic times have increased the need for food assistance by more than a third.

Donn Weinberg
With total assets of $2 billion, the Weinberg Foundation is one of the largest private charitable foundations in the United States, funding nonprofits that provide services to economically disadvantaged people, primarily in the U.S. and Israel. Under the chairmanship of former trial lawyer Donn Weinberg, the foundation’s roughly $100 million annual grantmaking goes to programs to help seniors, the disabled, education, children, and basic human needs and health. And he can sing and dance, too: As a hobby, Weinberg is a volunteer singer-entertainer at older-adult facilities in the Baltimore area and for nonprofit fundraisers.

And don’t count out:

• James Piper Bond is president of the $16 million-a-year, 300-employee Living Classrooms Foundation, which uses boats and the bay to educate inner-city youth, and also provides job training, neighborhood rehab, and management of once-failing charter schools.
• Tim Kelly is director of Fells Point’s Esperanza Center, funded by Catholic Charities of Baltimore, which provides legal and social services to the city’s growing Hispanic population.
• Terry M. Rubenstein is executive vice president of the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds, a $100 million group of family funds that doles out roughly $5 million a year to cultural causes here and in Israel, as well as meeting middle-class needs with library and school computers, city parks improvements, and scholarships for families with average incomes.
• He didn’t want to be on this list because he’s fairly new at the job, but we can’t totally ignore Annie E. Casey Foundation president and CEO Patrick McCarthy, whose Baltimore-based foundation, with its roughly $2.6 billion in assets, gives away close to $150 million nationally every year.

Sports

It’s not just our favorite pastime (and obsession), it’s one of the driving forces of the local economy.

Steve Bisciotti
There’s really no disputing it anymore: Baltimore is a football town. Last year, Forbes magazine estimated the Ravens’ worth as $1.1 billion (as compared to the Orioles’ $376 million). And owner Bisciotti has a low-key, hands-off leadership style that appeals to the local fan base. Pressbox’s Stan “The Fan” Charles praises Bisciotti for “being smart enough to know what he doesn’t know.” Says WNST’s Nasty Nestor Aparicio: “The Ravens have become the most important binding element in our local society—across race, color, creed, gender, age. When they do well, the city feels good. That’s a lot of power.”

Ozzie Newsome
Ravens’ GM Newsome’s ability to “gauge talent” is unsurpassed, says Pressbox’s Stan “The Fan” Charles, but he also knows when to give up draft picks and pull the trigger on a great trade. “He’s the prime [force] in making the Ravens great,” says WNST’s Nasty Aparicio. And since much of the Ravens’ enormous value stems from its on-field success, it’s no surprise that Steve Bisciotti told The Baltimore Sun last year: “We want Oz to be here as long as Ozzie wants to be here.” Looks like the owner can evaluate talent almost as well as his GM.

Andy MacPhail/Buck Showalter
Both these men represent a sea change in the Orioles organization: President Andy MacPhail was the first person under Peter Angelos to be given some measure of control. “Though he’ll always answer to Peter, there’s no question that Andy has been given total leeway to do his job as he sees fit,” says WJZ sports director Mark Viviano. As for Showalter? “Buck brought credibility to the position that it hadn’t had in 10 years,” Viviano says. “And it was immediately reflected in how the players responded.”

Cal Ripken Jr.
From introducing baseball in China to building little league stadiums, Cal Ripken Jr. is using his power as an ex-Oriole for good. “One of the greatest reflections of Cal’s power is that the mere mention of his involvement in something uplifts its potential,” WJZ’s Marc Viviano says. “He’s one of those personalities you just trust and believe.”

And don’t count out:

• Linebacker Ray Lewis “ultimately has the most power to change our city over the next 20 years,” says WNST’s Aparicio, “with his brand, star, and transcendence.”
• Jay Davidson, the president of Baltimore Racing Development, leads the team that took the exciting gamble of bringing Grand Prix racing to Baltimore.
• Terrance Hasseltine, the director of the Maryland Office of Sports Marketing, was responsible for bringing the 2009 World Football Challenge to M&T Bank Stadium.
• The Sun’s Mike Preston is the most influential sports columnist in Baltimore. Many believe that Preston’s relentless criticism led to the firing of Ravens coach Brian Billick.

Health

If there is a single dominant field in the Greater Metropolitan area, it’s health care. These are the scions of the industry.

Robert Chrencik
Chrencik served as the financial officer at the University of Maryland Medical System for more than 20 years before being named UMMS president and CEO in 2008. He serves on the board of each of the 12 UMMS hospitals (which have 15,000 employees), and gets out of the office, too: He’s on the board of the Greater Baltimore Committee, The Center Club, and is a past president of the Maryland Chapter of the Health Care Financial Management Association.

Ronald R. Peterson
As president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, Peterson oversees Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Howard County General Hospital, Suburban Hospital, and Sibley Memorial Hospital, as well as The Johns Hopkins Hospital. How big a job is that? Hopkins hospital, consistently ranked America’s best, includes more than 2,200 beds, employs 22,000 people, treats more than 800,000 patients from all over the world, and brings in $1.3 billion in revenue (plus the value of $161 million in uncompensated care).

Robert Murray
Every spring, hospital administrators, doctors, and insurance companies around the state wait with bated breath to hear what Murray will say. As executive director of the Health Services Cost Review Commission, Murray leads a process that determines how much health care providers can charge for services. The Commission’s decisions directly affect virtually every doctor and patient in the state, and, in a state where health care is the largest industry, that makes Murray our local equivalent of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke.

And don’t count out:

• As president and CEO of Sinai Hospital and, after the 1998 merger with Northwest Hospital, of Lifebridge Health, Warren Green has been a leader in the world of community hospitals for 19 years, providing a perspective to balance the big university institutions downtown.
• Chester “Chet” Burrell is president and CEO of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the top medical insurer in the state. The company’s decisions—such as recent ones to include nurse practitioners in its network as primary care providers or to maintain child-only plans—have a huge impact.

Nightlife

Here are the forces behind everything that goes bump (and grind) in the night.

Heidi Klotzman
Klotzman owns special event firm HeidnSeek Entertainment, which specializes in event coordination, marketing, and runs an online entertainment guide with more than 30,000 subscribers. Beyond promoting parties at Red Maple and Milan, Klotzman advertises charity events and hosts networking functions. “She’s a promoter with a conscience,” says Sam Sessa, The Sun’s entertainment editor.

Cullen Stalin
Long before Baltimore’s nightlife scene was on the map, Cullen Stalin was drawing a crowd. He and Simon Phoenix are resident DJs of TaxLo, the city’s biggest dance party for nearly a decade (attracting such famous acts as M.I.A). Last year, he helped start “No Rule”—a hugely popular dance party at the Metro Gallery—that bridges the hipster and hip-hop scenes. Cullen has helped developed TaxLo into “one of the most powerful nightlife brands in the city,” says City Paper’s music editor Michael Byrne.

Bill Muehlhauser
As the owner of the Rams Head Group, Muehlhauser owns five spaces in Stevensville, Annapolis, and Baltimore—including Rams Head Live! and Pier Six. He was smart enough to partner with promoter Seth Hurwitz of I.M.P. to bring big-time national acts to Rams Head Live! (like the Beastie Boys and Smashing Pumpkins), and is currently working with David Cordish to plan a new live music venue in the Arundel Mills slots parlor.

And don’t count out:

• Casey Hard, beer manager at Max’s Taphouse, helps organize beer festivals and built the bar into what it is today.
• Marc McFaul is growing a little bar empire with two Ropewalk Taverns (in Federal Hill and Bel Air), The Stalking Horse, and McFaul’s.
• Frank Remesch, general manager of 1st Mariner Arena, has brought huge names to Baltimore, like Bruce Springsteen and Jay-Z.

Dining

These restaurant royals are at the top of the Charm City food chain.

Tony Foreman and Cindy Wolf
The formidable restaurant team—Foreman’s a restaurant visionary; Wolf’s a world-class chef—came to the forefront of the city’s dining scene in 1995 and haven’t stopped since. The business partners have since formed the Foreman Wolf group to oversee their four restaurants: Charleston, Cinghiale, Petite Louis, and Pazo (they also have two wine stores). It’s no surprise that this duo is planning another business venture this year. Their empire grows.

Eddie Dopkin
Dopkin is probably best known for transforming a stretch of W. Cold Spring Lane into a mini restaurant row with Miss Shirley’s Cafe, S’ghetti Eddie’s, and Roland Park Bagel Co. (He also owned Loco Hombre and Alonso’s until selling them about a year ago.) His Crazy Man Restaurant Group now has another Miss Shirley’s at the Inner Harbor, and Dopkin is grooming his son David in the business. Dopkin is also exploring locations for one, possibly two, Miss Shirley’s in the next year.

Vasilios Keramidas
Keramidas, who heads up Kali’s Restaurant Group, has carved out a dining stronghold in Fells Point. The elegant Kali’s Court started the buzz, followed by Mezze, Meli American Bistro, and Tapas Adela. Now, he and his partners—Karen Patten, Eric Losin, and Theodore Losin—are gutting and renovating the old Admiral’s Cup Cafe.

Qayum and Pat Karzai
The Karzais, along with son Helmand, didn’t stop with their success at The Helmand, Baltimore’s go-to place for delicious, authentic Afghan food. The couple added Tapas Teatro and b bistro to their restaurant roster and are planning to open a tapas place at the reinvigorated Senator Theatre. They’re also eyeing the long-shuttered and once esteemed Chesapeake Restaurant on North Charles Street as a location for a seafood venue.

Patrick Russell
When Russell opened Kooper¹s Tavern in Fells Point, naming it after his yellow Lab, he had no idea he was embarking on a mini restaurant conglomerate. Now, he and his wife, Katie, operate Sláinte Irish Pub and Restaurant, Woody¹s Rum Bar and Island Grill, and Kooper¹s Chowhound Burger Wagon. Patrick Russell has also joined forces with Bill Irvin, the restaurants¹ director of operations, to form the Fells Point Hospitality Management group. So far, they have acquired Celie¹s Waterfront Inn in Fells Point and plan to open a wine bar in Fells Point and another restaurant in Baltimore County in the future. They also brought in a top-notch chef, Bill Crouse, to deliver the best possible cuisine at the current restaurants.

And don’t count out:

• Although the Food Network has announced that this will be Ace of Cake’s final season, they’re already looking to develop new shows for Duff Goldman, who has brought national attention to our fair city.
• Spike Gjerde‘s three-year-old Woodberry Kitchen has raised the bar for everyone else in the field.
• The Vitales—Aldo and Regina and sons Sergio and Alessandro—exert their influence at Aldo’s Ristorante Italiano in Little Italy by entertaining local bigwigs and hosting political fundraisers. The younger Vitales plan to open an upscale pizzeria in Harbor East.

Society

Two couples rule the gala scene with their philanthropy——and their rolodexes.

Eddie C. and C. Sylvia Brown
The generous Browns could neatly fit into several of the power categories on this list, but they most conspicuously wield their power in the social arena. They were feted at galas at MICA and The Reginald F. Lewis Museum and have been coveted guests and honorees at nearly every big society event in town, including the Arthritis Foundation and the Living Classrooms Foundation.
“They’re the most influential African American couple in the state of Maryland,” says talk show host Anthony McCarthy. “Everyone is knocking on their door. White, black, and in between.”
And when the Browns chair a party—or, even more often, are honored guests at one—the A-list of Baltimore is at their beck and call.
“They go to the right parties, they chair the right galas, they show up at the right dinner parties,” says McCarthy.
“They are the quintessential power couple,” agrees Del. Keiffer Mitchell Jr.
Says McCarthy: “Their legend continues to grow.”

Art and Pat Modell
The Modells are the 3 Rs: Rich, retired, and revered. In a relatively short period of time (by Baltimore standards at least), they have become significant patrons of both the arts and local charities.
“They have given so many wonderful philanthropic gifts to so many institutions around town,” says Sandy Richmond, the executive director of the newly renamed The Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric. “There’s no way to say thanks.”
And when the Modells chair a party, “people show up,” says one high-ranking society observer.
“Art and Pat Modell do not take their commitments lightly,” says Lori D. Mulligan, director of development and marketing for Gilchrist Hospice Care. (The Modells recently chaired its
Holly Ball.) “Their name alone is associated with good judgment and impeccable taste.”

And don’t count out:

• Look out for David and Michel Modell. After chairing parties for Pam Shriver and MAP, the couple are clearly following in Art and Pat’s (gilded) footsteps.
• Rising stars Jennifer and George Reynolds recently chaired the Walters Gala and are big contributors to St. Joseph Medical Center. She’s also the next National Aquarium board chair. “They cut a wide swath among all sectors,” says one insider.
• Aris Melissaratos, the former DBED secretary (now at Hopkins), has become a serious player on the social scene, chairing galas for Cystic Fibrosis and the American Heart Association.

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The Power Vacuum

How Baltimore’s power has shifted—and why that may not be such a bad thing.

By Max Weiss

Once was, it was easy to identify the powerful people. They were the CEOs of local firms like Alex. Brown, the Maryland Jockey Club, and Mercantile Safe Deposit. They were the political apparatchiks of William Donald Schaefer and later, Kurt Schmoke. They were graduates of the big urban public schools—like City or Poly—or the big private ones, like Gilman, Boys’ Latin, and Calvert School.

But now, as more local headquarters are closing (or being bought out), and as the old guard is retiring (or dead), there’s a bit of confusion in this town.

Who’s running Baltimore?

John Willis, the former Secretary of State of Maryland under Parris Glendening, now the director of the government and public policy program at the University of Baltimore, puts it like this: “No one knows who to call anymore.”

The Irv Kovens of this world—he was famously the kingmaker behind Schaefer—are gone, as are likes of H. Furlong Baldwin (the former Mercantile chief), Joe DeFrancis (from the Maryland Jockey Club), and Buzzy Krongard (of Alex. Brown). And while H&S’s John Paterakis and Orioles owner/superlawyer Peter Angelos are still enormously powerful, they have become less hands-on with time.

“We’ve run out of the kind of people who used to sit on the board of the GBC [Greater Baltimore Committee],” says Aris Melissaratos, the former head of the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) and now an adviser to the president of Hopkins.

And while Larry Gibson, the political adviser who helped put Kurt Schmoke in office, still has some measure of power, he wasn’t able to mobilize the vote behind the candidate he most recently supported, Pat Jessamy. (She lost her city State’s Attorney seat to newcomer Gregg Bernstein, largely because voter turnout was historically low.)

“Large groups of people just aren’t being controlled like they used to,” says WEAA talk show host Anthony McCarthy, the former spokesperson for Mayor Sheila Dixon. “It used to be easier to turn out voters.”

And that’s at least partly because of the waning influence of The Baltimore Sun.

“The media market is fractured,” notes Willis. “Makes it that much more difficult to reach large numbers of people.”

Of course, there are people who have power—the mayor, the governor, the county executives—just by virtue of their postions. But elected power isn’t the same as personal power. And everyone agrees that the personal power in this town has become splintered. But here’s the rub: Most feel that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“There’s been a generational shift,” says Del. Keiffer Mitchell Jr., who himself hails from a long-serving political family. “Power these days can be influenced by the number of friends you have on Facebook.”

Adds Kathy Sher, the deputy director for external affairs at the National Aquarium, “It feels like the thirtysomething and fortysomethings have as much cachet as the old guard. And that seems like a very healthy and positive dynamic.”

As for the notion that you had to have been born and raised in this town to rise to power? Not necessarily true, our observers say, but Baltimoreans are still wary of outsiders.

“You can’t just fly in and have a Tea Party member [as CEO] and expect it to work,” chuckles Willis. “There has to be a certain amount of awareness.”

“You have to get involved with your community,” adds Mitchell. He points to Atwood “Woody” Collins, the high-ranking M&T Bank exec, who has become a local leader. “He doesn’t drive around in a limo. He walks to M&T. People like that.”

Worshipping at the right churches is still a factor, as is knowing the right opinion makers, what Mitchell calls the “chattering class.” But Melissaratos points out that even those folks are less easy to identify. “Who’s calling the shots right now?” he muses.

All agree that the best part of this power shortage is that it gives an opportunity for new leadership to emerge in rising populations, like the Latino community, the green community, and both the new technology and health care sectors. And power is also materializing from increasingly diverse pockets (which is why we broke up our larger feature into categories).

“Now it seems like there are different segments of power and they’re all very unique,” says Kathy Sher. “And they reflect the business and social complexities that are going on in Baltimore.”

For now, we have shifted from what Willis calls an “elite” power structure to a “pluralistic” one. But he’s not sure it’s going to last.

“Politics abhors a vacuum,” he says. “The question is, who’s going to emerge?”

To define power is a tricky thing. To us, power is that elusive combination of elements that allows an individual to get his or her way, no matter the obstacles. It’s an elixir of strength, leadership, vision, wherewithal, means, moxie, and desire. Power is not influence, but the two are related—while not everyone with influence has power, anyone with power certainly has influence. And power is definitely not a popularity contest; many of the people on our list will never be accused of being “all warm and fuzzy.”

This ranking of the 50 most powerful people in the Baltimore area is not a scientific list, but it is based on hard numbers and achievements and records. Power isn’t something you can measure, like an election; it’s rooted in perception and experience and gut reaction. Our 2007 Power 50 list is a snapshot of an extraordinary and unique time in Baltimore (we last tackled the list shortly after Bob Ehrlich took office, in 2003). Annapolis is once again controlled by a single party, and the state is governed by an ex-Baltimore mayor; our interim mayor heads a city (and a government) with both promise and problems; and the Baltimore Old Guard is being gradually replaced by a new power elite. But come September—and the city’s Democratic primary—this list could look considerably different. For now, though, this ranking is the way we see power being put into action in Baltimore.

But we know what you’re really asking: Who’s number one? Look below to find out.

1. William R. Brody

Age: 63 Title: President, Johns Hopkins University 2003 Rank: 15 Nickname: Big Boss Power Play: Hopkins’s East Baltimore urban redevelopment—including biotech labs being built in (and on) adjoining neighborhoods—rolls on without a hitch, thanks to Brody’s (and Hopkins’s) clout. Power Source: Oversees an economic (more than $7 billion of business generated statewide) and scientific juggernaut. Is the head of Hopkins’s power troika (along with Hopkins medical school CEO Ed Miller and Health System prez Ron Peterson) and serves as the living embodiment of Hopkins’s institutions and brand, both locally and across the globe. Hopkins has the nation’s highest-rated hospital and is the largest private employer (some 46,000 people) in the state. A recent endowment-building drive blew past the $2 billion goal a year early; the new mark is $3.2 billion. Bottom Line:Politicians and developers come and go; Hopkins is eternal.

2. John Paterakis

Age: 77 Title: President and CEO, H&S Bakery and H&S Properties Development Corporation 2003 Rank: 2 Nickname: Bread Man Power Play: With private investment in Harbor East now surpassing $1 billion, and state political contributions from Paterakis entities on the rise, Paterakis officially sheds his baker’s hat and becomes a mega developer and fixer. Power Source: Throughout four mayoral administrations, Paterakis has built up the Inner Harbor’s east end into a shiny cluster of high-rise hotels and posh condos, shops and offices. Close ties to other well-placed folks—an expanding partnership with fellow developer Bill Struever (#11), for one—make for some hefty collateral clout. Bottom Line: No other local developer has managed to pull off such downtown development density, or laid such undisputed claim to a coveted corner of the city.

3. Peter G. Angelos

Age: 77 Title: President and Managing Principal, Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos 2003 Rank: 1 Nickname:Greek Tycoon Power Play: His profile has dropped (as has the Orioles’), but he has by far the deepest political pockets in town. Power Source: Since making it rich off asbestos litigation in the 80’s and 90’s, Angelos has been a go-to guy for politicians, a downtown development force, chief target of O’s fan angst, and philanthropist. His political largesse—$2.9 million to national campaigns since 1999—puts him at number 18 (behind George Soros and John Kerry) among the country’s largest donors. Bottom Line: Angelos has the obvious power ingredients: money, ubiquity, pull. What makes him uniquely powerful is his sway across Baltimore’s diverse communities.

4. M.J. “Jay” Brodie

Age: 70 Title: President, Baltimore Development Corporation 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Land Baron Power Play: Got the mayor to bless Baltimore’s biggest ever municipally financed public-works project while O’Malley was in the throes of a gubernatorial bid. Power Source: Over the years Brodie has deftly—if not entirely deliberately—molded his role into that of primary driver behind the look and feel of downtown. He’s overhauled BDC, expanded its role as real estate buyer and developer, and won the confidence of four mayors. The culmination of those efforts: last year’s ground-breaking on a $305 million convention center hotel—built and paid for by the city. Bottom Line: When all is said and done, Brodie will have left a lasting mark on Baltimore, one way or another.

5. Robert C. Embry Jr.

Age: 69 Title: President, The Abell Foundation 2003 Rank: 36 Nickname: Wise Man Power Play: Embry has woven himself into the tapestry of Baltimore’s power elite by leveraging his brains, his connections, his wisdom, and his influence into a role as a kingmaker. Power Source: During his two-decade-plus tenure as head of the powerful Abell Foundation (with assets of more than $203 million), Embry has spoken plainly about the city’s ills—and used those millions to try to correct them. Bottom Line: If you want anything done in this town, you’d better have a sit-down with Bob Embry.

6. Eddie C. Brown

Age: 66 Title: President and CEO, Brown Capital Management Inc. 2003 Rank: 18 Nickname: Mr. Generosity Power Play: Being Eddie Brown. Power Source: Built a respected asset management firm, amassed a vast personal fortune, and scored a spot on some of Baltimore’s most prestigious boards. But it’s in his use of that personal fortune that Brown’s real power lays. He and his wife are stand-out philanthropists with a passion for education and the arts; their generosity ranks them among the nation’s top African-American charitable donors. But given their low profile—and that’s how they like it—most wouldn’t know it. Bottom Line: He’s sharp, rich, and every corporation or institution’s dream board member.

7. Barbara Mikulski

Age: 70 Title: U.S. Senator 2003 Rank: 7 Nickname: Pint-sized Powerhouse Power Play: Has a senior membership on the powerful Senate Appropriations committee. Teaming with Governor O’Malley to make Maryland a homeland security hub—plus, there’s the national BRAC (Base Realignment And Closure) which stands to bring tens of thousands of military jobs to Baltimore. (Babs also sits on the Homeland Security and Defense subcommittees.) Power Source: With a Democratic majority in Congress (including a certain hometown girl who is Speaker of the House) and a Democratic governor in office, the chair of Maryland’s Congressional delegation is uniquely poised to steer federal funds into the Old Line State. Bottom Line: The longtime senator couldn’t have picked a better time to become Maryland’s highest-ranking statesperson.

8. Raymond “Chip” Mason

Age: 70 Title: CEO, Legg Mason 2003 Rank: 4 Nickname: Mr. Baltimore Power Play: Successfully set up his company—one of Baltimore’s most venerable—for a future without him, while hanging on to fabulous wealth and the most prestigious chairmanship in town. Power Source: Mason built Legg Mason into one of the world’s largest money management firms over 40-plus years before ceding the president’s title last April, just weeks after Forbes ranked him number 88 among the country’s 500 highest-paid CEOs. Bottom Line: As Legg chairman, vice-chair of the Downtown Partnership, and chair of the Board of Trustees of Johns Hopkins University, Mason remains one of the biggest wheels in town even as he begins to step back from the table.

9. George L. Russell Jr.

Age: 77 Title: Of Counsel, Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Judge Power Play: Got both his son and daughter-in-law on court benches in the same year. Power Source: In February 2006, Russell’s daughter-in-law, Devy Russell, was appointed to the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City. When George L. Russell III landed on the Baltimore City Circuit Court 11 months later, any doubts about the lingering power of Maryland’s first African-American Circuit Court judge and Baltimore’s first black city solicitor were dashed. Reginald F. Lewis Museum chair and member of two prominent commissions under Ehrlich, “Judge Russell” still commands deference and wields clout—see his behind-the-scenes counselor role this past election. Bottom Line:When it comes to say-so, there’s no substitute for experience and achievement.

10. Ed Hale Sr.

Age: 60 Title: Chairman and CEO, 1st Mariner Bancorp 2003 Rank: 31 Nickname: Blue-Collar Banker Power Play: Despite—or because of—his working-class Highlandtown roots, he’s challenged Maryland’s blue-blood financial circles with his success in banking and been a driving force in the remaking of Canton. Power Source: His small but fast-growing 1st Mariner Bank now has about $1.3 billion in assets, though it’s taken a beating in recent months from bad mortgage loans. Hale Properties has invested heavily in Canton redevelopment and land ventures across the U.S., he’s owner of the Baltimore Blast soccer team, and he’s the chairman of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. He also plays a Donald Trump-esque role in Towson University’s Associate program. Bottom Line: Hale got in on the ground floor of Baltimore’s resurgence with his vast Canton holdings.

11. C. William “Bill” Struever

Age: 55 Title: CEO and President, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse 2003 Rank: 12 Nickname: Re-Animator Power Play: From Brewer’s Hill to Tide Point to Harbor East, SBER has been one of the major movers in Baltimore’s recent Renaissance. Power Source: As Baltimore City began to show signs of life, Struever was ready to rehab and renovate old properties into hip, popular offices and residences. SBER is now a regional name in urban rehabs; the Struever brand-name is synonymous with community-conscious development. Bottom Line:Though some wonks feel SBER is a bit overextended, Struever’s name and rep are still money.

12. Martin O’Malley

Age: 44 Title: Governor 2003 Rank: 5 Nickname: Chosen One Power Play: Despite concerns that he would use thegovernor’s seat as a temporary resting spot (en route to a presidential bid), he still won tight race against a popular incumbent. Has already raised $1.7 million since becoming governor, this after the nearly $15 million he raised during the campaign. Forced PSC chair to resign, effectively gaining control of the utility regulation in Maryland. Brings praised cost-monitoring program StateStat with him to Annapolis. Homeland security mayor now able to put federal muscle and money behind that agenda. Power Source: A Democratic governor leads a Democratic General Assembly and works alongside a Democrat majority Congress—we don’t see much resistance to his agenda. Bottom Line:Former golden boy has regained his luster.

13. David Cordish

Age: 67 Title: Chairman, Cordish Company 2003 Rank:3 Nickname: Master of Ceremonies Power Play: Cordish (the man) makes deals happen; with cities (like Atlantic City, where the Walk project is that city’s hottest new destination) and with people (like Rev. Frank Reid, #28, with whose church Cordish partnered for the Pier Six rehab). Power Source: Cordish (the company) has made a name locally and nationally as a builder of entertainment centers (like downtown’s Power Plant Live). Bottom Line: Despite the risks of urban commercial redevelopment (and icky dueling lawsuits with the Florida Seminole tribe over a Hard Rock project), Cordish remains plugged in, canny, and successful.

14. James Shea

Age: 54 Title: Chair, Venable LLP 2003 Rank: 24 Nickname: PAC Man Power Play:The big hand in O’Malley’s gubernatorial fundraising, with some serious muscle in national politics too. Power Source: Since 1994, Shea has run Venable LLP; first as managing partner, then as firm-wide chair when he inherited the top post last spring. He now counts celebrity lawyers and former politicos among his employees, and the Venable political action committee (Ven-PAC), among his power tools. Shea was also O’Malley’s fundraising chief for the 2006 election and gets credit for his well-financed sprint to the finish line. Bottom Line: With his Washington ties and fundraising prowess, Shea is a key O’Malley ally. It isn’t difficult to imagine what the two might collaborate on next. . . .

15. Sheila Dixon

Age: 53 Title: Mayor, Baltimore City 2003 Rank: n/aNickname: The Understudy Power Play: Scored city’s most powerful political post without having to run for it. Power Source: O’Malley’s sights reached well beyond City Hall when he jumped into the mayor’s race in 1999, and nobody knew it better than City Council president candidate Dixon. She won her race, waited patiently as heir apparent for seven years and landed the top job when O’Malley became governor this year. But because she’s serving out his term, the true test of her clout comes September 11, when Democratic primary voters decide if she’s worthy of the mayoral nomination. Bottom Line: Dixon gets credit for being Baltimore’s first female mayor. We’ll see whether that translates into getting electedto the post this fall.

16. Ronald Lipscomb

Age: 60 Title: President, Doracon Contracting Inc. 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Independent Contractor Power Play: His profile as a developer and politico have catapulted Lipscomb into the big leagues. Power Source: Lipscomb’s been growing his company and getting a toe in, or bid on, some of downtown’s biggest projects. A minority equity position in Harbor East and his partnership with a New York investor to buy and develop the old News American site have solidified that his status. As a trustee and major fundraiser for the state Democratic Party, he was one of Maryland’s African-American business and political elite to endorse Michael Steele in 2006 for U.S. Senate—a nose-thumbing gesture to Dems for not taking the black vote more seriously. Bottom Line: Look for Lipscomb to have a hand in more broadly distributing Maryland’s traditionally white political and economic wealth.

17. Richard O. Berndt

Age: 64 Title: Managing partner, Gallagher Evelius & Jones 2003 Rank: 14 Nickname: Political Pope of Baltimore Power Play: Rallying support for O’Malley among business and community leaders from the very start of his political career. Power Source: Strong Baltimore Catholic roots mean Berndt has been a close legal advisor to Cardinal William Keeler (#39) and the Archdiocese of Baltimore. But he’s flexed his muscle publicly by being a longtime supporter and advisor to O’Malley, as well as other Democratic Party luminaries (Sarbanes, Mikulski, Cardin, et al). He’s been the legal mind behind major development in town, including the projects of John Paterakis. Bottom Line: If you want to know what makes Maryland’s political machine tick, this legal eagle is one place to start.

18. Elijah E. Cummings

Age: 56 Title: U.S. Representative, 7th District 2003 Rank: 11 Nickname: The Negotiator Power Play: Outspoken critic of President Bush and the Iraq war recently tapped to sit on the powerful House Armed Services Committee. Power Source: Seven term congressman has a lot of accumulated power, both at home and in the Capitol; the Maryland-connected Dems now running the House will help Cummings maintain stature and pull. Bottom Line: He takes care of his district and Maryland; the resurgence of Democratic power can only help his causes.

19. Patricia C. Jessamy

Age: 58 Title: Baltimore City State’s Attorney 2003 Rank: 43 Nickname: The Survivor Power Play: Her six-year tiff with former mayor O’Malley and recent re-election to a fourth term has a lot of folks eyeing a mayoral run for her. Power Source: While a recent 58 percent holiday pay hike from her political nemesis (O’Malley) made her Baltimore’s highest paid city official, it’s Jessamy’s proven ability to undercut the police department on crime reduction that gives her such political muscle. It has also engendered widespread disdain, as Baltimore’s crime figures—especially its homicide rate—remain stubbornly high. Bottom Line: With O’Malley now out of the picture, she could move past the crime rate flak—or become its primary target.

20. Cal Ripken Jr.

Age: 46 Title: President and CEO, Ripken Baseball Group 2003 Rank: 17 Nickname: Living Legend Power Play: Making headlines again, thanks to Hall of Fame election and Cooperstown induction in July. Recently made bid to buy a Double-A team (his group already owns and operates two Single-A squads). Name repeatedly comes up as potential buyer/savior of the Orioles. Power Source: Rock solid citizen, ubiquitous pitchman (Comcast, Esskay, Chevy, etc.), Sun youth sports advice columnist, and one of the most beloved, trusted, and recognizable figures in America. “You’d die to have him on your board!” confirms one insider. Bottom Line: Cal frenzy is at a fevered pitch. But will he step up to the plate and take full advantage of his clout?

21. Joseph Haskins Jr.

Age: 58 Title: President, Chairman, and CEO, Harbor Bank of Maryland 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Smart Money Power Play: While the bank has grown slowly but steadily, his political and development profile has risen more precipitously—most recently with a lead role on O’Malley’s transition team. Power Source: His bank—with its modest 1.3 percent share of the city’s market—and his role on the President’s Roundtable have made Haskins a household name. More recently, as chair of East Baltimore Development Inc., the engine behind the Hopkins biotech park; a member of the team developing the “Cityscape” block at Calvert and Lombard streets; and Business and Economic Development co-chair for the O’Malley-Brown transition team, Haskins has become a player. Bottom Line: Don’t look for a Harbor Bank Arena yet, but Haskins is broadening his reach.

22. Ben Cardin

Age: 63 Title: Senator 2003 Rank: 22 Nickname: The Mensch Power Play: Winning the 2006 election to succeed Paul S. Sarbanes in the U.S. Senate. Power Source: An effective legislator, willing to cross party and issue lines to make things happen. Grasp of critical but dense issues (healthcare, pension reform, taxes and trade policy) and his refusal to engage in partisan bickering set him apart from—and above—his colleagues. With a new but fragile Democratic majority in both chambers, growing disenchantment with the current administration, and a presidential race a year away, his focus on principle and policy could be more important than ever. Bottom Line: Cardin’s poised to lead like never before.

23. Michael S. Beatty

Age: 41 Title: President, H&S Properties Development Corp. 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Dough Boy Power Play: As John Paterakis’s longtime real estate and development guy, he’s the one responsible for executing—and pulling off thus far—H&S’s huge Harbor East explosion. Power Source: The money behind Harbor East may not be Beatty’s (though he’s doing fine, given his $1.7 million Ruxton address and his six-figure contributions—atop three tuitions—to Gilman School). But the development effort and public face of all things Harbor East is his, and that makes Beatty a very big deal. Bottom Line: He’s young and sitting high atop what is arguably Baltimore’s most successful development of the last decade.

24. James T. Smith Jr.

Age: 65 Title: Baltimore County Executive 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Late Bloomer Power Play: Publicly aligned himself with O’Malley in the 2006 governor’s race, despite Ehrlich’s popularity in Baltimore County (Ehrlich won the county by some 8,000 votes). Power Source: The one-time judge has begun to find his political footing; the new, more dynamic Jim Smith is being noticed by power players across the state. Leads one of Maryland’s most prosperous and populous counties. Bottom Line: Residents and developers love the county; the governor owes him a favor; he won his own re-election in a landslide.

25. Michael E. Busch

Age: 60 Title: Speaker of the House of Delegates 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Loud Speaker Power Play: Annapolis’s most powerful player during the Ehrlich years, as consensus builder (think BGE rate hikes and slots) and thorn in Ehrlich’s side. Power Source: As a Democrat he battled a Republican governor on the big issues. But as he enters his 21st year in the House of Delegates and fifth year as its speaker, he’ll likely remain a force. He’s a big-picture, issue-driven politician, and in a town that loves to hate Baltimore, he has consistently taken positions that have benefited our city and region. Bottom Line: As O’Malley settles into his new gig and works to solidify statewide support, Busch may be the surer bet to look out for Baltimore’s interests.

26. David J. Ramsay

Age: 67 Title: President, University of Maryland, Baltimore 2003 Rank: 26 Nickname: Dean of the West Side Power Play: As Hopkins rules East Baltimore, Ramsay’s UM graduate schools and medical center dominate the resurgent West Side. Power Source: With a medical school, law school, and dental school among seven grad programs, UMB consists of some 58 buildings (many brand-new, like the $142-million dental school) and gives its neighborhood a wealthy, city-committed cornerstone. The Oxford-educated Ramsay leaves a lot of decision-making to the school’s deans. Bottom Line: Ramsay oversees the city’s other major academic powerhouse—and has kept up nicely with the Joneses.

27. Mayo A. Shattuck III

Age: 52 Title: Chairman of the Board, President, CEO, Constellation Energy Group 2003 Rank: 6 Nickname:Power Broker Power Play: Trying to merge Constellation with FPL of Florida; both companies underestimated the negative public and political reaction. The merger was abandoned last fall. Power Source: In five years, the former Alex. Brown IPO wonder boy—who comes from a privileged New England family that included a number of Harvard-educated investment bankers (his idea of rebelling was going to Williams College)—turned the once-struggling energy firm into the country’s largest competitive supplier of electricity to large commercial and industrial customers and the nation’s largest wholesale power seller. Bottom Line: How will Shattuck react to one of the first setbacks in an otherwise glittering career?

28. Frank M. Reid III

Age: 55 Title: Senior Pastor, Bethel A.M.E. Church 2003 Rank: 23 Nickname: Power Preacher Power Play: A major force in the 1999 mayoral contest, he’ll again carry weight this year, with two leading mayoral contenders amid his congregation. Power Source: It’s shaping up to be a banner year at Bethel A.M.E.: the church’s membership continues to grow, it’s breaking ground on a building in Baltimore County and it has negotiated a cut of the Cordish Co.’s Pier Six profits. It will likely draw additional attention in the months ahead as the home parish of both Comptroller Joan Pratt and interim Mayor Sheila Dixon. Bottom Line: Given the weight his pick carried in 1999 when he endorsed O’Malley for mayor, political observers are watching Reid closely.

29. Freeman Hrabowski

Age: 56 Title: President, UMBC 2003 Rank: 16 Nickname: Mega Nerd Power Play: Oversees unusually powerful independent UM-system school, with particularly strong ties to Baltimore’s business and philanthropic community. Leader of task force on higher education in O’Malley’s transition team. Over $300 million in new construction in the last decade alone. In May ’06, UMBC was cited by The New York Times as one of America’s leading universities for science, particularly with respect to minority students. Power Source:Hrabowski sits on several corporate and civic boards, including the Constellation Energy Group, McCormick & Company Inc., and Mercantile Bankshares. Bottom Line: Nationally recognized educational innovator is feather in the cap of the University of Maryland system—and Baltimore.

30. Charles W. Newhall III

Age: 62 Title: Co-Founder and General Partner, New Enterprise Associates 2003 Rank: 45 Nickname: Adventure Capitalist Power Play:Harvard-educated financial power and decorated Vietnam vet co-founded New Enterprise Associates in 1978 with legendary Frank Bonsal. Power Source: NEA is one of the largest U.S. venture capital firms; over $8.5 billion is invested in tech and healthcare companies worldwide. Has served on numerous big boards. Bottom Line: Newhall’s’s NEA is a venture cap force with which to be reckoned.

31. Joan M. Pratt

Age: 55 Title: Baltimore City Comptroller 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Spoiler Power Play: Of the Board of Estimates’ five members, she’s the only one who isn’t decidedly in Mayor Dixon’s camp; her voice of opposition could resonate loudly this election year—whether she decides to challenge Dixon for her job or not. Power Source: Pratt’s lone vote is hardly enough to mess with the mayor’s lock on a majority, but she’s in a strong and public position to pick fights with the mayor, all the while claiming she’s acting in the best fiscal interests of the city. Bottom Line: Quiet till now, look for Pratt to turn spunky in the months ahead.

32. Otis Rolley III

Age: 32 Title: Chief of Staff, Mayor Sheila Dixon 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Rising Star Power Play: It’s pretty simple: he’s young, a leader, and on the rise. Power Source: He was a deputy housing commissioner before 30, city planning director soon thereafter, and now he’s chief of staff to the mayor. Nothing short of a meteoric rise for Rolley, whose name has been on people’s lips as the one to watch in this season of political transition. He’s someone whose opinion even Baltimore’s old-timers value. Bottom Line: Rolley didn’t follow fellow O’Malley wunderkinds to Annapolis. But don’t think it’s because he plans on staying in local government—he’s got much bigger plans.

33. Atwood “Woody” Collins III

Age: 60 Title: Executive Vice President, M&T Bank Corporation; President and COO of M&T Bank’s Mid-Atlantic Division 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Instant Insider Power Play: Used stadium naming rights and high profile board memberships to dramatically raise profile of the bank (and himself) since arriving in Baltimore in 2002—but the bank has increasingly lost market share to Bank of America. Power Source: Co-chair of Mayor Sheila Dixon’s transition team; serves as vice chair of the Greater Baltimore Committee; also serves on the boards of the BDC, UM Medical System, Kennedy Krieger Institute, et al. Bottom Line: With only five years in Baltimore, he’s already rubbing shoulders with this town’s power elite.

34. Jayne Miller

Age: 52 Title: WBAL-TV I-Team Chief Investigative Reporter 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Baltimore’s Mike Wallace Power Play: Last year, combed through hospital records to expose padded violent crime reduction statistics put out by the O’Malley administration—even going so far as to track down former police commissioner Kevin Clark in New York to get his take on the inflated stats. Power Source: Reputation as a tenacious, tireless reporter. “She’s one phone call you don’t want to receive,” notes one former political candidate. “She will go after you,” adds another source. Bottom Line: If you’ve got something to hide, don’t keep a high profile on Miller’s watch.

35. Thomas V. “Mike” Miller

Age: 64 Title: President, Maryland Senate 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Insider’s Insider Power Play: With retirement on the horizon, Miller’s pull in Annapolis is as strong as ever—especially as the jockeying to succeed him sets in. Power Source: He’s led the Senate for so long—20 years—the Senate building bears his name. But Miller’s passion and pragmatism can be at odds—Exhibit A: slot machines—and he hasn’t racked up such success without bullying and bluster. Now, he has no re-election worries, zero compunction about disparaging his colleagues, Republican or Democrat (he was on O’Malley’s case before he was even inaugurated), and a legacy to finish crafting. Bottom Line: Look to Miller to keep things lively in Annapolis, despite the Democratic love-in.

36. Edward St. John

Age: 68 Title: President and CEO, St. John Properties. 2003 Rank: 20 Nickname: Prince of Property Power Play: His industrial parks have transformed the landscape all over the metro area, especially in Baltimore County and around BWI. Power Source: St. John Properties owns, manages, or has developed nearly 12 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout the country. Sits on numerous boards, including Harbor Bank and the Maryland Science Center (he donated the Dinosaur Hall and the Imax theater). Bottom Line: Real estate heavy hitter gets name out there with philanthropy (more than $40 million).

37. Maggie L. McIntosh

Age: 59 Title: State Delegate, 43rd District, Baltimore City 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Operator Power Play: Worked to deliver lots of votes for O’Malley in 2006. Power Source: Fifteen years in Annapolis have earned her plenty of power; takes care of her constituents; produces good, solid, legislation. Her aid to O’Malley gained her a seat at his table in Annapolis, and she’s had a voice in his administration’s creation. Bottom Line: Dyed-in-the-wool Democrat who helped O’Malley get to Annapolis should have a bright 2007—and beyond.

38. Keiffer Mitchell Jr.

Age: 39 Title: Baltimore City Councilman 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Challenger Power Play: Took on the city-state partnership running Baltimore’s schools and the city-financed convention center hotel; now he’s taking on his former City Council boss to become Baltimore’s next mayor. Power Source: With a prominent civil-rights legacy as his foundation, Mitchell has built a reputation for being generally independent without being anti-establishment—somewhat tricky, since the downtown and business communities are his constituents. It has made him an effective member of a largely ineffective body. Bottom Line:Mitchell’s independence could quickly catapult him up this list—if he can convince voters he’s truly hungry for the mayor’s job.

39. William H. Cardinal Keeler

Age: 76 Title: Archbishop of Baltimore 2003 Rank: 32Nickname: The Peacemaker Power Play: Renovated Basilica draws praise; demolished Rochambeau apartments despite public outcry to build a prayer garden; remains untarnished by sexual abuse scandals. Power Source: The nation’s first Catholic diocese remains one of the most devoted and wealthy. Keeler is masterful at building relationships across ideological gaps and insulating himself from criticism—and always getting his way. Bottom Line: Having a Governor O’Malley won’t hurt the state’s chief Catholic.

40. Nathaniel McFadden

Age: 60 Title: President Pro Tem, Maryland State Senate 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: All Pro Power Play: The state’s highest ranking elected black legislator ever, he represents an important shift away from business-as-usual within the state’s majority-white political leadership. Power Source: Successfully led an emotionally charged blitz in the session’s final days to save 11 of the city’s failing schools from state takeover, and spotlighted the stateside politics that have long driven Baltimore City education reform in the process. His colleagues, in turn, unanimously elected him to the Senate’s number two slot, behind Senate President Mike Miller. Bottom Line: The state is nearly one-third black. McFadden’s appointment, and that of numerous other African Americans in the legislature and administration, underscores a true move toward more representative government.

41. Fred Lazarus IV

Age: 65 Title: President, Maryland Institute College of Art 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Old Master Power Play: Lazarus has doubled MICA’s student body, got Eddie Brown (#6) to help build one of Baltimore’s great new buildings, and is transforming North Avenue into a vibrant arts district. Power Source: He’s helmed one of the world’s great art schools for nearly three decades; The Gateway project (at the corner of Mount Royal and North avenues) is going to give the Brown Center a run for its money as the city’s most exciting new architecture. Bottom Line: Lazarus is fascinating, bright, diplomatic, and committed to making MICA and Baltimore better.

42. Nancy S. Grasmick

Age: 67 Title: State Superintendent of Schools 2003 Rank: 10 Nickname: Head Mistress Power Play: She may not have bent Baltimore’s last mayor to her will, but she made him, and other city officials, grimace and sweat. Power Source: It’s never been clear who’s officially in charge since the city-state partnership was formed to run Baltimore’s schools, but Grasmick, as enforcer of Maryland’s compliance with federal education requirements, has been wielding the stick. While O’Malley and city legislators stood up to her—averting the takeover of 11 city schools last spring—in Baltimore, she remains something of a feared elder. Bottom Line: Grasmick isn’t likely to go anywhere soon: She answers to the State Board of Education, and only four of its 12 Ehrlich appointees have terms expiring this year.

43. Robert L. Bogomolny

Age: 68 Title: President, University of Baltimore 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Head of the Class Power Play: As city ethics chair, he exonerated Sheila Dixon of ethical wrongdoing days before becoming mayor. Power Source: Since 2002, the former corporate litigator has toiled to raise the profile of UB, with bold new architecture and expanded academics, anchored by UB’s conversion to a four-year school this fall. While his predecessors amassed property, he’s all about developing it into an institutional cash cow. Hopes to create momentum for a broad revival of the Midtown area. Bottom Line: He’s transforming UB, he may help transform downtown’s northern end, and he may have already had a hand in determining Baltimore’s next mayor. Conventional wisdom says Dixon owes him big time.

44. Kweisi Mfume

Age: 58 Title: Baltimore’s Dream Mayor 2003 Rank: 9 Nickname: The X Factor Power Play: He may have lost his U.S. Senate bid, but as of mid-winter he still had Baltimore’s mayoral election on hold. Power Source: Mere mention of Mfume and Baltimore’s mayoralty in the same breath generates unparalleled buzz. Baltimore’s former congressman dominated the 2007 mayoral election into February—without so much as suggesting he wanted to run. Bottom Line: Mfume’s grip on this town is in many ways intangible—he hasn’t represented Baltimore politically in years—but the city’s affection for him is enduring across constituencies.

45. William C. Baker

Age: 53 Title: President, Chesapeake Bay Foundation 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Baywatcher Power Play: As the environment becomes more of a front-burner issue, he has built enormous public and private support for his cause. Power Source: While garnering “green” support can be tricky—it’s deemed a mite lefty by most—saving the Bay is a cause most can comfortably espouse (check out those “Bay” license plates). Baker sits alongside the region’s powerbrokers on prestigious boards: Johns Hopkins Medicine (he’s vice chair), Baltimore Community Foundation, Living Classrooms Foundation, Brown Advisory. Bottom Line: We can’t turn a blind eye to the abysmal state of our water and air—Baker’s organization gave Bay health a “D” last year—and nobody’s better poised to elevate environmental issues now than he.

46. Andrew Frank

Age: 40 Title: Deputy Mayor for Neighborhood and Economic Development 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Deputy Power Play: He traded in the #2 spot at BDC for a more prestigious #2 gig: helping Sheila Dixon run city government. Power Source: Frank has toiled in Baltimore’s housing and development public sector since the early 1980’s, and now he’s running the show. Fresh off 10 years as executive VP at the “quasi-public” BDC where he, among other tasks, oversaw Inner Harbor activity and development, he’s one of two Dixon deputies tasked with aligning all government agencies with the city’s neighborhood and economic-development priorities. Bottom Line: Frank’s broader authority as deputy mayor paves the way for his continued upward climb.

47. Stephen J. Bisciotti

Age: 46 Title: Founder, Allegis Group 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: The Stealthy Supermogul Power Play: Buying the Ravens—then letting the professionals run the day-to-day operations. Power Source: At age 23, Bisciotti co-founded a business in his basement, which became the nation’s third largest worldwide technical staffing firm. Despite being ranked among the Forbes 500 at about $1 billion in personal worth, the reclusive Bisciotti successfully stayed out of the local limelight—that is, until he bought a minority stake in the Ravens in 2000, then the rest of it four years later. Bottom Line: He’s a private and very rich man; and he’s now a public figure by virtue of owning a very public football franchise.

48. Stephen A. Geppi

Age: 57 Title: Founder and president, Diamond Comic Distributors; publisher, Baltimore magazine 2003 Rank: 42 Nickname: Captain Comic Power Play: Opened an eponymous downtown museum; waiting in the wings to form ownership group (possibly with Cal Ripken Jr.) to purchase Orioles, when Angelos is ready to sell. Power Source: $300-million-plus a year comic distribution business lets him do things like open a pop culture museum at Camden Station. Down to earth tycoon sits on several local boards. Bottom Line: Baltimore’s hometown hero has fun with his fortune.

49. Shale D. Stiller

Age: 72 Title: Chairman and CEO of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname:Block Captain Power Play: Determining the pace of the West Side redevelopment project. Power Source: Tax and real estate law expert Shiller remains counsel to the mega law firm DLA Piper USA and is a Johns Hopkins Hospital and University trustee. But his greatest influence comes via the Weinberg Foundation, which owns much of the property the city wants to develop on the West Side’s superblock. Fought city efforts for condemnation in order to leave Weinberg the option to develop its land itself, and is working with the Cordish Co. to do just that. Bottom Line: Unless the city can make peace with Stiller’s foundation, the much touted redevelopment of the West Side could languish for years. But an agreement between the two may be very close.

50. Ray Lewis

Age: 31 Title: Linebacker, The Baltimore Ravens 2003 Rank: n/a Nickname: Ray Ray Power Play: Dubbed “God’s Linebacker” by Sports Illustrated; preaches to packed pews when he freelances as guest preacher at the potent Empowerment Temple. Through star power and on behalf of events sponsored by the Ray Lewis Foundation, brings A-list sports and entertainment luminaries (Patti LaBelle, Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony, et al) to town to raise money for disadvantaged youth. Power Source: Overwhelming popularity and name recognition in town helps trump any lingering taint of 2000 murder arrest—pitchman for K Bank, Eastern Motors, Madden Football, and more. Bottom Line: Lewis remains one of the most powerful and popular sports figures this town has ever seen—and his ambitions run well beyond the gridiron.