Features: Who Really Runs This Town?

We rank the 50 most powerful Philadelphians for the first time in five years: who’s up, who’s down, who’s new to the list — and who we’re challenging to do more

35. Jerry Mondesire
president, Philadelphia NAACP. Rank in 2000: 83

Mondesire, 55, loves controversy, and has the fiery eloquence to create it. But he’s got a track record, too: In his nine-year stint, he has more than doubled membership and brought Cecil B. Moore-type credibility and recognition to the powerful group. And he has the guts to critique his own community: Issues like fatherless children, lack of black-owned businesses, lack of parental involvement and Mayor Street’s downfalls have all taken hits from Mondesire. His role in politics is growing — look for a run against Chaka Fattah in the Democratic House primary this spring.
Strength: Not afraid to finger-point or speak his mind.
Weakness: Some say that his likely run against Fattah will be motivated mostly by his desire to be seen as the legitimate heir to Bill Gray.

36. John Brennan
CEO, Vanguard Group. Rank in 2000: 39

In his ninth year as head of Vanguard, John Brennan. 51, has boldly expanded his mutual fund giant by introducing brokerage services to what was a low-cost, direct-investor-only company. Unlike the heads of other suburban-based companies, Brennan has gotten employees involved in city charities (like Philadelphia Reads and PCs for Schools), and he encouraged his top guys (including himself) to lead the United Way committee.
Strength: He has increased performance year after year of his $800 billion, 10,000-employee company, and managed to maintain an impeccable reputation during the Enron-era.
Weakness: Has he pushed too far by expanding his company into the very territory it stayed out of?

37. Joe Torsella
president, 743 ventures. Rank in 2000: Not on list

If the Olympic torch comes racing down Broad Street in 2016, this is the guy who will be most responsible for making it happen. Torsella, the quintessential can-do guy, was a Rendell deputy mayor, then spent seven years overseeing the creation of the $185 million Constitution Center. After losing a Congressional race to Allyson Schwartz, Torsella, 41, a former Rhodes scholar, is tackling what’s clearly his true calling: getting this city on board with a new vision of itself, as host to the Summer Games in 11 years.   
Strength: Heroically tried to stop a 650-pound beam from hitting the stage (it just missed former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor) during the July 4th opening of the Constitution Center.
Weakness: Got a concussion doing it.


38. Richard Sprague
attorney, Sprague & Sprague. Rank in 2000: 42

Sprague, 80, will likely be remembered as Philadelphia’s preeminent legal figure of the past 100 years. A former prosecutor who became a sought-after defense attorney, he’s been involved in many of the  city’s most notorious cases. His most famous case, however, remains one in which he was the plaintiff:  In 1990, Sprague won a $34 million libel suit against the Inquirer over a series of stories published in 1973 regarding his actions as a presecutor years earlier. (The Inquirer appealed, and the case was eventually settled in 1996.) That tenacity — and his success in bringing libel and defamation suits on behalf of clients — still strikes respect (and fear) in the hearts of reporters everywhere.
Strength: How good a lawyer is he? When F. Lee Bailey needed one, he called Sprague.
Weakness: On advice of counsel, we are declining to list any weaknesses.

39. Paul Levy
executive director, Center City District. Rank in 2000: 33

From schools to slots, streetlights to festivals, if it’s happening between Penn’s Landing and the Art Museum, Levy, 58, has had something to do with it. Along with his 14-year ride running the Center City District, he’s also the executive director of the Central Philadelphia Development Corp. — which pulls local businesses into civic plans — and was recently appointed by Mayor Street to the gambling task force. Levy’s influence over the heart of our area has made him the go-to guy for anything Center City.
Strength: Encourages grassroots organizations to get involved in city planning, and shows no sign of slowing down.
Weakness: Some civic leaders grumble that Levy is fostering a fragmented, neighborhood-to-neighborhood approach to revitalization that undermines an overall vision.