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As part of its CityThink efforts, Los Angeles magazine hosted another of its breakfast conversations this morning at Kate Mantilini, this time with Ben Hecht, the president and CEO of Living Cities. That's the two-decades-old collaboration between philanthropists and corporate leaders formerly known as the National Community Development Initiative. Hecht was interviewed about civic leadership (and the power of celebrities to spread the word on good things) by John Emerson, the Music Center board chairman and Southern California finance co-chair for the Obama campaign. The breakfast drew a varied crowd of prominent Angelenos that included Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, City Councilwoman Jan Perry, KCRW general manager Jennifer Ferro, chef Mark Peel, architect Wayne Ratkovich, Rabbi Laura Geller of Temple Emanuel, city planning official Ken Bernstein, LA Conservancy head Linda Dishman and Carol Schatz, the head of the Central City Association.
The May issue of the magazine, out now, features a return of the 52 Great Weekends feature after six years and a profile of KFI power talkers John and Ken by writer-at-large Ed Leibowitz. There's also a piece on Adam Fleischman, the CEO of Umami, columnist Anne Taylor Fleming discovers that Santa Monica become a silicon gulch, and Val Kilmer talks about growing up in the distant Chatsworth corner of the Valley. Plus Controller Wendy Greuel is the mayoral candidate of the month, talking to Gabe Kahn about growing up in the Valley, her vision of the city and occasionally taking transit.
Q: Do you take it frequently?A: Not as frequently as I'd like. I've got three jobs: running for mayor, controller, and being a mom.
Top photo: Jim Donnelly Photo
