The Quiet Ones: 12 Leaders Who Get Things Done

Antonio Villaraigosa
Mayor, Los Angeles

What He's Done Rather than waiting on Washington to bail out the city, Villaraigosa persuaded nearly 70 percent of L.A. residents to approve Measure R – a half-cent sales tax that will provide $35 billion to fund major transportation improvements, including a new subway line and light-rail extensions. The mayor is also leveraging the 30 years of revenue the tax will provide to secure federal loans that will enable L.A. to complete a dozen major infrastructure projects in just 10 years. The 30/10 plan, as it's known, would create 160,000 jobs, boost transit use by 77 million passengers and cut vehicle travel by 191 million miles. Villaraigosa has united the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO behind a national version of the plan, called America Fast Forward, and the Senate Public Works Committee recently endorsed the idea by approving $1 billion a year to guarantee loans for transportation improvements – by a stunning, bipartisan vote of 18-0.

Admirers Say "Villaraigosa had a brilliant, breakthrough idea at a very difficult time," says Sen. Barbara Boxer. "If we can get our bill passed, we can create up to 1 million new jobs because of the leveraging – and the federal government has literally zero risk."

Enemies Say Rush Limbaugh, on meeting L.A.'s first Latino mayor since the 1870s: "I thought he was the shoeshine guy."

Gives Us Pause His heavy-handed use of 1,400 riot police to crack down on Occupy Los Angeles in November.