An Interview With SLC Mayoral Candidate Ralph Becker

By Tracy Medley, 5-07-07

Salt Lake City Mayoral candidate Ralph Becker is a fixture in Utah politics, representing District 24 in the Utah State House of Representatives for over 10 years and currently serving as House Minority Leader. An outspoken Democrat, Becker has earned the respect of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle while standing his ground on issues such as the Energy Policy Act and his current bid to ban gifts to legislators from lobbyists.

A successful land planner, (he co-founded Bear West, an environmental planning and policy firm) Becker has spent a large part of his political career dealing with planning issues as well; from his stint as Gov. Matheson’s State Planning Coordinator to his spot on the City Planning Commission.

An underdog in the Utah legislature, Becker has formed valuable relationships of mutual respect with his political rivals - relationships he hopes will help him to help Salt Lake City in the future. Having a mayor with strong ties to the legislature could be a tremendous asset, not that Becker is holding out for any major favors from his pals in the red.

Becker is an idealist who prefers collaborative consensus to haughty-headed mandates, taking every opportunity he can to meet with his present and possible future constituents to get their take on things. He is dedicated to the idea of community in the truest and most classic sense, of course that doesn’t mean his campaign is by any means mired in tradition.

Becker is the first and only mayoral candidate so far to court local bloggers, a move that paid off in Internet buzz and brownie points from some of Salt Lake’s most influential blogs. Becker’s own campaign website is well maintained, informative and personable. He’s even got a MySpace page – an enormously successful resource for Senatorial candidate Pete Ashdown’s campaign last year.

I recently sat down with Mr. Becker at his campaign headquarters in downtown Salt Lake City. We discussed his decision to run for mayor and his thoughts on education, the Utah Transit Authority, and of course, Rocky Anderson. To listen to the full interview, please click the link below.

Listen here.