Mayor's Biography

Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Utah and graduated in 1978 with a J.D. degree from The George Washington University Law School. Anderson practiced law for twenty-one years in Salt Lake City, specializing in civil litigation. He was lead attorney in several seminal civil rights and consumer protection cases, including Bott v. Deland, which established, for the first time, a private cause of action for damages occurring from the violation of the Utah Constitution and that ruled the Utah Legislature may not set a limit on recoverable damages for such violations.

He also filed an amicus brief in the important First Amendment case, University of Utah Students Against Apartheid v. Peterson, and successfully represented the plaintiffs in Bradford v. Moench, which held, for the first time, that deposits in inadequately insured thrift and loan institutions are protected under federal securities law in the same manner as stocks and bonds. Anderson helped spearhead reform of Utah’s child custody laws. He worked to institute a program to help those who do not qualify for assistance through Legal Aid or Legal Services, but who are unable to afford to pay a full fee for legal representation. Anderson served as Chair of the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar Association and as President of Anderson and Karrenberg, a Salt Lake City law firm.

During this time, he was affiliated with the ACLU and volunteered as a board member of several community-based, non-profit organizations, including Common Cause, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, and Guadalupe Schools. On behalf of Common Cause, Anderson lobbied for stronger legislation pertaining to ethical conduct by elected officials and for campaign finance reform. Anderson also founded and served as President of Citizens for Penal Reform.

Since taking office in 2000, Anderson has been an outspoken advocate for protecting the environment. As Mayor, he committed Salt Lake City, in its own operations, to abide by the Kyoto Protocol, and implemented numerous programs to improve air quality and reduce emissions of global warming pollutants. By 2005, Salt Lake City far exceeded its Kyoto goal, seven years before the Protocol’s 2012 target date. To date, in its municipal operations, Salt Lake City has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 31% from 2001 levels.

In 2003, Mayor Anderson received the Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mayor Anderson received the “Political Leader of the Year” award in 2002 from the Utah chapter of the Sierra Club and received the Distinguished Service Award from the national Sierra Club. He is also the recipient of the Environmental Stewardship Award from the Utah Medical Association. Under Mayor Anderson’s leadership, Salt Lake City received a Green Power Leadership Award from the EPA, and an award from the Association for Commuter Transportation Leadership for the development of alternatives to commuting by automobile.

Along with Robert Redford and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), Mayor Anderson founded and hosted the Sundance Summit in July 2005 and again in 2006. The Summit has brought together seventy mayors from across the U.S. to discuss and plan action on climate change.

Because of his leadership on sustainability issues, Mayor Anderson was invited to the eighth meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP8, in New Delhi to describe Salt Lake City’s climate protection projects. He was invited to the COP10 meeting in Buenos Aires, where he provided three presentations regarding Salt Lake City’s expansive greenhouse gas reduction programs. In October 2005, Environment Business Australia sponsored Mayor Anderson to speak about sustainability and means to combat climate change, as part of the organization’s 2005 Business and Sustainability Summit.

Mayor Anderson was the only representative from the U.S. to consult in London with representatives from G8 nations regarding climate change, in preparation for the 2005 G8 Summit. He also spoke at the 2006 annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, and at the 2007 annual meeting of the National Environmental Law Societies. Mayor Anderson serves as a member of the Newsweek Global Environment and Leadership Advisory Committee, and on the steering committee of The Climate Group.

In November 2005, Salt Lake City won the World Leadership Award for the environment for its Salt Lake City Green Program, perhaps the most comprehensive environmental program in the United States. Mayor Anderson was also named by Business Week as one of the top twenty international figures working to combat climate change.

Anderson is a proponent of transit-oriented urban housing and walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that do not perpetuate dependence on the automobile or further sprawl development. He has implemented an extensive pedestrian safety program, which garnered Salt Lake City the Surface Transportation Policy Project's 2004 award for most improved city for pedestrian safety, and the 2006 America Walks "City at Your Feet" award. Anderson has also signed a complete streets executive order, requiring Salt Lake City to accommodate the transportation needs of bicyclists and pedestrians in future road construction or reconstruction projects.

Anderson has been a strong advocate for the rights and interests of minority communities in Salt Lake City. In December 2001, state and federal officials organized a raid at the Salt Lake City Airport that selectively enforced immigration laws against undocumented employees, who were arrested, imprisoned, and lost their jobs. In response, Anderson created the Family to Family program, which made it possible for Salt Lake City families to provide direct emotional and financial assistance to the airport workers and their families. Additionally, the Mayor spearheaded a challenge to English-only legislation in Utah in 2000, and in 2006 spoke at two large demonstrations for comprehensive immigration reform.

For his leadership, Anderson received the League of United Latin American Citizens’s first-ever “Profile in Courage” award, as well as the National Association of Hispanic Publications’ Presidential Award, in 2006.

Anderson signed an executive order in 2000 implementing a full-fledged affirmative action program in City hiring. This program has led to historic levels of ethnic minority hiring and retention in City government. The City employs 34% more ethnic minorities compared to 1999, with a 90% increase in members of the ethnic minority community holding executive and administrative positions. Members of the minority community comprise more than one-third of his staff and more than one-third of his nominations to City boards and commissions.

Anderson also signed executive orders that extend benefits to domestic partners of City employees, and ban discrimination against City employees on the basis of race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. He co-convened the Alliance for Unity, a non-partisan group of religious and community leaders working to build bridges between people throughout Utah.

Anderson has been an outspoken advocate for drug policy reform, speaking at several national conferences and receiving the Drug Policy Alliance's 2005 Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for outstanding achievements in the field of drug policy reform.  He has also pushed for better security at the nation's airports, overseeing Salt Lake City International Airport's effort to become the first in the nation to screen all checked baggage for explosives.