Ralph Becker
Executive Director, Central Wasatch Commission, Former Mayor, Salt Lake City, UT

Ralph Becker is an attorney and planner (FAICP), currently serving as Executive Director of the Central Wasatch Commission. He served as Mayor of Salt Lake City (2008-2015) and was President of the National League of Cities (2015). Ralph served six terms in the Utah House of Representatives, including four years as House Minority Leader. In 1985, Ralph co-founded Bear West, a planning, natural resources consulting firm, which he directed for 22 years. He served as an Adjunct Professor at the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Utah, for more than 20 years. Becker’s career included the National Park Service where he served as a garbage man, firefighter, and ranger (law enforcement and EMT) (1971–76), Utah State Planning Coordinator under Governor Scott Matheson (1981–1985), and Salt Lake City Planning Commissioner (1988–1996). Ralph focused on making Salt Lake City a sustainable community during his tenure as Mayor, including a comprehensive rewrite of the City’s ordinances and overhaul of its infrastructure and City facilities and services. His Utah legislative accomplishments leading the passage of the Quality Growth Act (1999), funding for trails, open space, and transit, Utah’s first Energy Policy Act, and advocating social justice issues.