Ralph Elihu Becker Jr. (born May 30, 1952) is an American politician, planner, and attorney who served as the Minority Leader of the

Utah State House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district co ...

and the 34th mayor of

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

Early life and education

Becker was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to Ralph Elihu Becker and Ann Watters Becker. His father, Ralph Elihu Becker, was

United States Ambassador to Honduras The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Honduras. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.'' See also * H ...

from 1976 to 1977 during the

Ford administration Gerald Ford's tenure as the 38th president of the United States began on August 9, 1974, upon the resignation of President Richard Nixon, and ended on January 20, 1977. Ford, a Republican from Michigan, had been appointed vice president on ...

. He graduated from

St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) St. Albans School (STA) is an independent college-preparatory school, college preparatory day school, day and boarding school for boys in grades 4–12, located in Washington, D.C. The school is named after Saint Alban, traditionally regarded a ...

and attended

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

before he received his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1973, his J.D. from the

University of Utah College of Law The S.J. Quinney College of Law is a professional graduate law school at the University of Utah. It is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The law school was originally called the University of Utah College of Law, changing to its current name on No ...

in 1977, and his M.S. in Geography/Planning from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

in 1982.

Career

Early career

Becker is an attorney and

planner Planner may refer to: * A personal organizer (book) for planning * Microsoft Planner * Planner programming language * Urban planner * Route planner * Meeting and convention planner * Japanese term for video game designer See also * Plan (disambig ...

who co-founded Bear West in 1985, a planning, natural resources

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad ra ...

, selling the firm in 2007. He also was an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

at the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Utah from 1978 to 2015. Becker worked in the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

as a

garbage man A waste collector, also known as a garbage man, garbage collector, trashman (in the U.S), binman or dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of municipal solid waste (refuse) and recycl ...

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

, and ranger (law enforcement and EMT), and Legislative Assistant (1971–76), Utah State Planning Coordinator under Governor Scott Matheson (1981–1985), and Salt Lake City Planning Commissioner (1988–1996). He is a Fellow of the

American Institute of Certified Planners The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is the American Planning Association The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in ...

Utah Legislature

During his tenure in the

Utah State Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 state senators. There are no term ...

, Becker served as House Democratic Leader for four years. He also led the passage of the Quality Growth Act (1999) and supported funding for trails, open space, parks, transit, and Utah's first Energy Policy Act. Becker was also an advocate of

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

issues.

Mayor of Salt Lake City

In November 2006, Becker announced his candidacy for the 2007 race for Salt Lake City Mayor and won on November 6, 2007. On January 7, 2008, Becker took the oath of office and began his four-year term as mayor. In 2011, Becker was reelected in a landslide, winning 75% of the vote. In November 2009, Becker signed into law non-discrimination ordinances that forbid landlords and employers to deny housing or jobs due to sexual orientation or gender identity. In December 2013, Becker officiated over some of the first same-sex marriages performed in the state of Utah. In February 2014, Becker signed the Freedom to Marry Petition, a non-partisan declaration that "all people should be able to share in the love and commitment of marriage." Becker served as the 2014–2015 President of the

National League of Cities The National League of Cities (NLC) is an American advocacy organization that represents the country's 19,495 cities, towns, and villages along with 49 state municipal leagues. Created in 1924, it has evolved into a membership organization provi ...

2007 General Election

2007 Primary Election

Top 2 candidates advance to General Election (Regardless of Party Affiliation)

2011 General Election

Central Wasatch Commission

Becker served as the first Executive Director of the Central Wasatch Commission from 2018 to 2022. The Central Wasatch Commission was the outgrowth of Mountain Accord, a consensus-based agreement to better protect the Central Wasatch Mountains and solve issues like mountain transportation.

References

External links

Mayor's Office website

Campaign website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Ralph 1952 births 21st-century mayors of places in Utah Living people Mayors of Salt Lake City Democratic Party members of the Utah House of Representatives State cabinet secretaries of Utah American urban planners S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Politicians from Washington, D.C. St. Albans School (Washington, D.C.) alumni Lafayette College alumni 20th-century members of the Utah Legislature 21st-century members of the Utah Legislature