“The planning commission is where it all started,” said Anderson. “That was my first dip in the pool. I had no idea what that entailed. I really didn’t have any experience in public service but I found I really enjoyed it.”

When his term on the commission was coming to a close, Anderson said a couple of city council members and staff suggested he run for city council. “I ran against the incumbent and it was close so he asked for a recount. The waiting was pure suffering. That’s how I got started. I served for six years.”

The seed was planted some time ago, he said. “When Mayor Talbot decided not to run I knew I had to fish or cut bait. I was the last person to file on the last day. I was persuaded to run because I was invested in the direction the city was going.”

While on the planning commission and then on the city council, Anderson said he sat in a lot of meetings where people would refer to “the city.” “What they were really talking about was city staff. That really rubbed me the wrong way. The ‘city’ is the people. That’s who it is. It’s a mental mind shift. We have to find out what the people want and not just impose our will on them.”

The role of government is the health, safety and welfare of the people, he said. “We need to focus on the basics. When they call 911 does it work? Are there sidewalks for our children to walk on? These are the big picture issues. We need to create a government locally that addresses our citizens’ needs so their life works and they’re not worried about the negative effect of growth.”

Anderson said he wants to preserve the way of life that people sought after in Farmington. “The goal is to have a robust economic engine to maintain that quality of life that attracted us in the first place.”

Farmington is almost like a donut, he said. “There’s Station Park and commercial in the middle with residential around it. We have to make sure we don’t have one zone creep into those boundaries. I think you do everything you can to protect ‘Old Town’ because before long it’s changed right before your eyes and you won’t even recognize it.”

Anderson was one of eight children and grew up in mostly small towns. “I was that awkward middle child,” he said. “My dad was a forest service worker and every five years we moved. I was always having small-town experiences. When I went to BYU one class was bigger than my whole high school graduating class.”

In 1998 he went to law school and Gov. Spencer Cox was his classmate. “We’re great friends,” Anderson said. “I worked in Seattle until about 2007. Now I work at a firm downtown.”

At the end of his term as mayor, Anderson hopes people will think life is better than four years ago. “I hope people will feel like we listened and responded to core issues and that we did it without raising taxes and not jeopardizing key services – that would be the hope.”