Former mayor Kelly Anderson still keeping things moving

Kelly Anderson is the 2015 chairman of the Arizona Transportation Board. The first elected mayor of Maricopa, he continues to be involved in other boards and organizations as well while farming and managing Anderson Palmisano Farms.

First and foremost, he’s happy to be Mr. Mom.

He and his wife Torri have two boys, ages 15 and 13. Torri, is a member of the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board and officer for the Arizona School Boards Association, tasks that often leaves Kelly with the children. He says he enjoys making the rounds of school functions and ball practices.

While he was mayor in 2007, Maricopa hosted the State Transportation Board to discuss public safety issues and connectivity. The proposed grade separation at the railroad tracks was already an idea, and there were several other corridor traffic flow issues in Maricopa.

On the transportation board, District 4 represents Gila, Graham and Pinal counties. Representation cycles through each county. At the time, it had been two cycles since Pinal had a representative on the Transportation Board and was coming due.

“I thought this was something I might be interested in and I decided to throw my hat in the ring,” he says. Anderson was appointed by the governor in 2010.

He says it has been a “fantastic opportunity” to meet with communities around the state about transportation. It has also had its frustrations.

“We’ve seen a lot of things not take place in the state because of funding,” he says.

But he says it has been a learning experience taking a different view from a broader perspective rather than down in the trenches.