About Roger
Experience
Roger brings considerable professional experience from his legal practice, from serving in federal and state government positions and from working in the non-profit world. Trained in environmental law, Roger has a good working knowledge of the laws that protect our air, water, species, habitat and other natural resources. He also has developed expertise in energy policy, especially in alternative motor fuels. As senior staff in the U.S. Congress, he:
- Managed the passage of a key amendment to the Clean Air Act of 1990, providing $250 million in assistance to workers in the coal, chemical and utility industries who were displaced by the effects of more stringent air quality laws.
- Coordinated the establishment of a national research center on alternative motor fuels and bringing entrepreneurs and scholars together to promote alternative fuels.
- Helped secure federal funding for heated bridge decks across the country, to make crossing bridges in cold weather both safer and cleaner, without having to use salt.
- Managed other major legislative efforts to tighten waste laws, both for hazardous waste cleanup and solid waste disposal.
In Washington State in the late 1990s Roger served in Olympia as Executive Director of the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines Commission, where he became an expert in sentencing policy and was elected to the board of the National Association of Sentencing Commissions. While managing the Commission, Roger:
- Steered a bill through the State Legislature that toughened penalties on domestic violence, specifically for the violation of protection orders.
- Helped to increase the amount of treatment available to drug addicts in the prisons.
- Shepherded 14 other sentencing-related bills through the State Legislature.
- Published major reports on prison capacity and sentencing policy.
In the last several years Roger has worked for the King County Bar Association on a ground-breaking initiative to take a critical look at our failed drug laws and to promote cheaper, more effective and more humane alternatives. Roger coordinates an impressive coalition of over 20 professional and civic organizations, including the Washington Academy of Family Physicians, the Washington Society of Addiction Medicine, the state Bar, Medical, Pharmacy, Psychological, Public Health and Osteopathic Associations, the League of Women Voters, the Church Council and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, among other groups. Together, this coalition has spurred the State Legislature to reduce needless incarceration for the addicted and to shift funding into drug treatment, an approach that research shows is cheaper and much more effective.
At Home and in the Community

Roger was lured to Washington State in the early 1990s, when he met his wife, Liv Grohn, whose family has lived in Kirkland for three generations. Roger, Liv and their daughter live amidst a network of longtime family and friends on the Eastside, only two miles from Grandma and Grandpa – and only two blocks from Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa!
Roger has always given back to his community. His local activities include:
- Serving as President of Kirkland’s Lakeview Neighborhood Association
- Serving on the board of the Norkirk Neighborhood Association
- Volunteering for many years as an attorney for the Eastside Legal Clinic
Roger is passionate about his growing family and loves to visit local parks with his daughter. Music is another great passion of Roger’s, as is the National Football League and Major League Baseball. He has also traveled widely, which informs his common-sense and tolerant approach to life.