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John Giles (mayor)
John C. Giles (born 1960)[1] is an American politician serving as the 40th mayor of Mesa, Arizona.[2] A Republican, Giles previously served as a member of the Mesa City Council from 1996 to 2000. Giles was elected mayor of Mesa in a 2014 special election following the resignation of Mayor Scott Smith. Early life and careerGiles was born in Mesa, Arizona. He graduated from Westwood High School in 1978. He served a two-year mission for his church in South Korea from 1979-1981. He attended Brigham Young University, graduating with a political science degree in 1984. Giles received his JD from Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in 1987. Giles works as a lawyer with the firm Giles & Dickson.[3] Giles was the president of the East Valley Bar Association from 1992 until 1993.[4] Political careerGiles was elected to the Mesa City Council in 1996, serving until 2000, including a term as vice mayor from 1998 until 2000.[5] Following Mayor Scott Smith's resignation in 2014, Giles was elected mayor in a special election, for a term lasting until 2017.[6] He was sworn in on September 18, 2014.[7][8] In 2016, Giles was reelected to a full four-year term, which lasted until 2021.[9] He was again reelected in 2020 and began his second full term in January 2021.[10] During Giles’ 2020 term, he focused on the Off the Streets Program. As Chair of the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG)[11], Giles started the program in 2021 to help combat homelessness, not just for veterans, but for all of the residents within Mesa. In 2023, Mesa City Council approved the purchase of a hotel to serve as an emergency shelter facility for the Off the Streets program.[12] In 2021, Giles supported the creation of the Mesa College Promise to provide a free community college education to qualified students[13]. He supported expansion of the Mesa College Promise to adult learners in 2024[14]. In 2024, Giles opposed bipartisan Arizona state legislation to increase housing supply in the state amid a housing shortage.[15][16] The legislation proposed to restrict the abilities of Arizona cities to mandate home owners associations, minimum home sizes, and community amenities.[15] Giles argued that "silencing our neighborhoods is not the solution to the housing crisis."[15] Giles endorsed Democrat Mark Kelly over Republican Blake Masters in the 2022 U.S. Senate election.[17] The Arizona Republican Party censured Giles over his endorsement of Kelly.[18] He endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 United States presidential election over Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.[19] He and former Arizona representative Robin Shaw co-chaired the state chapter of Republicans for Harris.[20] He spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention on August 20.[21] City Budget Issues In December 2024, Giles and the Mesa City Council drafted a proposal to raise utility rates to try and fix the issues within the budget of the city.[22] These increases include water, trash, recyclables, and wastewater utilities,[23] and the vote on the proposed increase was unanimous.[23] Residents of Mesa responded angrily during a December 2, 2024 council meeting.[23] Giles is confident that this small increase in utility rates is far less than the rate increases in other cities and from other utility companies. Giles focused on affordability in Mesa, and he insists this small increase will still be a part of the promise that Mesa is an affordable city to live in.[23] Giles and council members stated that if there was not an increase made to utilities now, there would need to be a larger increase in the future,[23] and Giles promised to maintain his goal of keeping the city of Mesa an affordable place to live[23]. Giles believes that there is no room to cut spending from the budget, that the increase in utility rates will allow certain city projects to be completed, and it will keep the city from dipping into the reserve money that it has.[23] Addressing The Issues In 2022 Mesa had grown to a point where the transportation offered in the city was poor causing lots of traffic jams and transportation issues. Giles requested federal funds in order to improve transportation, and the city received a $16 million grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. Giles' goal is a 40 percent increase in charging stations for electric vehicles along with expanding the street car that runs for 3 miles into something that can stretch from 7 to 8 miles.[24] This is a part of the climate action plan for the city with the leadership of Mesa goal of being 100 percent renewable energy and carbon neutral by 2050.[25] Also expanding public transportation to areas that are unserviced, in the attempt to encourage a more interconnected city. John Giles and along side the city council proposed that Prop 400 be renewed to allow additional support on the massive new transportation project. Prop 400[26] which is a half a cent transportation tax that is enforced In Mesa. The Maricopa Association of Government says that 53 percent, or about 14 billion, of the plan would come from Prop 400 extension.[27] A goal of John Giles as mayor was to get Prop 400 extend before leaving office at the end of 2024. Which he was ultimately successful gaining enough voter support for renewal. Mesa, like most cities needs to recover from massive problems that COVID inflicted. In John Giles 2020 reelection run he highlighted his future plans for the city. John Giles with the help of city council put aside some of the city’s money around 2019 in order to be best prepared for an economic recession.[28] Helping soften the blow that covid caused on the economy making the loss of sales tax in Mesa not hurt city function as much as the rest of Arizona.[29] Along with using the federal aid given to the city as a helping hand for small businesses and residents. Education is trending down and poverty is trending up In Mesa. John Giles aimed to address this issue with philanthropic organizations and investors to help try to improve kindergarten readiness and post high school education. Focusing these efforts on lower income neighborhoods to average success. Using a program called AARP Experience Corps[30] to address the downward trend in education in young kids since covid. John Giles was the driving force in tackling the downtown area's new look. Project includes the building of two new apartment living spaces. The City and John Giles are trying to add more housing to the city to combat the growing living crisis that is affecting most major cities in the USA.[31] John Giles has followed up on these goals building upon his preexisting start as mayor to try and set the city up for success after this final term which ends at the end of 2024. Mesa has taken a massive hit on their recycling efforts, with the amount of recyclable materials decreasing and the pandemics effects on the economy. Losing all three contracts with private companies, John Giles in his last term as mayor was able to work with private investors from outside the city of Mesa along with ASU to restart the sustainability efforts in the city. John Giles decided to capitalize on the Energy Infrastructure Act[32] to acquire a federal loan that helped keep the recycling program in Mesa alive so it could begin getting back up and running again. The city of Mesa is still dealing with a housing crisis along with new challenges that come with being a major city. During John Giles' time as mayor he and city council worked alongside each other to give solutions to these issues, some more successful than others.[33] Programs put forward with the Help of John Giles have laid the foundation for a successful continued growth in Mesa for the coming years.[34] Ending out his term at the end of 2024. Personal lifeGiles and his wife, Dawn have five children and eight grandchildren.[2] Giles is a marathoner and triathlete who has completed two full Ironman competitions, twenty marathons, including four Boston Marathons.[35] Giles is the host of It's Always Cool in Mesa, a podcast that shares the stories behind some of Mesa, Arizona's most popular outdoor adventures, culinary treasures, and unique history.[36] Electoral historyGiles' most recent electoral victory took place in the 2020 non partisan primary, receiving just over 66% of the votes over opponent Verl Farnsworth.[37] Giles received more than $250,000 in campaign donations. Farnsworth questioned the legality of the donations, although Giles said the donations were in accordance with election law.[38][39] City finance and taxes were issues in the mayoral campaign.[40] Giles received over 50% of the vote in the primary, meaning no run-off election was required.[41] Prior Elections 2014 Special Election Giles was first elected mayor in 2014.[42] Giles ran on the platform of keeping the trajectory for the city set by his predecessor. Opponent Danny Ray argued the current direction was the wrong direction.[43] Giles received over 72% of the votes.[44][45] 2016 Election Giles was reelected to his mayoral post in 2016, winning 99% of the vote as an uncontested candidate.[46] Leaving Office The Mesa mayoral post has a two term limit. Giles reached this limit and was unable to run again in 2024.[47] Giles has so far not revealed any intentions to seek higher office in state government or federal government. During the 2024 election cycle, Giles received press attention for his endorsement of the Democratic nominee for President, Kamala Harris.[48] Giles later spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, further drawing attention to his political stance.[49]
See alsoReferences
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Giles (politician).
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