John Giles
40th Mayor of Mesa
Assumed office
September 18, 2014
Preceded byScott Smith
Alex Finter (acting)
Personal details
Born1959 or 1960 (age 63–64)
Mesa, Arizona, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Children5
EducationBrigham Young University (BA)
Arizona State University, Tempe (JD)

John C. Giles (born 1959/1960) is an American politician serving as the 40th mayor of Mesa, Arizona.[1] 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 special election following the resignation of then-Mayor Scott Smith. In 2022, Giles was censured by the Arizona Republican Party over his endorsement of Mark Kelly in the 2022 United States Senate election.[2]

Early life and education

Giles was born in Mesa, Arizona. He graduated from Westwood High School in 1978. He attended Brigham Young University, graduating with a political science degree in 1984. Giles received his Juris Doctor degree from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law in 1987.

Career

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]

He was elected to the Mesa City Council in 1996, serving until 2000, including a term as vice mayor from 1998 until 2000.[5]

Mayor of Mesa, Arizona (2014–present)

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 is set to last until 2021.[9] Giles began his second full term in January 2021.[10]

His key areas of focus include the 5Es: Emergency Response, Equality & Compassion, Education, Environment and Economic Growth.[11] Mayor Giles has overseen a growing economy that’s added thousands of new jobs and over $3.65 billion in new capital investment and employers like Meta, who is joining Google and Apple in the Elliot Road Technology Corridor, ElectraMeccanica in the Gateway Area and Amazon in the Falcon Business District.[12][13] He is bringing renewed focus and attention to Mesa’s downtown resulting in a new Arizona State University facility with cutting edge programs and budding creative economy with new businesses, restaurants and entertainment options.[14] Education and building Mesa’s workforce are top priorities for Mayor Giles. He spearheads the Mesa College Promise that provides qualified graduates with a free community college education.[15] The Promise and the Mesa Education & Workforce Development Roundtable are building Mesa’s future workforce. He also chairs the Arizona Mayor’s Education Roundtable.[16] As mayor, Giles led the adoption of a city-wide Non Discrimination Ordinance[17] and Climate Action Plan.[18] Mayor Giles was instrumental in the City of Mesa receiving the All-American City Award from the National Civic League in 2023.[19][20]

Political positions

Giles is a registered Republican, although the position of mayor is officially nonpartisan. He has a leadership role as a trustee in the United States Conference of Mayors.[21] Giles endorsed Democrat Mark Kelly in the 2022 U.S. Senate election.[22]

Mayor Giles is Chair of the Immigration Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors Board of Trustees and is a member of the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veterans Homelessness. He also serves as Chair of the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and is Vice Chair of the Mayor’s Alliance to End Childhood Hunger.[16]

Personal life

Giles and his wife, Dawn, have five children and eight grandchildren.[1] Giles is a marathoner and triathlete who has completed two full Ironman competitions, 20 marathons and four Boston Marathons.[16]

Electoral history

Mesa mayoral election, 2016[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan John Giles 53,273 99.01%
Write-in Write-ins 353 0.99%
Total votes 53,808 100.0%
Mesa Mayoral Special Election, 2014[24]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan John Giles 33,177 72.7%
Nonpartisan Danny Ray 12,483 27.3%
Total votes 45,660 100.0%
Mesa City Council election, 1996[25]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan John Giles 17,426 23.2%
Nonpartisan T. Farrell Jensen 15,949 21.2%
Nonpartisan Dennis Kavanaugh 13,481 17.9%
Nonpartisan Lillian Wilkinson 10,407 13.8%
Nonpartisan Dana B. Harper 10,053 13.4%
Nonpartisan David Molina 7,831 10.4%
Total votes 75,147 100.0%
Mesa City Council at-large primary, 1996[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan John Giles 14,392 15.8%
Nonpartisan T. Farrell Jensen 11,861 13.1%
Nonpartisan Lillian Wilkinson 10,885 12.0%
Nonpartisan David Molina 10,070 11.1%
Nonpartisan Dennis Kavanaugh 9,848 10.8%
Nonpartisan Dana B. Harper 9,635 10.6%
Nonpartisan Michael D. Whiting 9,196 10.1%
Nonpartisan Manuel Cortez 5,873 6.5%
Nonpartisan David A. Wier 5,403 6.0%
Nonpartisan John Robie 6,639 4.0%
Total votes 90,802 100.0%

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Mayor John Giles | City of Mesa". www.mesaaz.gov. Archived from the original on 2015-04-19. Retrieved 2018-04-30.
  2. ^ Basnet, Neetish (July 26, 2022). "GOP censures Mesa lawmaker, Mayor Giles". The Mesa Tribune. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  3. ^ "Mayor John Giles". City of Mesa. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  4. ^ "John C. Giles, Attorney". Giles & Dickson. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  5. ^ "Mayor John Giles". City of Mesa, Arizona. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Brodie, Mark (September 19, 2014). "John Giles Elected Mayor Of Mesa". KJZZ. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  7. ^ Godfrey, Trevor (September 20, 2014). "Mesa mayor Giles officially sworn into office". East Valley Tribune. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  8. ^ Polletta, Maria; Leavitt, Parker (September 19, 2014). "John Giles sworn in as Mesa's 40th mayor". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "Mayor John Giles". NDC Academy. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  10. ^ Steinbach, Alison. "Mesa Mayor John Giles leads in reelection bid, while Julie Spilsbury could unseat Councilmember Jeremy Whittaker". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  11. ^ Steinbach, Alison. "Mesa Mayor John Giles lays out 5 priorities, with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic topping the list". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  12. ^ Wiles, Russ. "Facebook to build $800M data center in metro Phoenix, its first Arizona investment". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  13. ^ "The Arizona Republic". The Arizona Republic.(subscription required)
  14. ^ Steinbach, Alison. "ASU's $73.5M 'innovation hub' going up in downtown Mesa". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  15. ^ "The Arizona Republic". The Arizona Republic.
  16. ^ a b c "Mayor John Giles | City of Mesa". www.mesaaz.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  17. ^ "The Arizona Republic". The Arizona Republic. (subscription required)
  18. ^ "The Arizona Republic". The Arizona Republic. (subscription required)
  19. ^ "2023 All-America Cities". National Civic League. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  20. ^ "Mesa wins national All-America City Award". ABC15 Arizona in Phoenix (KNXV). 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
  21. ^ Burns, David W. (2016-11-23). "Leadership". United States Conference of Mayors. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  22. ^ "Multiple GOP mayors, business owners backing Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly". KTAR.com. 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  23. ^ "MRC 20160830 E August 30, 2016 Summary Report MARICOPA COUNTYFINAL OFFICIAL RESULTS" (PDF). Maricopa County Recorder. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  24. ^ "Mesa, AZ Mayor - Special Election 2014". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  25. ^ "Mesa, AZ City Council At Large 1996". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  26. ^ "Mesa, AZ City Council At Large Primary 1996". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 18, 2017.

External links

Political offices Preceded byAlex Finter Mayor of Mesa 2014–present Incumbent
Mayors of the 50 largest cities in the United States
Mayors of cities with populations exceeding 100,000 in Arizona
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