The state’s third largest city will get a new mayor this evening; former city councilman Mark Freeman will take the oath of office as mayor of Mesa.
That will bring to an end the decade of John Giles’ leadership of the city. He’s overseen a good amount of growth and development in Mesa, both downtown and elsewhere around the city. He’s also become more of a household name beyond the Valley, thanks in large part to his endorsement of several high-profile Democratic political candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris and now Governor Katie Hobbs; Giles is a Republican.
John Giles joined The Show to talk about his time as Mesa’s mayor, and his involvement in state and national politics and I asked the former city councilmember if, when he became mayor ten years ago, he envisioned serving in that role for as long as he has.
Full conversation
JOHN GILES: I just remind everybody, the first time I ran it was just for two years because (former Mesa Mayor) Scott Smith had resigned to run for governor. And so that created an opening. So I was elected in August of 2024 and immediately sworn in, because we had a vacancy in the mayor. And people pointed out, “Hey, you could serve for 10 years.”
And I remember thinking, “That’s too long.” And I was a little surprised to hear that. And I’d been thinking, “I don’t know. That seems like too long for anybody to do anything.”
But now looking backward on it, it’s like that was over before it started.
MARK BRODIE: Was there a point at which ten years didn’t seem too long to you to be doing this?
GILES: Right now. Looking back over my shoulder or even like two years ago, I kept thinking, “Man, that went fast. But I still got, man, two years is a long time.” So I think a lot of people my age, looking back, it seems like things have accelerated the older you get.
And so that was my experience. It went by very, very fast.
BRODIE: I would imagine it would be interesting in your position to be able to sort of physically see some of the changes that have happened, like literally right outside your window at City Hall in Mesa over the 10 years that you’ve been doing this.
GILES: That’s been really fun because, there were, like you said, the ASU building, a lot of the improvements on Main Street, a lot of the new businesses that have come in and the buildings that were dark.
And then if you go out to the Gateway area, my gosh. Every time I go there, I have to recheck, to kind of reorient myself on the horizon because there’s these commercial buildings that are going up right and left, and that’s true really citywide.
So yeah, it is fun to think back on some of the physical, the places that have been created — the parks and the libraries and the municipal buildings. We just cut the ribbon on a brand new city hall. So yeah that’s been fun.
BRODIE: I know that this question is a bit like asking a parent to to pick their favorite child, but is there something that has happened during your time in Mesa that you look to and maybe you are the most proud of, or that you think it is the biggest deal for the city?
GILES: You’re right, it is picking a favorite child. But I have two or three favorite children. It’s been fun to see the Mesa College Promise come up to speed and become something that is sustainable.
One of the needs that I could see early on is that Mesa, we needed to be better at higher education attainment. I mean, Mesa is next to a college town in Tempe that has very high education levels, fairly affluent communities of Chandler and and Gilbert and Queen Creek that, again, have very high education attainment levels. Mesa is twice the size of those cities. And we’ve had this amazing economic development success with Apple, Google, Meta, etc. coming.
And so workforce has not been a problem. But still, I could tell that was something that we needed to get better at: raising our education attainment level. So the College Promise and the partnership with Mesa Community College seemed like the obvious tool.
And so we’re now entering our fourth year of that and just made some changes to our billboard ordinance to allow Mesa Community College to have the means going forward for that to be a sustainable program. So that, I think, will continue to have some significant impact on the lives of people in our community.
The nondiscrimination ordinance, similarly, was something that I thought was impactful and will continue to be in letting all of the people of Mesa know that they’re important, but also raising the image of our community.
BRODIE: When you talk about educational attainment, I’m curious about how you’re seeing, for example, ASU’s expanded presence in Mesa between the Polytechnic campus and of course, the MIX Center downtown. I know you and ASU President Michael Crow have worked together quite a bit on that. What has that meant for Mesa?
GILES: Well, it has been very transformational. We have been making significant investments in our downtown since I was on our council back in the ‘90s, with the creation of the Mesa Arts Center and then the investment in light rail and now the investment in ASU and other programs and buildings downtown.
But we really needed an anchor tenant. So that did have the transformational impact that we were hoping for. And that’s going to continue. The MIX Center is amazing and it’s wonderful, but it’s the first of several investments that ASU and the city will make.
BRODIE: I’m curious about what happens once you are done as mayor. Mark Freeman, a council member, will be taking over. Have you guys had conversations about the direction he would like to take the city? How much of what you’ve laid down he wants to continue versus maybe trying different things?
GILES: We have. Absolutely. And Mark and I have sat next to each other and worked together for the last eight years as he’s been on our council. So a lot of the things that I’ve been doing have been in concert with, with then-Councilmember Freeman. So it’s not going to be a tremendous change, I don’t think.
And Mark will do it his way, and Mark’s and be a great, great mayor. I’m looking forward to seeing the energy that he brings to the job. Change is good.
BRODIE: Let’s return now to my conversation with Mesa’s outgoing mayor John Giles. His successor, former City Council member Mark Freeman, will take the oath of office this evening. Giles created some waves two years ago when he endorsed the Democrat, then-Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, in her run for governor. Giles is a Republican. This past cycle, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Ruben Gallego for U.S. Senate. He spoke at last summer’s Democratic National Convention in support of the former.
So when he came by the studio recently, I asked about his role in state and national politics and that while Mesa is the third biggest city in the state, the former mayors of Mesa have maybe not gotten as much national attention as he has. So I wondered what that’s been like for him.
GILES: I’ve been pleased to do that. I am glad that has kind of raised the national profile of Mesa. My predecessor, Scott Smith, he began that process. He was the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. And he kind of, I think, elevated Mesa’s presence.
And I joke sometimes that those of us who are native to Mesa are proud of our humility. And we’re not necessarily at the front of the parade, perhaps, as much as Mesa should be. Mesa, frankly, is recognized around the country now as being one of the more innovative cities in the country. And it’s the 36th largest city in the country, bigger than a lot of household names.
And I think now we have a reputation for being a city that does things right. If we take on a challenge, we’re going to do it in a way that probably cities from around the country are going to come and ask us how we were successful.
BRODIE: What kind of feedback have you gotten at home — both, I would imagine, positive and negative — about some of the candidates you’ve endorsed, specifically Democratic candidates, and some of the positions that you’ve taken on on other statewide or national issues?
GILES: Well for the first eight years I was mayor, I went through contortions to try to avoid getting drawn into partisan politics because I thought that would probably not help me in my role as mayor. And a couple of years ago, I felt compelled to do just as you described, to actually endorse some folks from the other party. And I did get blowback and condemnation from, from members of my party. And then even more so this year when I endorsed the vice president.
I kind of expected that and was not shocked by the negative comments from across the country that came in. But I was, frankly, a little taken aback by the positive reaction I got during that time and even today, if I’m in a public place at the grocery store or out at a city event, inevitably several people will stop me and thank me for, giving voice to a sentiment that they share and that they are glad was being expressed.
BRODIE: What were those decisions like for you before you initially, let’s say, decided to endorse then-candidate Katie Hobbs? And you endorsed Mark Kelly, of course, as you reference, you endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, you endorsed Ruben Gallego. What were those conversations like with advisors and friends and family?
What were the conversations like just with yourself? You’re a Republican. Here you are going against your party in a very polarized time.
GILES: Yeah. You know, I didn’t do it lightly, frankly. It was pretty deliberate. And going back two years, I jumped into those races because I knew that the candidates from my party, were they elected, they would not be in the best interests of my city. They were already aligned with Freedom Caucus folks in the Legislature who had a very anti-city agenda.
And I could see that, and at that time Katie Hobbs was projected to lose big in that election. And so I didn’t do it in some sort of strategic, “I’ll get in good with the governor” type of a motivation. It’s just I knew that the candidates on my side were going to pursue an agenda that was not in the best interests of my city, so I felt compelled to do it as the mayor.
I didn’t do it in spite of being the Republican mayor. I did it because I was the Republican mayor, and I could see the consequences were not going to be in the best interest of my city.
BRODIE: Was that the thinking in 2024 as well?
GILES: It was. Yeah. And Mr.. Mr. Trump won the election, and congratulations and in all sincerity I’m hoping that he is successful. Because our country needs him to be successful.
So I’m not crying over that, but I did, and I continue to feel like given his prior performance, that I had serious concerns that his presidency was going to be in the best interest of our city.
BRODIE: So if you’re hanging out with friends, are you welcome among conservative Republican friends still? Do you just walk around with a sign that says RINO on your back at all times now? Like, how does that go?
GILES: You know, it’s been interesting. And Mayor Corey Woods from Tempe and I started a few months ago something called Disagree Better Arizona for just that scenario, the fact that we have in our personal relationships and in our families a lot of people with mixed views on politics. And this has become such a divisive topic where family relationships, long-term school buddies are now hating each other.
We need to get better at that saying, “Yeah, let’s talk about politics, but let’s not let that be the defining thing that decides who we love and who we can hang out with.”
BRODIE: Have you found it’s maybe a little different for someone like you where yes, you can maybe go into somebody’s living room and disagree with them, or you see them at the grocery store? You were speaking at the Democratic National Convention. You were in commercials for for Democratic candidates. Does that make it any different?
GILES: Oh, yes it did. I mean, I became a lightning rod. And this kind of irrational hatred that I mentioned earlier, I’ve seen that manifest certainly. And I hope people get over that. I mean, I have friends and family who are conservative Trump supporters, and that’s OK with me.
I don’t disrespect them. I think they’re smart. And we just disagreed over a few things. And hopefully as we put more distance between the election and going forward, those sentiments will come down.
BRODIE: We’ve heard in the past from some elected officials in Arizona about the stuff they went through in terms of death threats and in terms of losing friends and family members as people that they can be with — one at least being diagnosed with PTSD. Have you had any of that?
GILES: I have had threats, sure. And the police department became a bigger part of my life than it was before the campaign. And that continues even to this last weekend, just looking at some social media posts. But that’s just the world we live in now.
Unfortunately, you have to have tough skin. And if you’re going to do things like this, you just have to understand that’s part of what happens.
BRODIE: Has any of that made you — I don’t want to use the word regret because I know that’s a very heavy, loaded term — but has any of it made you maybe rethink how you’ve handled politics over the last couple of years?
GILES: No, because I think if you allow yourself to be intimidated by that, you’re not going to do a good job. This job, jobs like this require a certain amount of courage. It seems weird to claim that. But people who do these jobs, if you’re if you’re going to have your tail between your legs, you probably ought to find something different to do.
BRODIE: So what’s next for you?
GILES: You know professionally, I’m an attorney. I practiced law for 25 years prior to coming to this, and I found that a rewarding career. And I very likely will pick that back up again. But I have really enjoyed, frankly, the last 10 years not practicing law and working on issues that I’m passionate about and compelling good causes.
So I will find ways to remain engaged in compelling good causes, I think, and maybe as an attorney or maybe in some other capacity, but not necessarily pursuing elected office.
