Giles is positioned behind the office desk in his own inner sanctum as the highest elected official inside City Hall - the mayor. That's a position he says is his "dream job" - It’s an okay job but it’s a great calling - or so he says in this upfront face-to-the-camera interview published online on YouTube.
Does Giles now have higher aspirations to reach a wider audience, mebbe for a run for a seat in Congress joining Greg Stanton or Andy Biggs if a new Congressional district gets created as the result of a higher population count in the 2020 Census? Time will tell.
In a recent 05 May 2019 Opinion Piece "Dear Congress, Please pass free-trade agreement now", he advocates for Skybridge Mesa at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport as a new e-commerce hub dependent on details yet to be worked out or agreed upon in NAFTA 2.0
USMCA. " . . It's not an exaggeration to say that our future depends on it. . . Free trade is the fuel. Let's embrace the pioneering spirit of East Valley leaders 25 years ago . . . "
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Blogger Note: Nothing thrills and excites me in more than the four years of publishing this MesaZona blog site than to have the opportunity in good faith to "poke some fun" at Mayor John Giles - he's a goofy fun guy that craves being in-the-spotlight. Let's let him have it.
There's nothing more fun than keeping an eye on him. He's the object of my affection.
Here is John Giles 10 years ago in 2009 explaining what his "private law practice" is:
Personal Injury Attorney, Mesa Arizona, Phoenix Arizona, Law Office of John Giles
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Chamber Business News, a project of the Arizona Chamber Foundation in partnership with the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, sat down with Giles to learn more about him and his plans as mayor. Those of us who live here in Mesa already do know some of what John Giles plans might be, but what we didn't know before this sit-down interview is that he had what he describes as demons serving only one four-year term as a member of the City Council from 1996 to 2000. He served as vice mayor from 1998 to 2000 - that's usually the next stepping-stone to the highest elected position as mayor. It is unusual for anyone here in Mesa who manages to get elected to public office to not seek a second term. There was a gap in holding public office for 14 years when he "got a calling" to fill-in the unfinished term of then mayor Scott Smith, who had resigned to wage an unsuccessful race for Arizona governor. Giles was first elected as mayor on August 26, 2014. He was sworn into office on September 18, 2014.
Here's the transcript ahead of his eight minutes-and-ten seconds of air time: Read it first.
There are Questions and there are answers, including:
- How is being mayor different than practicing law? Do you think your time as a lawyer has helped you in your time as mayor?
- You’re dedicated to “taking Mesa to the next level” through your NextMesa vision, what does this entail?
- What has been your favorite accomplishment during your time as mayor?
- What’s your current favorite restaurant in Mesa?
Spoiler alert: This is the ending in the sit-down interview: "I love this job. I pinch myself every night when I go to sleep because I’m just having so much fun."
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Get to Know: Mayor John Giles
Introduction: "John Giles was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona. Today he serves as the 40th mayor of his hometown. 
Emily RichardsonPrior to being elected mayor in 2014, Giles was a missionary in Seoul, Korea, earned degrees from both Brigham Young University and Arizona State University, served on Mesa’s city council and managed his own law firm.
Giles is committed to bettering Mesa through multiple initiatives, including his NextMesa vision.
As mayor, Giles has overseen the city’s growing economy, which has attracted $1.5 billion in new capital investment thanks to employers such as Apple and Textron Aviation making the city their home and adding thousands of new jobs.
Chamber Business News sat down with Giles to learn more about him and his plans as mayor.
Chamber Business News sat down with Giles to learn more about him and his plans as mayor.
https://chamberbusinessnews.com/2019/05/09
[Images inserted by MesaZona blogger for editorial comment]
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Question: Why did you originally decide to run for mayor of Mesa?
Answer: I think every politician says this but running for office wasn’t really on my game plan.
I served on our city council in Mesa 20 years ago and I really enjoyed that experience.
I served for four years, but I felt like I had kind of been there, done that.
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| In 2014 ASU Sun Devil Mascot with Mayor John Giles |
I had worked all the demons out of my system.
So I had no intention of running for office again, but a few years ago our good Mayor Scott Smith resigned to run for governor and it created an opening.
It was suggested to me that I [should] consider it and after initially fighting against the idea, once I allowed myself to think about: would I like to be mayor?
I realized this is my dream job.
There is nothing I would rather do than this job.
I handed the keys to my law practice to my son-in-law and [I’ve] had a great time as the mayor of Mesa the last four years.
Q: How is being mayor different than practicing law? Do you think your time as a lawyer has helped you in your time as mayor?
A: I don’t know how you best prepare to be a mayor or an elected official because everyone comes at it, most people come at it, from a different background. [For] 25 years before this I was practicing law and I enjoyed that as well. I felt like I was providing a good service, I was helping my clients, it was a rewarding experience, but after doing 25 years of the same thing, it’s a lot of fun to do anything different.
It keeps me very busy, but I love it.
It’s an okay job but it’s a great calling. If you’re passionate and you care about this, and I think people who do this generally are, then there’s nothing more fun than working 24/7 on a cause that you’re passionate about.
A: Ever since I’ve been elected, I’ve been trying to use the city of Mesa logo as a kind of a visual aid to help people hop on the bandwagon of taking Mesa to the next level.
Mesa is doing very well.
Part of my job is to brag about Mesa and I can do that really well for a long time because there’s lots of great stuff going on. But if you look at the city of Mesa logo, it’s got these three flat-topped mountains, or mesas, stacked one upon the other. I like to use that to kind of challenge people [by saying] ‘we’re on a certain level as a community, and it’s not a bad view from this Mesa but there’s another Mesa that we aspire to get to as a community.’
So let’s celebrate all the great things about our community but let’s also pay attention to what can and should we be doing to get better, a place where our kids and our grandkids can anticipate that they’re going to be able to stay and have rewarding careers and a great quality of life. I think if we’re satisfied with where we are now, that’s not going to happen. We really have to aspire to be better than we are.
Q: You’ve also been focused on the development and growth of downtown Mesa, why is this important to you?
A: I was born and raised in downtown Mesa. This is the old Mesa I grew up in and it was a thriving economic, busy place. It has been a little disappointing to see [that] this downtown, like nearly every downtown, between shopping malls and freeways and other things happening, it kind of sucks the lifeblood out of this really cool, historic, authentic downtown that we’ve had.
Bringing ASU, that’s what I’m excited about right now. In the very near future, we’re breaking ground on a beautiful new ASU facility here at Center St. and Main St. in downtown Mesa.
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| John Giles with principals of Caliber Wealth Creation Fund and W Tim Sprague, Habitat Metro |
Q: How do you plan to continue Mesa’s growth?
A: Mesa has been very successful in attracting growth on the outside edges of our community and more recently in our downtown. We’re committed to making sure that continues to be the case. We’re very excited, just a couple of weeks from now we’ll be opening another extension of light rail in downtown Mesa. We’ve been excited to participate alongside Tempe and Phoenix in all of the economic growth that follows the light rail corridor. That’s going to continue to have a big impact on the downtown part of Mesa for decades to come.
Things are good, but my biggest fear for our community is that we will become complacent and Mesa will be at risk of being that city you come back to and visit grandma and grandpa rather than being the place that people are moving to and the place that people are staying at. That’s the challenge, to not be complacent with the success we’ve had but to use that as encouragement and reason to work even harder.
Q: What has been your favorite accomplishment during your time as mayor?
I’m proud of the fact that we’ve been able to work collaboratively with our schools to do a better job of preparing our young people for kindergarten. School readiness is a passion of mine and it was a program I was excited to work on in partnership with our school districts.
On the other end of the education spectrum, Mesa needs to do a better job, as does the entire state of Arizona, in higher education attainment. That’s part of the statewide Achieve60AZ goal, which I fully subscribe to. We have tried to do a better job of attracting more and different higher education opportunities to downtown Mesa and to Mesa generally. That’s part of why we’re so excited that ASU is coming to our downtown. But we have other great options, Benedictine University, Mesa Community College, A.T. Still University, I could go on.
I’m proud of the emphasis we’ve put on education in Mesa. To me, that’s one of the core values of our community. For generations, as new families arrived to the Valley of the Sun, if they showed up in a station wagon or a minivan, people point to Mesa and they say, ‘that is a family oriented community, that is a community that places a high value on public K-12 education,’ That’s our legacy and I’m very committed to making sure that stays our legacy as a community.
Q: What’s a fun fact about you that most people don’t know?
A: A fun fact about me. Well something that people I’m told find interesting about me is that prior to being the mayor, I haven’t been as good about this since becoming the mayor, but in my 40’s I was really active as an endurance athlete. I did several Ironman races, several marathons, ultra bike rides, things like that. I still enjoy doing that, I’m not at the level I was a few years ago, but when I have the time that’s what I enjoy doing.
Q: What’s your current favorite restaurant in Mesa?
A: Oh man, you’re going to get me in trouble. Mesa doesn’t get its due when it comes to food. Some people, kinda snarky people, will say that if you need a good meal, don’t go to Mesa. But Mesa’s got several independent, small restaurants that are amazing. I’ve to mention more than one of them.
Jalapeño Bucks is a great barbeque joint. You’re literally sitting in an orange orchard in between orange trees having great barbeque and all kind of chips and salsas and burritos.
Blue Adobe Grill, where I went today for lunch with a bunch of other mayors, is great kind of New Mexico style hatch chili restaurant in downtown Mesa.
But we’ve [also] got República Empanada, Worth Takeaway always scores high nationally in rankings in terms of quality, really good cuisine in Arizona. So, anybody who thinks Mesa’s not a good place to go out to eat, I would love to take that challenge. I can take them for several weeks to a different place every night and they’ll really enjoy themselves.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
A: I try to take every opportunity I can to thank the citizens of Mesa for letting me be the mayor. I love this job. I pinch myself every night when I go to sleep because I’m just having so much fun.
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Published on Jun 25, 2018
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In the most recent Prosperity Now Scorecard, Mesa ranked 18th out of the 64 cities studied in terms of financial stability and wealth. The study analyzes income and wealth, business ownership and employment, housing, access to health insurance and educational attainment to determine a prosperity ranking. Mesa ranked highest out of all qualified Arizona cities.
