John Giles is the 40th mayor of Mesa, Arizona. He was first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020.
Mayor Giles oversees a growing economy that has added tens of thousands of new jobs, over $8 billion in new capital investment, and employers like Apple, Amazon, Google and Meta. Under his leadership, the city adopted a nondiscrimination ordinance, demonstrating that Mesa is an inclusive city committed to equality.
His attention to Mesa’s downtown resulted in Arizona State University’s Media, Immersion and eXperience Center (MIX Center) with cutting-edge programs and an emerging creative economy with new businesses, restaurants, housing and entertainment options.
Mayor Giles spearheads the Mesa College Promise which provides qualified high school graduates with a free community college education. His commitment to bridging the digital divide led to City Council opening the market for internet service providers to deliver fiberoptic internet to every home and business in the City of Mesa. He also established Mesa’s Education and Workforce Roundtable and is a member of the Arizona Mayor’s Education Roundtable.
His advocacy for a sustainable future for Mesa led to the adoption of a Climate Action Plan, which includes achieving carbon neutrality, using 100% renewable energy and diverting 90% of waste from the landfill by 2050. In 2023, he launched the Trees Are Cool initiative to plant one million trees in Mesa by 2050. Mayor Giles is a champion for building an infrastructure that makes electric vehicle ownership more attainable, and for testing innovative technologies that reduce impact on the environment. He serves on the Electric Vehicle Working Group, an appointed federal committee of the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, as the representative for local government.
Mayor Giles is Chair of the Immigration Task Force for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and serves on the Board of Trustees. He is the Co-Chair of Mayors and CEOs for U.S. Housing Investment, Chair of the Mayor’s Alliance to End Childhood Hunger, and serves on the Accelerator for America Advisory Council.
Born and raised in Mesa, Mayor Giles earned degrees from Brigham Young University in Political Science and Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law where he is now an Adjunct Professor. He practiced law in Mesa for nearly 30 years before working full-time as Mayor. Mayor Giles has completed two full Ironman competitions, 20 marathons and four Boston Marathons. He is the creator and host of the It’s Always Cool in Mesa podcast, which shares the city’s most beloved history, people and stories. Mayor Giles and his wife Dawn have been married for more than 40 years. They have five children and eight grandchildren.