Who is Tempe's mayor? What to know about Corey Woods

Woods became the first Black mayor in Tempe’s 150 year history after he defeated two-term incumbent Mark Mithchell by a double-digit margin in 2020. The 44-year-old is a registered Democrat who had previously served as Tempe’s first Black council member from 2008 to 2016.

During his time as mayor, Woods has prioritized the creation of affordable housing in an effort to combat Tempe’s skyrocketing housing costs. He founded a “novel” program called Hometown for All, for example, which created a specialized fund that Tempe uses to buy-up properties and convert them into permanent affordable housing units.

He has also overseen two of the largest Town Lake developments in recent history: the Arizona Coyotes Entertainment District and another luxury apartment-focused project called South Pier at Tempe Town Lake.

Those developments are worth a combined $4 billion and city officials expect them to generate hundreds-of-millions in economic impact. Both are still in progress and have been the subject of controversy, so Woods will be tasked with making sure they wrap-up smoothly during the last half of his term.

Aside from serving as mayor, Woods works as the executive director of community relations at ASU Preparatory Academy. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 2000 with a degree in political science, and later received his Master’s in education policy from ASU.

He will be up for reelection in March of next year. Residents can read more about him or contact him at this link.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Who is Tempe's mayor? What to know about Corey Woods