MAYOR COREY WOODS- MAYOR OF TEMPE, ARIZONA

Mayor Corey Woods. I had the immense pleasure and privilege to conduct this interview. Mayor Corey Woods made history as the 2nd Black Arizona Mayor. If it was me I would be dropping that amazing fact constantly. Mayor Corey Woods, the exact opposite! He’s humble, funny and breathes new life into being of service. Enjoy one of my fave interviews!

©MAYORCOREYWOODS

How would you introduce yourself to people who are unaware of you…

Oh! Man, that is a good question. So, I tell people a little bit about myself personally and professionally. I do not lead with necessarily talking about my political career, the eleven years that I spent in elected office. That is only a portion of who I am, it is not my entire identity. I talk about what motivated me, to what got me to get into politics, and public service.

I also talk about my family and my other passions, and my hobbies. I also try to share a lot of that with people on social media channels as well. Everything from my exercising routine to my foodie status. I try to maintain a balance of telling the story of not only of who I am professionally, but who Corey is at his core.

You have mentioned that you have been in public service for eleven years, that is a long time. Yes! But I did have a four-year break in between. So that was good. Take us back if you will to when the seed was planted for leadership and service. I think you either have the stomach for it, a calling, or you see something, and it sparks you. So, what was it for you…

For me it was probably my parents from a very young age. We had a lot of conversations every night around our dinner table about foreign and domestic policy. From there I gained this interest in public service. My parents were not necessarily in politics, but they talked about politics and policies all the time.

My mother was a teacher in New York City public schools for over thirty years, and my father worked in government and non-profit predominately.

Son for me working on housing and human services issues related to racial equality. When you grow up in a home where you hear and are a part of those conversations; by osmosis you pick up on that, and you start thinking that perhaps this is something that I would like to do. As well a path that I would like to go down.

It is important to take note of what you mentioned about table talk with your parents, and how those talks planted that seed. What is your advice in this climate if they want to do something and want to be of service – but they do not know if they can make a difference…

The most important thing is to find the thing, things that you are most passionate about. Recognize though, that something that might be very interesting to me, might not be that interesting to you. Everyone has passions, or a set of passions. You must identify what those (passions) are.

If your passion is affordable housing that is what you should get involved in; if your passion is homelessness that is what you should get involved in. Your passion could be public transportation options, the ability to get around without the use, or need of a car - that is what you should get involved in.

So, when you get connected with your passion that is important because we need this, and someone needs to do the work. I would tell everyone is that you must figure out what you are passionate about and just go for it. It does not mean that you are not going to have a little of the imposter syndrome when you first get started, I know that I did.

Thinking back, I am sure that I experienced a little of that (imposter syndrome) when I became Mayor. I was like ‘can I even really do this? am I really prepared for this?’.

I came into office at the height of the COVID Pandemic. It was not only a tough job, but it was a strange time in our world. So, you do have to ask yourself those questions – am I really equipped for this? do I have the right training for this? But the reality of it is that you just must jump in with both feet. It does not mean you have to walk into places and immediately take over but listen and educate yourself pertaining to those issues that are relevant.

I will not discourage anyone from getting involved in public service. If you feel that they don’t not fit in, not know enough, or if you are ready. The reality is you do not know that until you get there, and it is important to just get there.

What is your most proud moment in your professional career, and personal life….

In my professional career I would say the ‘Hometown for All Plan’ that we created in Tempe to increase the stock of affordable and workforce housing. That is probably the one (accomplishment) that makes me the happiest.

It is a tangible way to create more housing, as opposed to giving speeches about people being priced out of their homes. It is one thing to identify what the problem is, get up and pound your fist on a lectern and say this is what is going on, and we must fix it. 

It is different when you say that we are going to create a dedicated revenue stream to ensure that this takes place in our community. It is when people say, ‘don’t talk about it…be about it’. That is what we do in the City of Tempe when it comes to these issues. We are not going to talk about affordable housing, we are not going to talk about how hard it is, all the legislative preemptions as to why we can’t do more. We must come up with a creative way to do as much as we can, to ensure that people are not priced out of our community.

So that ‘Hometown for All Plan’ that the Council passed in January 2021 is probably one of my proudest accomplishments when it comes to public policy.

Now personally… I am an adopted child of two wonderful parents, and my brother is adopted as well.  We were adopted from two separate families. Both of us have never met our birth parents, and my brother and I are as close as two people can be as well, I am very close to my father. My mother and I were very close until she passed eleven years ago. I am just proud every day to be the child of Donald and Barbara Woods, and the brother of Brandon Woods. I have a wonderful family.

You realize as you get older not everyone is close to, or very connected to their families. Yes, I know that is mind blowing… Yes, it is not necessarily a given. Family dynamics can sometimes be challenging due to personal issues, politics, or proximity. I am not judging anyone’s situations. As I got older, I realized everyday what I have, with the people around me - an incredible support system. Also, the people that I can bounce things, ideas off of, and support me regardless - and that is invaluable.

It is not an accomplishment necessarily, but it is the foundation of my life.  

We were at the height of the Pandemic when you became Mayor of Tempe, Az what has been one of the biggest adjustments in this position…

The biggest adjustment is that you do not get any time off, ever. I think that is the thing. When you become Mayor, everything falls in your lap.

When I was a Councilmember, I felt that I could focus on a couple of more specific issues. I tried to become the content area expert in those matters. I was then the go-to person in our community to those (in the community) that were interested in those issues.

The difference is when you are Mayor people think that you are responsible for everything that goes on. Whether you oversee it, if those people report to you or not, or if you know anything about the situation that they are talking about on social media.

They will start writing something in a post and tag you and say…” Corey Woods why is this happening”, “why is my sidewalk not completed”, “why did the council cast this vote this Thursday”. All those things happen. Then I find out that I am the only person that is getting tagged in those posts.  

Although everyone does get tagged from the staff to our council members. These are extremely demanding positions, they all (staff and council members) work exceptionally hard, and the do a large amount of heavy lifting in our community.

For me a lot of it plays out more in public. Where people many times are more likely to tag me in a Twitter post, media post. They are trying  to get me to respond, to jump in on the thread to respond. Or to give me a piece of their mind. I do not know how you do it, because the times that we have been in each other’s company you are always so kind. You are upbeat and so happy.  

Well, thank you for that but I do feel that you must focus on being positive, and moving forward. When you get to a place when you are wallowing in something, a particular situation did not go just the way that you sketched it out, you must move on from that, and quickly.

One of the quotes that I use often, and it is from former President Bill Clinton is that the best thing to have in politics is to have a short memory.  You must be willing to brush off what happened the day before, or even four hours earlier that day. Because the work must continue, go on.

What we all must realize is that we are human too. Often people talk to public officials in a manner that they would not talk to their families, friends, or their neighbors. The voters perspective is ‘you took this job, so you have to take whatever I throw at you’. I want people to know that we are not robots, we are human beings, we have feelings, and we have friends, and family members that read a lot of these posts.  

My father is 83 years old and on Facebook, every article that I am featured in, have a quote in, or when I am on television…. he sees all of that. It is not about sympathy, I took this job, and it is a wonderful job, and people have given me a tremendous opportunity to do work on their behalf. I love the job every day that I am in it.

Just realize that we are human as well, and if you would not approach your neighbor, close family friend, or family in that manner. Let’s not do that with me. Let’s sit down and talk in a calm and rational way and see how we can get to a solution. Many times, bringing all that heat into the discussion does not advance the cause, it is just bringing unnecessary heat. We need to return to civility in politics. On the national stage we have lost civility in politics.

How crucial do your think your educational path has been crucial to achieving everything that you accomplished thus far…

I think it was actually very important, my education… I have a bachelor’s from the University of Michigan in Political Science, and minor in African American Studies. I got a master’s degree from ASU in Educational Policy. The degrees, both… I got the ability to think about complex problems and issues. Not to get too ideological about my perspectives…two people can see the same information and walk away with two different understandings on something.

What I try not to do is to judge. To say look I need to understand that these are complicated issues, neighborhood issues that are close to both people’s heart. You must go in understanding first the complexity behind the arguments, and where each person is coming from. So that you can connect with them and understand the issues that they are facing.

It has taught me how to analyze things in an unbiased calm fashion. Most people would say that ‘Corey is typically a pretty calm guy’. My educational training has taught me to calmly look at the facts, do not bring in a lot of extra emotion that someone is talking about, no matter what document that you are reviewing. The approach is what is the issue at hand, and how can I pull this apart, analyze it, and get to a solution.

As an elected official my goal was to come in and be a problem solver. Not a guy that bangs my fist on the desk and give these one-line slogans. I want to be able to say when I leave this position, I left it better than I found it. The City of Tempe, along with City Council, and our Staff we have moved the City of Tempe forward in a positive way.

For me it is about solving problems and getting things done.

After a long day at work, you go home, and finish the sentence please…

I figure out what I am going to have for dinner, typically. I will usually change out of my suit and put on a pair of joggers, or pajamas so that I can get comfortable.

Occasionally I will finish up emails, text messages that I could not get to because of a busy day. Two of my hobbies, actually three of my hobbies are – one is working out so that I can stay physically fit to deal with stress (that might occur during the course of a day); eating and going to different restaurants and trying different foods; and I really love watching TV.  It takes my mind off whatever I was thinking about.

I need another plot, or script to get out of my own head. Okay, have you seen the show ‘You’ on Netflix?  I have not, I know that it is number one on Netflix so perhaps I need to get on that. Yes, it is so dark…I recommend that, and ‘Wednesday’ on Netflix, I highly recommend those two. I will definitely look at that then.

What is your favorite way to unwind, and you have kind of touched on that…is it watching TV Shows….

Yes, I mean really do like watching TV. I know many times people do not want to talk about that, but the reality is that I really do enjoy it. It is a source of enjoyment, and a way to take my mind off those things that have occurred during the standard workday.

Now often it may only consist of an hour of TV, enough to allow me to wind down, and then I crawl into bed.

Thank you, Mayor Corey Wood for your time,  it has been an honor and pleasure… you are most welcome and thank you.