Corey Woods | |
|---|---|
 Woods in 2024 | |
| Mayor of Tempe | |
| Assumed office July 2, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Mitchell |
| Member of The Tempe City Council | |
| In office July 17,2008 –July 7,2016 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 7,1978 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | B.A. University of Michigan M.A. Arizona State University |
Corey Donald Woods (born December 7,1978) is an American politician serving as the mayor of Tempe,Arizona since 2020. Woods is a member of the Democratic Party.
In 2000,he graduated with a B.A. in political science from the University of Michigan. [1] [2] In 2018,he graduated with a M.A. in educational policy from Arizona State University. [1] [2] He began his career in politics as a member of the Tempe City Council from 2008 to 2016. During this time he served as Tempe's Vice Mayor. He defeated incumbent mayor Mark Mitchell in 2020,becoming the city's first African-American mayor and Arizona's second. [3] [4]
While mayor,he focused on the creation of affordable housing. [1] He founded "Hometown for All" which created an investment fund that would purchase properties and convert them into permanent affordable housing units. [1]
During his tenure,Tempe partnered with Arizona State University and developed a wastewater surveillance process where wastewater was monitored to inform COVID-19 case rates,the first city in the country to do so. [5] Tempe received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expand the program. [5] The Tempe Streetcar transit line was completed during his term in 2022. [5]
In 2022,the Arizona State Legislature named him to the bipartisan Housing Supply Study Committee tasked with developing solutions to the state's housing shortage. [6]
In July 2022,Woods was appointed by the United States Conference of Mayors as Vice Chair of the Community Development and Housing Standing Committee tasked "to influence national policies that will increase affordable and workforce housing opportunities." [6]
In July 2022,Tempe initiated a new program where 911 dispatchers would be paired with counselors who have experience in psychology,social work,and counseling to better respond to non-violent emergency calls where dispatching the police might not be the best response. [7]
Woods had previously supported the development of the $2.1 billion Arizona Coyotes Entertainment District (including a New Tempe Arena) that would have hosted the NHL team permanently. [1] On November 10,2022,the Tempe city council voted 7-0 to allow residents to vote on the project in a special election on May 16,2023. [8] However,the votes for the new arena in Tempe would ultimately be rejected by the city's voters. It would also be later discovered in October 2024 that Woods and several councilmembers would hold three closed meetings during the months of November and December 2022 with Strategy Forty-Eight,a consulting group the council of Tempe had hired to monitor social media opposition to the new arena plan. [9] He also secured a city council vote for South Pier at Tempe Town Lake,a $1.8 billion,2,500 unit luxury apartment development; [10] the project is currently on-hold due to litigation over the granting of an 8-year tax abatement to the developer and its lack of affordable housing. [11]
The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area,which competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division,the Pacific Division (1998–2020) in the Western Conference,and the West Division (2020–2021). They played at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix from 1996 to 2003,at Glendale's Gila River Arena from 2003 to 2022,and at Mullett Arena in Tempe from 2022 to 2024. The organization was established on December 27,1971,as the Winnipeg Jets,a charter franchise of the World Hockey Association (WHA). After seven WHA seasons they were one of four organizations enfranchised by the NHL on June 22,1979,when the WHA ceased operations. Due to financial troubles,the Jets were sold to American owners who moved the team to Phoenix on July 1,1996,where they were renamed the Phoenix Coyotes. The franchise was renamed the Arizona Coyotes on June 27,2014. Alex Meruelo became the majority owner on July 29,2019,later becoming the franchise's sole owner following the arrest of minority owner Andrew Barroway.
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