Tempe Mayor Corey Woods attended the ASU Young Democrats meeting on Friday to provide updates on the city's initiatives to address homelessness, police reform and COVID-19.
Woods dropped by the weekly conference to provide updates on the pressing issues facing Tempe in his first appearance before the group as mayor. He focused mostly on Hometown for All, Woods' initiative to solve the housing affordability problem in Tempe, which was recently approved by the Tempe City Council.
“It passed at the end of January and we’re already beginning to see a huge sea change with developers and people willing to contribute to our affordable housing nonprofit,” Woods said.
The Hometown for All initiative states that for every new development project in the city, an amount equivalent to 50% of the funds will be dedicated to the Tempe Coalition for Affordable Housing.
When asked about the issue of unsheltered people in the Arizona heat, the mayor hinted at an upcoming project that would add more beds to homeless shelters in Tempe.
“I’m looking — with some council members — into creating more opportunities for additional beds and shelter for people who are experiencing homelessness,” Woods said.
The Public Safety Advisory Task Force, created in August following Black Lives Matter protests and cries for police reform, hosted its final meeting last week and is expected to release its findings and plans soon. The task force was created intent on building trust and accountability between the city's police department and the Tempe community.
“This stuff can be done … you just have to keep pushing until you get people to understand what you’re talking about and that you’re not just going to go away,” Woods said.
Woods said people are right to assume that COVID-19 is one of the biggest issues the city is facing, but he explained he’s optimistic for the future.
“With COVID you can kind of see some light at the end of the tunnel,” Woods said. “Once these vaccines are truly in mass production and there’s three or four viable ones out there … I can see the end of COVID.”
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Reagan Priest is a managing editor, overseeing and working with the six digital desks at The State Press. She previously worked as a social justice reporter for Cronkite News and as a digital production intern at The Arizona Republic.
