Ballots for Tempe’s all-mail election in March were mailed to voters beginning this week.

Mayor Mark Mitchell and former City Councilman Corey Woods are vying for Tempe’s top elected post.

Five others are running for three open council seats: Incumbents Randy Keating and Joel Navarro and first-time candidates Casey Clowes, Doreen Garlid and Marc Norman.

MORE: Mayoral and City Council candidates sound off at Republic debate

Ballots must be returned or dropped off at a voting center by 7 p.m. March 10.

Here’s a closer look at each candidate, how much money they’ve raised through Dec 31 and their top three issues.

Casey Clowes

Age: 28.

Prior public service: Faith and nonprofit subcommittee chair of Tempe’s 2020 Census Complete Count Committee.

Job title: Attorney.

Campaign funds raised: $20,846.

Top 3 issues and how you would address them:

Build a sustainable community.

Improve the quality of life of all residents.

Increase housing affordability.

I will enhance Tempe’s sustainability efforts by strategically increasing our urban tree canopy, improving walkability and enhancing our public transportation.

I will improve quality of life for residents of all ages by making Tempe a child-friendly city, a great place to grow your career and the best city for seniors to age in place.

I will increase affordability by expanding affordable and workforce housing options, supporting Tempe’s Emergency Rent and Mortgage Assistance programs to keep people in their homes during an emergency and fight to guarantee a livable wage and family leave for city employees.

An East Valley city managers coalition is exploring ways to address homelessness, including the possibility of a permanent shelter in the East Valley. Would you support a permanent shelter in the East Valley? In Tempe?

I was raised to believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Because of this belief, I think it is imperative that we take a compassionate approach to those without homes. No one should be forced to sleep on the streets.

We must implement a comprehensive approach to ending homelessness. We should work to increase affordable and workforce housing so that people who work in Tempe can afford to live in Tempe, create a strong safety net to keep families housed and prevent homelessness when an emergency strikes, and utilize a housing first, but not housing only approach, for people without homes.

I support permanent supportive housing located in all areas experiencing need, including an emergency shelter to provide people with a place to rest at night, an address to help people apply for jobs and benefits, and a place to be matched with resources in addition to increased construction of affordable housing to both provide formerly homeless people with a place to live and prevent homelessness from occurring.

Residents have at times been at odds with city officials over issues such as development and public safety. Does the city need to be improve its relationship with residents? How would you do that?

It is important that decision makers meet residents where they are; whether that is in a public meeting, a community forum, a local event, via email, or through an online request to speak system.

So far, my campaign has knocked on nearly 14,000 doors in Tempe. We’ve had thousands of conversations with Tempe residents and I hear that most Tempe residents name affordability and Tempe’s sustainability near the top of their concerns. I have also heard that residents feel they aren’t informed until a decision has already been made. I think it is important that the city inform residents not only about a decision, but also include them in the decision-making process and the reasoning behind it.

Doreen Garlid

Age: 56.

Prior public service: Tempe Neighborhood Advisory Commission chair, Tempe Impacts Education Foundation and Newtown Community Development Corp. board member, Tempe Buena Vista Ranchos Homeowners Association president, Wagonner Elementary School and Kyrene Middle School PTO president, Seton Catholic Preparatory School PTO vice president and 2020 Tempe MLK Diversity Award winner for elevating Navajo culture and history through free community talks called “My Mother’s Navajo Stories.”

Job title: Former newsroom business manager at KSAZ-TV Fox 10.

Campaign funds raised: $45,295.

Top 3 issues and how you would address them:

Give neighborhoods a voice.

Improve public safety.

Advocate for more affordable housing.

As the current chair of the Tempe Neighborhood Advisory Commission, I am very familiar with the challenges Tempe’s neighborhoods face every day. By giving neighborhoods a voice, I believe that we need to empower residents to speak up for their community and hold our city leaders accountable to really listen to their concerns and act on residents’ recommendations. Staying true to our neighborhood Character Areas is a significant part of my plan to achieve this. I also believe the current commission structure is very staff-driven; I am working to turn it around and make it more resident-driven.

In improving public safety, we need to support our public safety personnel with better recruitment, retention, training and professional development and restore our public safety budget back to where it was pre-recession.

And finally, to increase our affordable housing supply, I believe we need to pursue higher density residential where it makes sense. We should also more strongly incentivize adaptive reuse, affordable development projects, accessory dwelling units in lower density areas, and lower rents with existing landlords.

An East Valley city managers coalition is exploring ways to address homelessness, including the possibility of a permanent shelter in the East Valley. Would you support a permanent shelter in the East Valley? In Tempe?

Yes, I’m in support of efforts to bring a permanent shelter to the East Valley. I recently participated in the point-in-time homeless count in Tempe to get a better grasp on this very complex issue. Many of the people I spoke with, including the social services experts on my walk team and the people who were experiencing homelessness, said there just isn’t enough shelter space available, particularly for certain demographics such as single adult males. As long as we don’t have a place for people experiencing homelessness to go, we will have people living on our streets and sleeping in our parks.

For a permanent shelter, we need to look at what makes the most sense for all of us from a regional perspective. It’s important to note that we can’t expect just one East Valley city to shoulder the entire burden from a programmatic or financial standpoint, we must work in partnership. So yes, as long as Tempe residents support it and there is committed regional support, I’m on board with efforts to bring a permanent shelter to the East Valley.

Residents have at times been at odds with city officials over issues such as development and public safety. Does the city need to be improve its relationship with residents? How would you do that?

Absolutely. This is a primary focus of my campaign. As chair of the Neighborhood Advisory Commission, I am already making changes to try and improve the relationship between neighborhoods and the city to set the tone for more productive dialogue that’s resident-driven as opposed to staff-driven. The city should not make arbitrary changes with broad implications without buy-in and input from the residents. I believe the decisions we make as council members must give top priority to residents’ wishes, and I am committed to making sure neighborhood voices are heard.

Developing strong relationships with neighborhood leaders and being proactive in encouraging ongoing dialogue through outreach efforts like issues-based community forums are key to knowing how we can best serve our community.

As the president of the Buena Vista Ranchos Homeowners Association, I know the importance of maintaining positive, working relationships with city leaders and staff and what it’s like to bring neighborhood issues forward. Nurturing key relationships to work collaboratively toward solutions is one of my greatest strengths and I’m confident in my ability to improve our dialogue around complex neighborhood issues.

Randy Keating

Age: 37.

Prior public service: Tempe City Council member since 2016, founding member and current board member of Tempe Young Professionals and member of Kiwanis Club of Tempe.

Job title: Marketing manager.

Campaign funds raised: $51,313.

Top 3 issues and how you would address them:

Affordable housing.

Public spaces.

Traffic.

We need to do everything we can to provide relief to our overstressed housing market. More people want to live in Tempe than we have houses to accommodate them. Creative solutions that combine housing and retail, like the Tempe Maker District, are part of the answer, but we need to push the Legislature to repeal the ban on inclusionary zoning, which prohibits us from mandating affordable housing in new developments.

Many of our parks and roads are not at the level Tempeans deserve, because of a decade of deferred maintenance due to the Great Recession. I will continue to be a strong advocate for accelerating investments in our public spaces, with the goal of bringing annual funding back to pre-recession levels. I also want to reinstitute our park ranger program to make our public spaces safer.

It’s no secret that Tempe has a traffic problem, particularly in our downtown area. We must explore out-of-the-box solutions to move people through our city more effectively. These potential solutions include expanding Orbit routes, bus rapid transit, bus pull-outs, improved smart signaling, pedestrian overpasses, roundabouts and continuing to promote multimodal options. I don’t believe there is a one-size-fits-all approach, so any solution will need to respect that different areas have unique needs.

This response was edited only for word limit.

An East Valley city managers coalition is exploring ways to address homelessness, including the possibility of a permanent shelter in the East Valley. Would you support a permanent shelter in the East Valley? In Tempe?

The East Valley City Managers’ Homelessness Coalition is the result of a working group I served on to address homelessness in Tempe. I’m very pleased city staff and their counterparts from our neighboring cities are working on a regional solution and hope they have policy recommendations before the council soon.

Yes, I would support a homeless shelter in the East Valley as a regional partnership. Homelessness has spiked 24% year over year in the Valley, and it’s clear the Legislature isn’t interested in helping Arizona’s cities manage this rapidly growing problem. It falls on us, the cities, to lead, organize, and work together to address this rising humanitarian crisis.

Yes, I would support a homeless shelter in Tempe if it was a regional partnership, but I would want the support of the neighbors in the area surrounding where it would be built.

Residents have at times been at odds with city officials over issues such as development and public safety. Does the city need to be improve its relationship with residents? How would you do that?

The city, and any governmental body, can always do more to include its constituents in the decision-making process. Ultimately, we must make sure we are representing the wishes of the people who live here and will be most affected by the decisions we make.

I believe it’s imperative that our residents have faith in their city government and its institutions. As City Council members, it’s our job to do everything we can to foster that confidence and be effective communicators as to what is happening and why.

That’s why I have never turned down a meeting when a resident asked for one. I’m always happy to listen to Tempean’s concerns and do what I can to mitigate them. I listen to a variety of different voices and points of view and always work to find a middle ground.

If re-elected, I will continue to involve our neighbors in the current process and will work to improve that process to reach even more Tempeans.

Mark Mitchell

Age: 50.

Prior public service: Tempe City Council member from 2000 to 2012, mayor since 2012, member of Tempe Sister Cities, Kiwanis Club of Tempe, Greater Phoenix Economic Council, chairman of Rio Salado Foundation and Maricopa Association of Governments.

Job title: Business development, Clayton Floor Covering and Design.

Campaign funds raised: $168,909.

Top 3 issues and how you would address them:

Public safety.

Quality employment.

Quality of life for all Tempeans.

Jobs: Tempe has attracted more than 33,000 jobs since I’ve been mayor, and I will continue to prioritize economic opportunity for all residents. Issues such as affordable housing and homelessness are reaching critical points in cities across the region, and one of the best remedies we’re seeing is a thriving economy where everyone succeeds.

Public safety: Keeping our residents safe is paramount, and I’m committed to equipping our first responders with the tools they need. We’re not truly safe unless we all feel safe in our homes and community. That’s why I’m committed to facilitating more conversations around community policing, de-escalation tactics, and how we can earn and maintain the trust of all residents.

Quality of life: Tempe’s goal is to not just grow but grow better. This includes attracting good-paying jobs, protecting and enhancing neighborhoods and improving the ease and safety of transportation. Our public transit system, already the envy of Valley cities, continues to expand. Tempe has robust neighborhood protection regulations, and is investing $60 million over the next five years to improve neighborhood parks.

An East Valley city managers coalition is exploring ways to address homelessness, including the possibility of a permanent shelter in the East Valley. Would you support a permanent shelter in the East Valley? In Tempe?

I’m proud that Tempe is working with Maricopa County and the cities of Phoenix and Mesa to find the best solution to address the lack of an East Valley homeless shelter. If that solution is a shelter in the city of Tempe, I would support it 100%.

What I want, and I believe what our partners want, is to figure out where a shelter would do the most good for the most number of people and go from there.

We also realize a shelter is not a solution, but it will certainly help. We’re working hard to expand programs that encourage affordable housing and fight homelessness. In fact, Tempe spends a larger percentage of our budget (32% more) on human services than any city in the region, a fact I am tremendously proud of. But we are not satisfied with the status quo and I look forward to continuing to find innovative solutions to the challenges we face.

Residents have at times been at odds with city officials over issues such as development and public safety. Does the city need to be improve its relationship with residents? How would you do that?

Back-and-forth between community members is not a new phenomenon. Talking with each other is how we learn and how we grow together.

For the most part, Tempe residents are happy with the direction the city is heading, and how the city is running. Our recent citizen satisfaction survey stated that 78% of residents are very satisfied/satisfied with the availability of information from the city. That said, there is still much work we can do to improve communication with neighborhoods, developers and members of the community who feel their concerns are not being heard, and I will continue to work to make sure every resident has a voice and a seat at the table.

Joel Navarro

Age: 52.

Prior public service: Tempe City Council member since 2008.

Job title: Firefighter, city of Phoenix.

Campaign funds raised: $28,325.

Top 3 issues and how you would address them:

Providing excellent public safety.

Attracting good jobs.

Improving aging infrastructure.

The top priority of any local government should be to keep its citizens safe. Tempe has experienced tremendous growth, and it is important that we maintain our public safety needs as population increases. As a firefighter, I understand the challenges that face public safety and know what works. In an emergency, seconds matter, and I look forward to continuing to use my public safety experience to keep response times low in Tempe.

Attracting good jobs has kept our economy going strong. Tempe continues to bring top employers to our city. We must continue to focus on strategic development by working with developers for solutions that balance the needs of both current businesses and residents alike. Creating good jobs in Tempe helps keep property values high and generates tax revenue to fund critical city services.

Finally, we must continue to improve our aging infrastructure as population increases and systems age. This includes streets, right of ways, water delivery, sewer, trash and bulk pickup. Maintaining these services is necessary to protect the high quality of life we enjoy in Tempe.

An East Valley city managers coalition is exploring ways to address homelessness, including the possibility of a permanent shelter in the East Valley. Would you support a permanent shelter in the East Valley? In Tempe?

I support the idea of a permanent East Valley shelter. I am proud of the work that our city manager, staff and council have done to address homelessness in Tempe. This is a difficult issue that requires compassion and thoughtful consideration to both provide assistance and protect neighborhoods.

Tempe currently utilizes a “rotating” nightly system to strike this balance by providing housing to those in need, while easing the burden on neighborhoods. This system rotates the location of open shelters to provide safe shelter at night, while minimizing the impact on the surrounding neighborhood. I believe a system like this should be utilized in a regional approach when addressing an issue like homelessness.

Finding suitable housing is just the first step in helping those in need. As your council member, I have created programs that address mental health, drug addiction and the housing needs of residents. I commit to continuing this work to help those in need and protect the high quality of life we all enjoy in Tempe.

Residents have at times been at odds with city officials over issues such as development and public safety. Does the city need to be improve its relationship with residents? How would you do that?

Smart growth and excellent public safety have been top priorities over my three terms as your council member. City Council has tackled many other difficult topics during my tenure and the best solutions have always come after all engage in meaningful dialogue. In an efficient government, there rarely is a “one size fits all” solution. I always strive to understand all positions and strike a balance when making tough decisions.

We enjoy a high quality of life in Tempe because of our dedicated and active neighborhood advocates. Tempe must continue our tradition of engaging with all neighbors. While I believe Tempe staff does an excellent job communicating with our residents, we must always strive to do better.

I pledge to continue to keep my “open door policy” with any Tempe resident looking to provide feedback on an issue in our community. I appreciate the education and information I receive from community members at my regularly scheduled “Java with Joel” events. I look forward to working together to continue to deliver strong results for Tempe and our neighborhoods.

Marc Norman

Age: 52.

Prior public service: Volunteerism.

Job title: Musician, entertainer.

Campaign funds raised: $13,995.

Top 3 issues and how you would address them:

Homelessness.

Affordable housing.

Traffic.

Homelessness: Set measures to track the effectiveness of current programs. Partner with private and nonprofit organizations to address the growing population of homeless in Tempe, partner with other municipalities to achieve a holistic, sustainable solution.

I would propose we work with Arizona State University to find a permanent solution to the problem. If ever there was an opportunity to leverage a crisis to be a teachable opportunity, this is it. Sustainable housing plus mental health issues plus substance abuse plus the cycle of poverty equals an interdisciplinary learning program focused on identifying the causes and the systems that contribute to homelessness. ASU and University of Arizona would be a fantastic real-world environment for these problems to be researched and addressed.

Affordable housing: We don’t need more luxury housing. We need sustainable, affordable places for people to live and thrive.

Traffic: The congestion is only getting worse. We need to stop adding high-capacity residences without the proper systems to ensure mobility without cars.

An East Valley city managers coalition is exploring ways to address homelessness, including the possibility of a permanent shelter in the East Valley. Would you support a permanent shelter in the East Valley? In Tempe?

I would support a partnership with the universities. Nobody would want a brick and mortar shelter in their neighborhood, unfortunately. And all too often these types of places are synonymous with crime and drug use.

Residents have at times been at odds with city officials over issues such as development and public safety. Does the city need to be improve its relationship with residents? How would you do that?

Public engagement is the key, but it's a balancing act. If you stop everything to get input, the problems you're looking to solve get ahead of you and grow. However, if you don't get enough, then people who want to express their views aren't heard.

Growth is a problem — and it should slow down. The rubber-stamping of huge development projects has to stop.

Corey Woods

Age: 41.

Prior public service: Tempe City Council member from 2008-2016, Newtown Community Development Corp. board member, Landings Credit Union and Friendship Village member, member and former president of Kiwanis Club of Tempe, former board president of Tempe Boys and Girls Club-Ladmo Branch, chair of the 2012 Tempe Elementary School District’s Capital Override and co-chair of the Tempe Union High School District’s Maintenance and Operations Override in 2017.

Job title: Community relations officer, ASU Preparatory Academy.

Campaign funds raised:$124,063.

Top 3 issues and how you would address them:

Solve our traffic crisis.

Proactively address our challenges with homelessness.

Create affordable housing opportunities for all.

As mayor, I will immediately produce an actionable plan to alleviate gridlock, minimize detours and reduce roadblocks. Better multimodal planning and coordination of construction projects will improve mobility, reduce congestion and lower emissions. We also need to examine traffic patterns and adjust signal timings to improve traffic flow.

Residents and business owners know that Tempe must do more to address homelessness. We must expand the successful Housing First program that I championed while on the council. This program places those who are unhoused in stable units and wraps social services around them to break the cycle of poverty. We must ensure that our dollars go to strategies that have demonstrated success.

While on the council, I worked with neighborhoods, my council colleagues and the private sector to build long-term housing solutions for veterans (Valor on 8th), seniors (Encore on Farmer) and working families (Gracie’s Village). For my commitment, I was recognized with an award by the Arizona Department of Housing. If elected, I will champion proactive solutions that ensure everyone from recent graduates to seniors living on a fixed income will be able to call Tempe home.

An East Valley city managers coalition is exploring ways to address homelessness, including the possibility of a permanent shelter in the East Valley. Would you support a permanent shelter in the East Valley? In Tempe?

I believe a permanent shelter in the East Valley or Tempe is an idea that should absolutely remain on the table if our residents support it. However, this concept should be a component of a much larger strategy which must include proven solutions like expanding Housing First, creating more transitional housing and supporting the current programs run by our faith community and other respected community partners.

We also need to make sure we are focusing on programs that empower people to ultimately break the cycle of homelessness such as job training and mental health.

I truly believe one of the reasons homelessness is such a persistent issue in Tempe is because of our lack of transitional housing options. Our interfaith community does an exceptional job in offering beds and services, but we know the need is currently far greater than the supply. We need to better support the work that is currently going on, assess the efficacy of our other programming and make sure that other cities in the East Valley are doing their share to help.

Residents have at times been at odds with city officials over issues such as development and public safety. Does the city need to be improve its relationship with residents? How would you do that?

Yes. My team and I have talked to thousands of Tempe residents, and a consistent message we receive is that they don’t feel heard when it comes to city issues, especially when it comes to development. I am also regularly told that our residents want to be active participants in the tough conversations surrounding public safety. We must work diligently to restore that trust with our citizens.

Improving relationships is a matter of being open to feedback and not being afraid to have hard conversations. During my time on the City Council, I built a reputation of being proactive and approachable. I negotiate solutions by building consensus.

If you talk to the leaders in the Hudson Manor neighborhood, they would tell you how I worked collaboratively with them and Gorman and Company to build an affordable housing project that enhanced neighborhood character and provided housing for working families. That’s just one of many examples of my approach, which is to bring people to the table and solve problems for Tempe residents.

Reach reporter Paulina Pineda at paulina.pineda@azcentral.com or 602-444-8130. Follow her on Twitter: @paulinapineda22.

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