Rex Griswold was first elected to
the Mesa City Council in 2002, and reelected in 2006 with 94% of the vote. As a
member of the City Council, Rex has focused on bringing a much needed common sense
business approach to Mesa government. On the City Council, Rex worked to reform
the budgeting process, trim costs, and ensure that our city has a balanced budget
during difficult financial times for our city. Rex has also focused on improving
the quality of life here in Mesa during a period of rapid growth and ensuring that
city services are provided frugally and efficiently.
As our next Mayor, Rex Griswold will
utilize his background as both a successful entrepreneur and fiscally responsible
City Council member to ensure that Mesa remains a good place to live and raise a
family. Rex will use this unique combination of both business and government experience
to make sure that Mesa is able to address the many opportunities and challenges
that lie ahead for our city. As Mayor, Rex will focus on improving public safety
and making sure that each and every neighborhood in Mesa is a safe place. Rex will
also make sure that Mesa government is run responsibly and does not waste your tax
dollars. Rex will work to maximize economic development around Willams Gateway and
Falcon Field. He will also work to ensure the continued expansion of education opportunities
at the Red Mountain Campus of Mesa Community College and ASU East.
After graduation from Cornell
University in 1975, Rex Griswold began a successful career in the hospitality industry
that included working for General Mills, and opening and operating Good Earth and
Olive Garden restaurants in Arizona and California. A successful entrepreneur, Rex
is the President of his own restaurant consulting company. Rex also opened and developed
the popular Anzio Landing restaurant located at Falcon Field Airport. Today,
18 years later, Anzio Landing remains a popular and successful restaurant.
Rex has also been very involved in Mesa's community. For over ten years, he has taught a business class in Mesa schools for the Junior Achievement Program. He has served as President of the Mesa Rotary and has been a member for over 17 years. Rex has also been a member of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce and on multiple boards including Tonto Forest Advisory Committee, Arizona Restaurant Association, Mesa Veterans Parade Committee and the Falcon Field Alliance Association. For the City of Mesa, he has also served on the "Planning for the Future - Mesa 2025 Committee" and the "Financing the Future Committee." Finally, Rex is a founding member and elder of Red Mountain Community Church located in northeast Mesa.
Rex and his wife Mary Ellen have been married 34 years and are the
proud parents of three daughters; Lee, Gwen, and Ellen - all who attended Mesa Public
Schools. Rex and Mary Ellen's oldest daughter, Lee, is married and lives in Tucson
with her husband and Rex and Mary Ellen's 9-year old granddaughter and 5-year old
grandson. Their middle daughter, Gwen, resides here in Mesa with her husband who
is a Mesa police officer and Rex and Mary Ellen's 2-year-old granddaughter and newest grandson. Rex and
Mary Ellen's youngest daughter, Ellen, is a graduate of Red Mountain High School and
currently attends Biola College in California.