When Mark Ortiz’s father gave him money to buy a new suit, he was hesitant. Ortiz, a 25-year-old running for Tempe City Council, was worried about the false image the suit would portray.

Just because a person looks professional doesn’t mean he or she is professional, Ortiz said.

“I’m the same person underneath my suit whether I’m wearing a $1,000 suit or I’m wearing my pajamas,” he said.

The black coat, long slacks and blue tie can deceive the onlooker, cloaking a man that has held many titles during his short lifetime: at-risk youth, Marine, community server and now, political candidate.

Ortiz, born and raised in Tempe, is the youngest of the four Council candidates vying for three seats in the March primary election and the only one without a college degree.

The other candidates are Tempe Vice Mayor Shana Ellis, incumbent councilmember Onnie Shekerjian and Tempe Union High School District board member Robin Arredondo-Savage.

Some people have criticized Ortiz for lacking both experience and a college diploma, but he counters this argument by saying he has had more life experience than most.

“I learn from my mistakes — I don’t take mistakes as bad things, I take mistakes as learning lessons,” he said. “I have made a lot of mistakes, and, to me, that means I’ve got a lot more learning lessons than a lot of other people.”

Ortiz dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. At age 15, he moved out of his home and worked a full-time job, skipping around from one friend’s house to another and taking refuge in their garages.

He was labeled an at-risk youth, which Ortiz defined as “more likely to fail than succeed.”

“At one point, I was at the tier of either becoming a negative part of society or becoming a positive part of society,” he said.

The youngest of four children, Ortiz said it was one of his brothers, also a high school dropout, who told him he was heading down the wrong path.

“When he saw me dropping out of school, he basically walked up to me one day and he was like, ‘We’re better than that. You’re better than that … don’t follow in my footsteps,’” Ortiz said.

He eventually joined the youth program Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates, which helps young people stay in school. He went back to high school and finished his sophomore, junior and senior coursework within one year.

Knowing he couldn’t afford college, Ortiz looked to the military for the next chapter in his life.

Vinny Mirizio, Ortiz’s mentor in the graduates program, said he saw the potential and leadership qualities Ortiz possessed as a young man.

“I thought the Marines would be a good fit for him,” Mirizio said.

At 18, Ortiz took Mirizio’s advice and joined.

“[The Marine Corps] gave me what I was lacking — the leadership skills that I had inside me but I hadn’t pulled out yet,” Ortiz said.

Shortly after joining, he was deployed to Iraq, turning 19 in March 2003, the month of the U.S. invasion. He finished two tours overseas and ended his military service after four years.

Upon returning home, Ortiz had a new mission in mind.

“He wanted to get involved with the community,” Mirizio said. “He wanted to give back.”

The 22-year-old started working at the Tempe YMCA and became a group home manager for at-risk youth.

But Ortiz said he also started to pay more attention to politics, wanting to make more of a difference in the community.

“That’s where he feels that he can do the most good,” said his mother, Cathy Ortiz.

Mark Ortiz said Tempe has made many improvements over the years, but a lot of the city’s programs aren’t perfect.

“They’re not running to their full capacity or their full efficiency,” he said. “And I think that’s where I can step in and say, ‘You know, this isn’t running the right way. We need to fix it.’”

Mark Ortiz stands on a platform of accountability and transparency, going as far as publishing his cell phone number on campaign signs.

Even the new suit he wears, which he bought with a $250 donation from his father, is pushing the limits of his personal morals, Ortiz said. He said he wears it because voters have a tendency to judge candidates by the way they look.

“It’s sad that I’ve got to dress up in a suit to appease some people,” he said.

Cathy Ortiz, though, said she knows her son is running to help the city.

“His heart is not to make a name for himself,” she said. “His heart is to be there for the citizens of Tempe.”

Reach the reporter at kjdaly@asu.edu