Thomas Stith III

Thomas A. Stith III is a North Carolina political figure. Stith was a member of the city council of Durham, North Carolina from 1999 to 2007. More recently, he has served as Program Director for Economic Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.[1]

In 2012, Governor-elect Pat McCrory named Stith his transition director [2] and as the Governor's Chief of Staff when McCrory assumed office in January 2013.[3]

Political career

An alumnus of North Carolina Central University, Stith worked for the conservative John William Pope Civitas Institute. He was first elected to the Durham City Council in 1999 and re-elected in 2001 and 2003, holding one of the at-large seats on the council.

Stith unsuccessfully campaigned for the Republican nomination for North Carolina Lieutenant Governor in the 2004 election cycle.

2007 mayoral campaign
See also: 2007 Durham mayoral election

Stith ran for mayor of Durham against incumbent Democrat Bill Bell in 2007.[4][5] Stith attacked Bell over several city issues including violence. During the weekend of October 13 and October 14, two people were murdered in Durham. On October 15, Bill Bell tried to calm the public about the murders, claiming the city was safe and the weekend murders were not random. The next day, Stith went after Bell, pointing out that Durham's murder rate was up nearly 50 percent over the previous year. Stith and Bell continued to argue over how to deal with Durham crime. Stith consistently claimed that he would fight crime more consistently than Bell had, while Bell said that Stith had six years on the town council to do that. Stith said he wanted to see more police officers on the streets, while Bell said the current police officers are well equipped.[6][7]

In late October 2007, after lead was found in Durham drinking water, Stith sent out a campaign mailer that said in bold letters: "Bill Bell knew and didn't tell us our water was dangerous to drink." Mayor Bell responded to this by saying "That mailer sent out by Thomas Stith was a complete lie." Mayor Bell also said that Stith had no leadership experience.[8]

Stith lost to Bell in the election on November 6, 2007, garnering approximately 42% of the vote to Bell's 58%.[9][10] Stith's at-large seat on the City Council was won by Farad Ali, marking the end of Stith's stint as a council member.[11]

gollark: It's under maintenence.
gollark: I could add a chatbox and skynet integration.
gollark: Up or down. CHOOSE YOUR SIDE.
gollark: Up... or down.
gollark: This has competition.

References
  1. Kenan Institute
  2. News & Observer: McCrory introduces steering committee, fields questions Archived 2012-11-12 at the Wayback Machine
  3. News & Observer: McCrory begins naming administration members Archived 2013-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
  4. newsobserver.com | Local election season cranks up Friday Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. newsobserver.com | Durham councilman takes on mayor
  6. abc11.com: Recent Durham murders at the center of mayoral race 10/16/07
  7. newsobserver.com | Mayor's race locked in on crime
  8. newsobserver.com | Durham mayoral candidates tangle Archived 2007-10-26 at the Wayback Machine
  9. November, 2007 Election Results :: WRAL.com Archived 2011-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
  10. newsobserver.com | Bell turns back Stith in Durham Archived October 6, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Raleigh, Durham farewells" News & Observer 24 November 2007. Retrieved on 6 December 2007.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.