Thomas A. Stith III is a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

political figure. Stith was a member of the city council of

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

from 1999 to 2007. More recently, he has served as Program Director for Economic Development at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

's Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, and then as North Carolina district director for the federal

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...

. In December 2020, Stith was selected as the next president of the

North Carolina Community College System The North Carolina Community College System (System Office) is a statewide network of 58 public community colleges. The system enrolls over 500,000 students annually. It also provides the North Carolina Learning Object Repository as a central loc ...

Political career

An alumnus of

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from b ...

, 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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination for

North Carolina Lieutenant Governor The lieutenant governor of North Carolina is the second-highest elected official in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is the only elected official to have powers in both the legislative and executive branches of state government. A member o ...

in the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

election cycle.

2007 mayoral campaign

Stith ran for mayor of Durham against incumbent Democrat Bill Bell in 2007. 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. 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. Stith lost to Bell in the election on November 6, 2007, garnering approximately 42% of the vote to Bell's 58%. 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.

McCrory administration

In 2012, Governor-elect

Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor o ...

named Stith his transition director and he then served as the Governor's Chief of Staff when McCrory assumed office in January 2013.News & Observer: McCrory begins naming administration members

External links

Official Durham City Council page
(no longer available
Wayback Machine

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stith, Thomas Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Durham, North Carolina City Council members North Carolina Central University alumni African-American people in North Carolina politics North Carolina Republicans 21st-century African-American people