Chip Roth officially announced he is running for the District 3 City Council seat on Wednesday, Jan. 13.

District 3 City Councilmember Justin Outling announced in December that he is running for mayor, which makes the District 3 seat open and likely to attract a number of candidates.

Former District 3 Councilmember and President of Downtown Greensboro Inc. Zack Matheny has been talking to people about running, but he has not made an official announcement.

Roth is the first candidate for a City Council seat to officially launch a campaign.  If the name seems somewhat familiar it may be because Chip Roth is the husband of former Greensboro City Manager Denise Turner Roth, who served as city manager from 2012 until 2014, when she resigned to work for the Obama administration.

Roth founded a business consulting firm, Roth & Associates, which helps firms with capital and business development.  He says as a councilmember his focus will be on jobs and economic development. 

He said, “My focus will be on how to best provide for the needs of start up companies and small businesses and creating good jobs and economic development for our city.”

He said, “When I see our mayor advancing a concept that is going to make it more difficult for restaurants that concerns me.”

Roth served in the Obama administration as a senior advisor for the US Small Business Administration and said those connections on a national level will roll over to the Biden administration.

  He said, “I think I have a unique opportunity with the Biden administration to help Greensboro move forward.”

Roth said that after Obama left office, he and his wife could have moved anywhere in the country and chose to move back to Greensboro.  He said that they wanted their son to experience the great quality of life of Greensboro.

Roth said, “This is our home and this is where we plan to be.”

Roth has hit the ground running on this his first campaign for public office and has already sent out a mailer to District 3 voters.  For more information on the Roth campaign you can go to newgreensboro.com or @NewGreensboro/Facebook.