Mitchell D. Roth was elected Mayor of the County of Hawaiʻi in November 2020 with a vision of fostering a sustainable island community where residents could thrive and succeed for generations. Since taking office, Mitch has championed sustainable efforts islandwide, including pushing for energy resilience and independence, transforming the County fleet to 100% renewable energy vehicles, bringing online hydrogen buses for public transportation, and investing heavily in infrastructure repair and maintenance. Under Mayor Roth’s leadership, the County of Hawaiʻi has added over 5,000 affordable housing units to the development pipelineand continues to encourage public-private partnerships to meet the needs of Hawaiʻi Island’s residents.
Before becoming Mayor, Mitch dedicated 27 years of his career to the safety and health of Hawai‘i Island residents, serving as the Prosecuting Attorney of Hawaiʻi County – a role he held since 2012. Under his leadership, the Hawai‘i County Office of the Prosecuting Attorney prosecuted several cold cases, implemented the first restorative justice program in a prosecutor’s office nationally, created a sexual assault unit with attorneys experienced in such cases, and set up community outreach and training.
Mayor Roth has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School. He and his wife, Noriko Yamada Roth, reside in Hilo and have three adult children, all graduates of Waiākea High School.