NORFOLK (AP) — Norfolk’s only black city councilman, Joseph A. Jordan Jr., who said last Tuesday that he would resigning as vice mayor, has made it official.
In a short letter to Mayor Irvine B. Hill, copies of which went to other councilmen, Jordan said:
“Many thanks for the very thoughtful expressions by both you and the other members of the council.”
Jordan’s letter was dated Nov. 6, the day following his announcement that he would resign as vice mayor to protest policies of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
His verbal resignation came after all the other councilmen voted in favor of two zoning requests by the authority.
One change allows the authority to develop East Ghent, once a black slum, into a neighborhood for the well-to-do in which homes will cost $60,000 or more.
Jordan said at an earlier council meeting that “anyone who is literate” knew that the authority had told former residents of East Ghent that low-cost housing would also be built there.
The other zoning change, allowing the construction of a downtown motel, was opposed by Queen Street Baptist Church, which has a predominantly black congregation.
The church complained that the motel project would hamper fuel delivery and do away with Sunday parking facilities.
