Northport City Council President Resigns After Recent Backlash

NORTHPORT, AL — Northport City Council President and District 5 Councilman Jeff Hogg on Thursday abruptly resigned from the elected body following several high-profile controversies over the current council term.

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Here's a verbatim reprinting of his full resignation letter:

"As I reflect back over the last 8 years of my time in office, I am very excited for the "P.R.O.G.R.E.S.S." our City has made.

I am reminded of all the positives that we have worked so hard to achieve, together. While lengthy, I have included a few of my favorites in the attachment to this letter.

When I ran for office, it was never about the role, but always about the goal. My mission was to leave the City of Northport better than I found it, and I feel that I have done that.

But as in all things in life, each elected official at some point will have his or her curtain-call.

Unfortunately, today is mine as I will be stepping down from my position of Council President and representative of District 5 on the Northport City Council. This decision was not made lightly, but I am confident that this is the right decision for my family and my career.

While so much input to me has been incredibly positive, over the last 6 months, my family and I have encountered physical threats, death threats, and harassing communications. These actions have also had an adverse effect on my career and future with my employer, who has also encountered these negative communications. This has the potential to negatively affect my family's livelihood, as well as the livelihood of all the people I work with on a daily basis.
While the timing of this would never be right, I know that the City will continue to thrive and reach its fullest potential.

I want to personally thank all of my supporters, as you saw my vision and believed in me and my ambitions for the City of Northport. You have seen my dedication to you, my dedication to the City, my timely responses, my willingness to help, and have embraced my "outside of the box" thinking.

I also want to thank all of the City staff that made the vision come to life. I appreciate you more than you will ever know.

Finally, to my fellow elected officials, thank you for the confidence you placed in me to serve as your Council President. It was truly my honor to serve with you."

As Patch has extensively reported, the current council has been embattled since the resignation of former Mayor Bobby Herndon at the end of 2022 and the subsequent appointment process that followed.

From there, the Council was blasted for its initial decision to try and sell the Northport Community, which was followed by the recent decision by the Kentuck Art Center to move its annual festival from Northport to Tuscaloosa for the first time in its history after negotiations with the city fell through.

The pressure finally reached a fever pitch, however, when the city announced its intentions to enter into a public-private partnership on a proposed $350 million resort-style, mixed-use development in an exclusively residential area.

The Council will now have to appoint a replacement to fill the remainder of Hogg's term through the fall of 2025.

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