THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290280
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Former Mayor James W. Holley, who was ousted from office in a hate mail scandal nine years ago, apparently intends to run for the mayor's seat against incumbent Gloria O. Webb.
Holley has gathered enough signatures on a petition to get himself on the ballot. He has delivered those petitions to the voting registrar's office, although he has not completed his final paperwork.
Holley, 69, was Portsmouth's first black mayor of modern times and the first to be recalled from office. Voters forced Holley out of office after he was implicated - though never found guilty - in the mailing of a series of threatening letters to black leaders who opposed closing I.C. Norcom High School.
Holley has maintained his innocence in the years since the scandal. He could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Holley, who continues to drive with HIZONOR on the license plate of his silver Corvette, began his career in politics by helping to open Portsmouth's public libraries and its golf courses to black residents.
He developed his political acumen as a civil rights leader and honed the craft as a civic leader, a councilman and as mayor. Holley won biracial acceptance as a political leader in Portsmouth.
But the last eight years have been harder for him. Holley has twice run for state office, losing big both times. In the 1993 General Assembly elections he lost by nearly 60 percent of the vote to incumbent Del. Kenneth W. Melvin.
Holley will run against incumbent Mayor Gloria O. Webb, who is seeking her third term in office. ILLUSTRATION: James W. Holley was recalled in 1987 after
he was implicated in a hate mail scandal.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH MAYORAL RACE by CNB