HAMPTON, Va. — Joe Griffith is urging optimism as he prepares to join Hampton City Council.
“I just want people to remain optimistic about the future," Griffith said. “I think we have a lot of great work ahead of us, and I’m excited to contribute to that, but I also think that it’s great that we’re reflecting the diversity of our city in all the ways we can. So, that includes bringing young people to the table so that they can be part of government."
He is the first millennial elected to Council.
“I may be going to Council, but I’m not leaving Phoebus," Griffith explained.
At the time News 3 interviewed him for this story, he was the current Phoebus Neighborhood Commissioner and had overseen a lot of the growth happening there. While he plans to stay connected to the community, he will have to give up his position as commissioner before he is sworn in as a City Council member in January.
“I think every community, and Phoebus is not unique to this, has people in it that care and love where they live and want to see the best happen for it and I know that that is going to happen in Phoebus," said Griffith.
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He said having a millennial on Council is an important moment for the city.
“It’s a moment that we really need to take a good look at and say, ‘Why haven’t we had this before,'" Griffith said. "When you look at the millennial generation, we had a childhood that was analog and we were thrust, later, into a digital adulthood. So we understand in our core that systems can change. You don’t always have to do things the way they’ve always been done. We can actually bring innovation to the table.”
As a member of Council, he wants to make sure people are more connected to themselves and their government. That includes making sure their voices are at the center of projects, like the various master plans the city is working on.
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Another project is the possible construction of a tiny home community for the homeless. It’s a hot topic in the city and something News 3 has covered multiple times.
“That’s something I’d be open to exploring, but I know that’s not the only way forward and I’d love to look at other options that we have on the table," said Griffith.
News 3 also asked about data centers. In April 2026, City Council members took a trip to learn about data centers.
Griffith wants to make sure the city’s zoning ordinances can accommodate small and medium data centers but will also allow the city to say so-called hyper scale data centers are not something that can be accommodated.
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