He was the first African-American city commissioner in Portland, Oregon, and is the namesake of the Charles Jordan Community Center.

He graduated from Palm Springs High School in 1956 and received a basketball scholarship to Gonzaga University.

[8] Jordan expressed displeasure with his assignments, since Goldschmidt simultaneously removed two significant bureaus from his portfolio without warning, and also retained his own power, under the city charter, to hire and fire the chief of police.

[11] The Portland Internal Investigations Auditing Committee (PIIAC) was formed by City Council over the opposition of Mayor Frank Ivancie, who was closely tied with the Police Bureau, in response to the incident, in 1982.

[12] In 1984, Jordan resigned his council seat and became the director of parks and recreation for the city of Austin, Texas.