COUNCIL MEMBER HELEN FOSTER: PROUD TO FOLLOW IN HER FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS

"Of those to whom much is given, much is required." These are the words Council Member Helen Diane Foster aspires to live by. She is exceedingly aware of the good fortune she's enjoyed throughout her life, and it's a passion with her to give back as much as possible.

Helen Diane Foster is the second child of educator Helen Foster and former Council Member Wendell Foster. Her parents met and married in Bermuda when her father was a young minister in the AME Church. Later, he represented the 16^th district in the Bronx for 24 years, and continues now as a pastor in the United Church of Christ. In fact, Wendell Foster was so loved by his constituency that, had it not been for term limits, he would still be their councilmember.

Helen Diane Foster never expected to follow her father into office. "Five years ago, if someone had bet me a million dollars that I'd be on the City Council, I would have felt, 'Ok, let's take that bet!' I had no idea this would ever happen; it wasn't anything I had planned or saw myself as doing. But," she continued, "I honestly believe that everything I've done in my life prepared me for it."

She told, for instance, of how, in their household, she and her older sister Rebekah grew up very social activism oriented. "In our dinner table discussions we were talking about South Africa's ANC and apartheid long before it became 'popular'".

And she was practically weaned on the nuts and bolts of political work. When she reached 17 and got her driver's license, "They had a 15 passenger van, and I would pick up tables and chairs to set out in front of different housing projects for petition signing or registering people to vote," she recalled. "And I'd go on lunch runs. Back then Majester's Fish and Chips was on 129^th Street. I'd go and get huge orders, coming back smelling like fish."

"So I've known politics from the inside-out," Foster went on, "including staying up cleaning petitions before we filed. And as far back as I can remember, without fail, the filing date for petitions always fell on my birthday, Aug. 7^th. So we'd go down to the Board of Elections, file the petitions and then at about 11:30 at night my mother would take me out to dinner for my birthday."

As to occupying the seat her father once held, Foster says, "I'm very proud to be his child and to have followed in his footsteps. I feel no desire to shy away from being Wendell Foster's daughter and everything that entails."

Before running for office, Helen Foster, who had attended Howard University and CUNY School of Law, went on to be an assistant vice president of legal affairs at St. Barnabas Hospital. She also worked as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan.

Foster, who was not backed by the Bronx Democratic Party, had one of the hardest-fought races for the City Council. However, with the support of Rep. Charlie Rangel, Manhattan and Borough President C. Virginia Fields, plus over 60 pastors and some unions, she was victorious.

Now that she's in office, Foster says unashamedly, "I go to my Dad probably three or four times a day for advice. Though it's a very different council from when he was here and what we're faced with now is also different, I think it would be foolhardy of me as a young person not to look to my elders for information, knowledge and wisdom. That doesn't mean I always agree with him - we have our share of arguments - but when it's all done, it's a father and daughter relationship."

She said that for her the most rewarding aspect of being an elected official is seeing the responses she gets from other women, especially as she goes around to the churches. "They're really proud of me, a child of the church. They find it very encouraging to see someone in office that's kind of been where they have been."

When she goes to speak at schools, Foster reveals the fact that she didn't learn how to read until she was in the 4^th grade, and how grateful she is that her parents didn't let schools and teachers write her off. "I could have fallen by the wayside if my mother, being an educator, wasn't aware of what was going on and really jumped in," she declared.

About what she sees as most important during the city's financial crunch, Council Member Foster states, "As women of color, we have to create a bond and stick together as we go through this budget process because most of the cuts will effect women and children. That is very unfortunate, so we're going to have to do what we can to make sure it doesn't happen."

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