Primary Postcard: Is Foster Being Complacent?

This e-mail came from Michal Bergdale, a 16th District resident who lives on the Grand Concourse.

I wish there was more news about our local council race. I really think we could see an upset from Carlos Sierra. I have not received a thing from Helen Foster, and she is not held in high regard in the neighborhood. Carlos Sierra has plastered the voting areas with signs and flyers. He also sent out mailers to all the voters just this past week. He is also the only one of the two to setup an election website. I have seen a ton about Carlos and have not seen hardly anything about Foster. With light turnout, the most motivated people to vote are going to be those who want to throw out the incumbent. We will see, but I think our council race could be close.

Regarding the flyers and signs, we've noticed the same thing. On Jerome and East Tremont avenues, Sierra's face is everywhere, Foster's nowhere. I wonder, is she being complacent? Or does she know something we don't.

See here and here for short profiles of the two candidates. In a nutshell, Foster says her willingness to criticize the powers that be (the Yankees, the NYPD, the mayor, etc.) is one of her strongest attributes. Sierra says he's eager and hungry, and would be a "full-time councilmember." He questions Foster's work ethic and says she's rarely seen in the community.

A couple of additional points:

Last year, Foster told the Highbridge Horizon that she would consider taking a position with the Obama administration if he was elected and if a job was offered. A couple of weeks ago, in her district office, I asked her what became of this. She said:

Half of his cabinet is not filled. If we look at the Clinton/Gore White House it took almost two years before the bulk of the positions were filled. I was smart enough to know that it wasn’t going to be something, you know, [when] he gets sworn in on the 20th [January] and I get a call on the 21st.

So is she still interested?

It would require discussion with my husband, step-daughter, my family. It would have to be the right move.

I guess that's what you call keeping your options open.

Fundraising-wise, Foster is streets ahead of Sierra. And she's been endorsed by most of the key unions and the Bronx Democratic Party (she says Party Chairman Carl Heastie asked her not to run against again Ruben Diaz, Jr. in last spring's borough president race, and instead run for reelection.)

But Sierra's picked up one endorsement that's raising a few eyebrows (or mine at least). In an editorial, The Amsterdam News, the long-standing weekly geared towards the African-American community, wrote:

Carlos Sierra will serve the community well. He is committed to becoming a City Council member devoted to effectively representing his constituents. His experience as the chairman of the Bronx Department of Youth and Community Development for Neighborhood Youth Advisory Board No. 4 and board member of Bronx Community Board #4 will provide him with a sound foundation as a Council member. He is aware of his community’s needs and will fight to bring resources and services to his district. That is why we endorse Carlos Sierra in the Democratic primary for City Council in the 16th District.

It'll be fascinating to see how close things get.

In 16th District City Council Race, Four Candidates Become Three

After a tumultuous encounter with the Board of Elections, only three candidates running for the 16th District City Council, covering parts of the West and South Bronx, succeeded in garnering a spot on the primary ballot. Incumbent Helen Foster, Carlos Sierra and Mark Escoffery-Bey made the cut while longtime contender, Daryl Johnson, fell out of the race due to a challenge to his petition signatures (see more about the process here).

Johnson was not the only candidate forced to maneuver through the complexities of the petitioning process. Both Sierra and Escoffery-Bey went to court last week to argue the validity of their petition signatures. By the end of the week, Sierra and Escoffery-Bey complied over 900 legitimate petitions and made it on the ballot while Johnson came up short in the numbers and was booted off of the ballot.

Now that the ballot is secure, candidates are honing in on their campaigns and making one final push to win over voters.

Helen Foster has yet to respond to phone calls, but she is backed by the Bronx Democratic Party and appears to focusing her campaign on her level of experience in City Council, according to her website. Foster has served two-terms as a City Council representative for District 16. Over Foster’s years on City Council, she has made headlines for, among other things, voting against the new Yankee Stadium and missing the vote on congestion pricing.

The neighborhood surrounding Yankee Stadium is also an issue for one of Foster’s opponents, Carlos Sierra. Sierra’s campaign manager, Andrew Lisko, said Sierra hopes to “put pressure on the Yankee organization to ensure the expansion of green space” such as parks and not the “turf fields” the developers put up instead of natural areas.

Another major issue for Sierra is education. As a member of the CUNY Board of Trustees, Sierra secured millions of dollars to improve education and has experience in dealing with politicians in the education field. Lisko said Sierra “wants more parental influence at the Board of Education and he wants to improve the mayor’s test standards.”

Lisko said that Sierra will be an effective councilman because “he is in touch with the people. Helen Foster saw term limits were coming her way and she slowed down in the last few years. Foster has a 68% attendance rate [at council meetings and hearings]. Sierra will really be involved and known around the neighborhood as a full time city council member.”

Another candidate on the ballot is political newcomer, Mark Escoffery-Bey. Escoffery-Bey has been involved with the community as the vice president of the parent association of PS109 in Morris Heights, but he has yet to hold a political office.

At his petition hearing last week, he expressed his confidence in his ability to win the primary election. He explained that his campaign speed is increasing on an almost vertical path while Foster’s campaign speed is only at a slight incline. As for how he will improve the community, Escoffery-Bey says that he will “time travel.” In essence, this means that he pictures the solution to the community’s problem and works backwards from this image to achieve it.

As for campaign finances, Helen Foster has a comfortable lead in the monetary department with $55, 300 and is tailed by Carlos Sierra with $14, 535 and Mark Escoffery-Bey with $9, 072.

Bronx News Roundup, March 24

The Daily News has another editorial blasting Adolfo Carrion, the former Bronx borough president who now works for President Obama.

Only two City Council members (from 51) had a perfect attendance record at meetings and hearings over the past year. Yet again, Maria Baez (District 14) has the worst record, showing up less than 50 percent of the time. She recently told the Norwood News that illness and a busy schedule were to blame. Helen Diane Foster (District 16) is also in the bottom five. The Gotham Gazette has more on "who's engaged and who's not."

One of the parks built to replace parkland gobbled up by the new Yankee Stadium will finally open next month - or at least part of it will.

According to Bob Kappstatter, State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. and his son, Assemblyman Ruben Diaz Jr. (who's running for borough president), are still being investigated - this time by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office. Last week, Kappstatter reported that the feds had dropped a two-year investigation into the Diazes and a non-profit they founded.

A Bronx man, told by doctors he'd never walk again following a terrible car crash in December, is back on his feet, and says he has God to thank.

This is a little behind the times, but interesting all the same. In November's presidential election, Obama pulled in 95 percent of the vote in Congressman Jose Serrano's 16th Congressional District - a higher percentage than any other district in the country.

A Bronx narcotics detective has been arrested and charged with perjury.

New in the Mount Hope Monitor

The January edition of the Mount Hope Monitor is now online.

Stories include:

Tenants living in 1892 Morris Ave. have taken taken their nonprofit landlord, Mount Hope Housing Company, to court for neglecting the building and ignoring their maintenance requests.

In better news for Mount Hope, we heard today that the organization's beautiful but much delayed community center has moved a step closer to opening. According to staff, the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy has just come through, meaning it can be "legally occupied." Soon is the operative word.

A look at who's eyeing Council Member Helen Diane Foster's District 16 seat. (We tried - and failed - to get Foster on the phone to clarify whether or not she'll seek another four years in office. Her chief-of-staff, Jim Fairbanks, said "she hasn't told me" when asked about his boss' future plans.)

More on Middle School 399 and the DOE's decision to gradually shut it down. The 700-plus student school is housed in a majestic building on 184th Street, just three blocks from PS 79, another school that's being phased out. MS 399 will be replaced by two smaller middle schools that will occupy the same building.

Bronx News Roundup: Monday, Nov. 17

Here's a look at the Bronx stories floating around cyberspace today.

The Times' City section picked up the story on a busy Highbridge food pantry facing eviction.

Congratulations to Helen Diane Foster, the City Council member representing the Highbridge area, who married Eric Kenyetta McKay on Saturday.

A 17-year-old girl was shot to death on Sunday morning during a shootout outside of a party near the Cross Bronx Expressway on Morris Avenue. Two other teenage males were shot as well. Police are still investigating the incident.

Jury selection is set to begin today for "Bronx Tale" star and ex-"Sopranos" part-timer Lillo Brancato, Jr. He's being charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of an off-duty cop in Pelham Bay. Another man, Steven Armento, who Brancato was with on the night of the shooting (they were allegedly breaking into a home to steal painkillers), was recently sentenced to life in prison for shooting the officer, Daniel Enchautegui. Brancato's lawyers say he had nothing to do with the burglary or the shooting.

Long-time Bronx political lawyer Stanley Schlein was busted by the NY Post for using a fireman's union placard (he's not a fireman) to park illegally near the Bronx County Courthouse. Schlein worked for Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Jose Rivera for years, but has now aligned himself with the insurgent group currently trying to unseat Rivera's leadership of the party.

On Saturday morning, Best Buy opened its first Bronx store on Fordham Road. Basketball star Magic Johnson spoke at the event, saying, "This is going to make a huge impact on the community." As part of the kickoff event, Best Buy announced it was giving $10,000 to two Bronx nonprofits: The Point, a multi-service center in Hunt's Point, and The Wildcat Service Corporation, which provides job training and placement.

The NY Botanical Garden here in the Bronx is conducting information sessions on horticulture jobs this week.

Count Foster in for BP Race

Councilmember Helen Diane Foster told the Highbridge Horizon Friday that she will run for Bronx Borough President.

"I officially decided that I am running for Bronx Borough President," Foster said. "We haven't officially announced it yet, meaning [haven't] done the announcement press conference."

Foster said she expected to hold this press conference within the next 2 or 3 months.

Other topics the councilmember addressed during a nearly hour-long interview today included: police brutality against African-Americans, and the ongoing trial of the NYPD officers who killed Sean Bell; her thoughts on Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion; reactions to recent press that slammed her for missing the congestion pricing vote; and the need for greater public transporation in the Bronx.

Look for the Q+A of today's interview in the April issue of the Highbridge Horizon, which hits the streets April 24.