District 4: Foster unseats Williams
By John Joyce
Published in News on November 4, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
District 4 candidate Bevan Foster speaks on the phone with his aunt after getting the news that he edged out incumbent Charles Williams. With his phone charging on a portable battery, Foster said, "My phone is about to die, but I knew if I didn't answer she would keep calling."
Goldsboro City Council District 4 has new representation following Tuesday night's ballot count.
Despite being locked in a race with a 20-year incumbent -- the Rev. Charles J. Williams -- and having a criminal record with four felony convictions, Bevan Foster will represent one of the city's toughest districts.
But it is precisely his difficult past Foster said that lends to his unique ability to connect with and relate to the people in his district.
"Hopefully I can use some of my past to educate some of the people in the community," Foster said. "I see a lot of people giving up because of their own pasts, but I hope this shows them that if they put their minds to it and work hard, they can succeed."
Williams said he was grateful to all the voters in District 4 who had placed their trust in him for the past two decades he has served on the City Council.
"I have no regrets, and I did my best," Williams said. "I'll be the first to say that I wish (Foster) well."
Williams said his time will likely be spent with his family and in his church now that he will no longer be serving on the City Council.
"On Oct. 31, I was re-elected to be a bishop in my church," Williams said. "I was elected to be a bishop 38 years ago. I'll be staying plenty busy."
Williams said he stands by the decisions he has made on the council during his tenure.
"I've always done what I thought was right, what was best," Williams said. "You can't please everyone, but I've always done what I thought was best."
Foster ran in the district he grew up in, which remains one of the city's most impoverished -- and violent -- sections of town. He now has an opportunity to help effect change in the community he said needs it the most.
"It's a great feeling. It is what the community wanted," he said.
Foster's goal is to go forward and make an impact. But he wants to extend that reach beyond his own community and to affect the entire city in a positive way, he said.
"It's my goal to change District 4 and to change the city of Goldsboro," he said.
Pausing first to thank his mother, Rachel Hinnant, Foster said he could not have run a successful campaign without the support of his family and friends, including Corey Thompson and Douglas Broadie.
"And most of all, the voters of District 4," he said.