Several sources in High Point said this week that they expect to soon see a new candidate in the race for mayor of High Point: Guilford County Commissioner Carlvena Foster.
“I am thinking about it,” Foster said on Thursday, April 18. “High Point is where my heart is.”
While Foster hasn’t officially declared as a candidate, the word in High Point and the word among Guilford County officials is that it’s a very good bet that Foster’s name will appear on the mayoral ballot later this year alongside the names of current High Point Mayor Jay Wagner and others – including former Guilford County Commissioner Bruce Davis, who came very close to winning the election for High Point mayor last time around.
Foster certainly talks like someone who’s going to put her hat in the ring. She said on Thursday, April 18, that this is a very exciting time for the city, with new businesses coming in, a brand new baseball stadium and a major downtown revitalization effort. She added that being mayor would allow her to play a more direct role in the city that she loves.
Foster has been giving a lot of thought these days as to the direction High Point should be guided in the future.
She said that, in many ways, the city is divided between two factions and, if she does run for mayor and she wins, she would like to be a unifying force for the city.
“One priority would be bridging the gap and addressing the division between the two sides – the haves and the have nots,” Foster said.
As a Guilford County commissioner, Foster already represents a good number of constituents in High Point, but her commissioners’ district also covers a lot of Guilford County that has interests radically different than the city residents do.
Foster said nothing is official yet.
“I haven’t announced anything,” Foster said.
Foster, who served on the Guilford County Board of Education before running for Guilford County commissioner and winning that seat, has never run for High Point mayor before, nor has she run for a seat on the High Point City Council. If she does so and wins the office, she will not be the first person to choose being the High Point’s mayor over county commissioner. Former High Point Mayor Bill Bencini, whose father was mayor of High Point in the last century, stepped down from the Guilford County Board of Commissioners to become the mayor of High Point.
