David William Foster (born March 31, 1963) is an American attorney and former mayor of
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
. He was elected
in 2009. Before being elected mayor Foster served on the city council and worked as a lawyer.
A fourth generation St. Petersburg native, Foster attended
Northeast High School,
Samford University and the
Cumberland School of Law
Cumberland School of Law is an American Bar Association, ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law schoo ...
at Samford University. As mayor, Foster advocated for replacing the
St. Petersburg Pier with a new structure. Foster ran for re-election in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
, but lost to Democrat
Rick Kriseman
Richard David Kriseman (born August 2, 1962) is an American politician who served as the 53rd Mayor of St. Petersburg from 2014 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, ...
.
Early law career and membership on city council
Foster worked as an attorney specializing in
probate, estates and trusts, real estate, commercial law, real estate and commercial litigation.
Foster spent 10 years on the City Council.
He was originally appointed to a vacant seat in 1998, and re-elected for two consecutive terms in 1999 and 2003.
He served as Council Chair in 2004 and 2006.
Foster also served on the Friends of
Weedon Island,
NAACP, the Pinellas Assembly, Pinellas County Annexation Task Force, Suncoasters of St. Petersburg, Sunken Gardens Tax Force, the
St. Petersburg History Museum, and St. Petersburg Vision 2020.
Mayor of St. Petersburg
Mayor Foster puts forth a platform of "Seven S's", which he defines as seamlessness, safety, sustainability, service, small business, schools, and sports, arts, and culture. He helped recruit the St. Petersburg's first season of International Baseball to the city's
Al Lang Stadium
Al Lang Stadium is a 7,500-seat sports stadium along the waterfront of downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, United States which was used almost exclusively as a baseball park for over 60 years. Since 2011, it has been the home pitch of the Tampa ...
, with teams from Korea, Canada and the Netherlands competing during February and March, 2011. He also helped lead development of a regional homeless facility operated by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, called Pinellas Safe Harbor. During his first term in office, St. Petersburg welcomed the new
Chihuly Collection and a new $36 million
Salvador Dalí Museum
The Salvador Dalí Museum is an art museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, dedicated to the works of Salvador Dalí. It is located on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront by 5th Avenue Southeast, Bay Shore Drive, and Dan Wheldon Wa ...
. For three consecutive years (2010, 2011, and 2012), St. Petersburg was ranked as the No. 1 Arts Destination among mid-sized cities by ''American Style'' magazine.
Personal life
Foster is married to Wendy Holt Foster, both parents of two children.
References
External links
Bill Foster Official Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Bill
1963 births
Florida Republicans
Living people
Mayors of St. Petersburg, Florida