THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996 TAG: 9602070136
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Daun S. Hester hopes three times is the charm.
The longtime educator, now assistant principal at Rosemont Middle School, has run for council unsuccessfully twice before, in 1992 and 1994. But she remembers that both councilmen Herbert M. Collins and Paul R. Riddick were elected on their third try for office.
``People have to get to know you,'' Hester said. ``Paul ran three times before he won, Herbert ran three times before he won. It's a matter of people getting to know you and what you stand for.''
She brings to her campaign her desire to help citizens advance their desires and solve community problems. She says her skills as a communicator and someone who has advanced successfully through the Norfolk education system will help her in this.
``I think I have the ability to bring people to the table, rather than divide them,'' Hester said. ``I don't have a personal agenda per se, other than being a good leader for people. My areas of concern are the concerns citizens will bring to me, and how we will solve them together.''
Her belief in communication goes two ways. While she pledges to listen to her constituents, she also believes the council and the city administration can do a better job of talking with neighborhoods.
Moving the fire station at a cost of $6.2 million to make way for the MacArthur Center is one example of an issue the city should have told people about sooner and more fully, Hester said. In fact, the city seems to have not released solid, reliable information on the planned downtown mall.
Despite this criticism, Hester is supportive of the mall project and of the development of downtown in general. Keeping downtown healthy is essential to keeping the economy of the whole city healthy, she says.
Hester's emphasis on communication is one of her ``Four C's,'' which she says are the platform of her campaign. Together they are Communication, Competence, Children and Community.
Hester supports the community policing program and other efforts that seek to build the city by increasing cooperation among citizens and neighborhoods.
She says the city needs to find ways to put more money into neighborhoods. As a land-locked, older city, Norfolk's neighborhoods need to be maintained so they continue to attract residents.
``Many people feel we are neglecting our communities, as far as their infrastructure, their streets and the sidewalks. When the curbs and sidewalks look good, neighbors have a tendency to try to keep up their property a little better as well.''
Hester is a lifetime resident of the city and now lives in the Ingleside area. She is married with two children. She is a graduate of Norview High School.
Her career with the school system began with 13 years as a special education teacher. After that, she was a teacher specialist and then principal of the first regional alternative school, for children who had been expelled from conventional public schools. She recently became assistant principal at Rosemont Middle school.
She is running for superward seven, now held by Councilman Rev. Joseph N. Green, who is retiring. A majority African-American district, it includes Poplar Hall, Sherwood Forest, parts of Norview, Coronado, Greenhill farms, Lafayette-Winona, Park Place, Lamberts Point and most public housing areas.
Hester is the first to announce for superward seven in what is expected to be a crowded field. Several other community activists and leaders have been mentioned as possibilities. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DAUN S. HESTER
Office sought: City Council seat, superward seven.
Occupation: Assistant principal, Rosemont Middle School.
Age: 40.
Education: graduate, Norview High School; bachelor's degree,
Virginia State University; master's in education, George Washington
University.
Community service: Education Association of Norfolk member, Urban
League of Hampton Roads member, Old Huntersville Development Corp.
member, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority member, 2nd District Women's
Political Caucus member, Leadership Hampton Roads member.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES by CNB