Anthony Castellano/The Gazette Timekeeper Kurt Walter holds up a 30-second warning for a candidate Oct. 13 during the Greater Bowie Democratic Club candidates forum at the Kenhill Center ahead of the Nov. 8 citywide election.

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Bowie City Council incumbents and challengers were pressed by more than 40 residents during a forum Oct. 13 on issues ranging from diversifying the city’s tax base to starting a homeless shelter, as candidates explained their plans in the weeks before the Nov. 8 election.

One District 2 resident asked in a submitted question what the council could do to revive the long-moribund Marketplace shopping center on Annapolis Road, which has lost business to newer centers and also been hit hard by the recession.

“It’s big, dark and needs repair right now; otherwise, it will become an incubator for crime,” the resident said during the forum, held at the Kenhill Center.

This year, four challengers are taking on incumbents in districts 2, 3 and 4 and the two citywide at-large seats. Uncontested on the seven-member council are District 1 and the at-large mayor’s seat.

Co-hosted by the Greater Bowie Democratic Club and the Prince George’s County Young Democrats, forum organizers split candidates into two panels, which fielded questions about economic growth, social services and animal welfare.

A second candidate forum also open to the public and hosted by the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce was scheduled for Wednesday night after The Gazette’s press time at the Kenhill Center.

The owner of Marketplace has proposed redeveloping part of the site with 348 housing units for seniors, which District 2 Councilwoman Diane Polangin, who represents the area, envisions as condominiums and not rental units.

Her challenger, Piero” Pete” Mellits, said if elected he would bring his professional expertise as a civil engineer to the job of upgrading Annapolis Road required to handle additional traffic. But Polangin said traffic is likely to be less than expected because most seniors don’t commute to a job or use schools.

Residents also wanted to know what the council members would do to attract young people to Bowie.

At-large challenger James Bell said the city and council have not done enough to market the city’s many parks and recreational facilities to younger families, who could potentially help drive up property values and expand the city’s tax base.

At-large incumbent Dennis Brady and District 3 councilman Todd Turner, who is running at-large this year, cited city efforts to diversify the tax base by attracting companies that bring in jobs but require fewer services, such as trash pickup, that cost the city money.

Brady said another method is to annex bordering businesses, which brings in new tax money while offering companies the focused, local benefits of Bowie’s growing police force.

The city's director of economic development, John Henry King, has been working with Bowie residents and others outside the city with council support to set up a nonprofit incubator for start-up businesses in partnership with neighboring Bowie State University.

King also has been working with the city's economic development advisory committee, city manager and finance director to create a financial incentive fund to lure companies to the city.

Members of Citizens for Local Animal Welfare asked the first panel of candidates if they supported creation of a city-run shelter in Bowie to house unclaimed pets for a few days. The city currently takes unclaimed animals to the county facility in Upper Marlboro at the end of each day to be adopted or euthanized.

Polangin said that although she would like to see a shelter, some taxpayers without pets may not support it and more discussion is needed.

Mellits, as well as District 3 candidate Henri Gardner (currently at-large) and challenger Babatunde Alegbeleye said they supported the idea.

Longtime voter Marion Shipman, who lives in the Covington neighborhood and chairs the outreach committee at Village Baptist Church, asked candidates if they would support starting a shelter for homeless people in the city.

“We see [homeless people] on the streets of Bowie, and some people pay attention and some don’t,” he said.

Bell replied that there are two foreclosed houses on his street but that supporting ways to help residents stay in their homes is a better option than handouts.

Carl Brown, who is challenging incumbent Isaac Trouth in District 4, said he is aware of foreclosures in the city but did not suggest a solution.

Incumbent Brady said he would support a shelter if there was a documented need, saying that local agencies may already be referring homeless people to facilities outside the city.

Incumbent Turner said the city currently relies on the nonprofit Bowie Interfaith Food Pantry and county and state services to serve “a silent minority” of people in serious financial trouble but he also said that as Bowie continues to grow, it may also need to provide services.

At the end of the two-hour forum Oct. 13, Shipman said he learned more about the candidates and their ideas but that he wants to do more research before deciding who to vote for.

“I’m not sure about any of the candidates yet,” he said.

vterhune@gazette.net