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West Laurel resident Mary Lehman said she will be running for the Prince George's County Council District 1 seat.

"I felt in my gut it was the right time in my life. I care about the county and I could make it a better place," Lehman, 45, said.

The incumbent, Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel, is term limited and has announced plans to run for the Prince George's County State's Attorney seat. District 1 comprises Laurel, Adelphi, College Park, Beltsville and Calverton.

A Greenbelt native, Lehman said her mother's activism in local causes, including integrating Greenbelt, had a huge impact on her.

"She was the best civics lesson any kid could have and the best living example that citizens could make a difference," she said.

Lehman said she first got involved in politics in the early 1990s when she joined the Citizens Against the Stadium group that helped defeat the Washington Redskins' plan to build a professional football stadium in Maryland City.

She then joined the West Laurel Civic Association shortly thereafter, and became president of the nearly 2,000 household group in 2005. She will be stepping down in August to prepare for the Sept. 14 2010 Democratic primary.

Married with four children in the county school system next year, Lehman said she has kept the WLCA involved with issues impacting the community, including Konterra, the 2,200-acre, upscale, mixed-use development; and Reaching Hearts International, a Seventh-day Adventist Church that was cleared to build a church on its West Laurel property last November.

She has also worked for Dernoga's office from 2002 to2006 as an educational liaison and currently works for Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Dist. 21) of College Park as a legislative aide.

"I definitely learned through working with Tom and Joseline the importance of responsive, good and transparent government. And having programs and services that work for people, and if they don't, finding out why," she said.

Dernoga, whose term expires in 2010, said he endorses Lehman's candidacy.

"You would like to think that you're turning over the seat to someone who will carry on a lot of the same ideals," he said. "And based on my experience with Mary, she will carry on the same approaches of good government."

Pena-Melnyk also supports Lehman's decision.

"I am going to miss her dearly but I think the county will be so blessed to have her," she said. "She is a beautiful human being and we need people like that … people that are committed and do not have a personal agenda."

Barbara Sollner-Webb, the WLCA second vice president, said she thinks Lehman would be "dynamite" as a council member.

"She would continue with Tom's energy and vitality," she said. "We've been spoiled with having someone as wonderful as Tom and it's important we get someone with that level of constituent care."

E-mail Timmy Gelles at tgelles@gazette.net.