Eleven vying for council seats

Gottfried, an accountant and outreach chairman for the Twinbrook Citizens Association, reversed an earlier decision to stay out of the race.

‘‘We need a candidate with a strong financial background,” he said.

The accountant regularly offers the council budget advice during Citizen’s Forum portion of City Council meetings.

Several weeks ago, Gottfried told The Gazette he was not running for office, and that he could still make a difference in the city.

Pakulniewicz-Chidiac, a public relations consultant who volunteers for Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffmann’s mayoral campaign, also jumped into the race.

‘‘It’s a really big field and I think that’s indicative of the sentiments about this council,” Pakulniewicz-Chidiac said.

Like most of the challengers seeking one of four council seats, Pakulniewicz-Chidiac characterizes the defending incumbents as contentious.

Candidate after candidate has attacked the council, saying they took too long to decide how often garbage should be collected.

Of the 11 council candidates, eight are challengers and three incumbents.

Mayor Larry Giammo is not seeking re-election. Hoffmann, Mark M. Pierzchala and Drew Powell are running to replace him.

A review of city records indicates that no election since at least 1964 has offered more council candidates. Records for the elections of 1958 through 1962 could not be obtained by press time.

In 1954, 12 council candidates ran for office. Deficiencies in the city water and sewer infrastructure helped sweep the Citizens for Good Government slate into office.

Robbins holds kick-off

Councilwoman Anne M. Robbins held her re-election campaign kick-off at Giuseppi’s Pizza Plus on Saturday.

‘‘We had over 100 people,” Robbins said.

‘‘People that were with us from the beginning, their little grandbaby’s were there. It was one of the great days of my life,” she added.

Robbins is running for her fifth council term. David Robbins, her husband, served on the City Council for three terms in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

here are the candidates

Candidates for mayor

Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffmann, West End

Mark M. Pierzchala, College Gardens

Drew Powell, Woodley Gardens

Candidates for council

Theodric ‘‘Theo” Anderson, Hungerford

John B. Britton, West End

Councilman Robert E. Dorsey, Twinbrook

Piotr Gajewski, King Farm

Richard A. Gottfried, Twinbrook

Carl R. Henn, Hungerford

Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio, East Rockville

Brigitta M. Mullican, Twinbrook

Tracy Pakulniewicz-Chidiac, South Rockville

Councilwoman Anne M. Robbins, Rockshire

Eric Kuohwa Wang, Silver Rock