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Prince George's County Council candidates vying for the District 8 seat in 2010 attended a community meeting last week in Fort Washington where they shared many of the same concerns regarding education, crime and economic development, but differed on how to best address the challenges and where they ranked in priority.

Each of the four candidates were asked questions submitted by homeowners during a meeting Oct. 22 organized by the South Potomac Citizens Association. Sidney Gibson, Betty Horton-Hodge, Jerry Mathis and Andre Nottingham have all filed with the county's board of election to run for the office in 2010.

The forum was the first for the group of District 8 candidates, who are eyeing the seat of County Councilman Tony Knotts (D-Dist. 8) of Temple Hills, who recently announced his plans to run for county executive. Due to term limits, Knotts cannot run for re-election to the council in 2010.

Candidates have until July 6 to file for the seat, and the general election will be held Nov. 2, 2010.

Horton-Hodge, 57, of the Riverbend Estates community in Fort Washington stressed the importance of her experience, including years as a corporate and municipal accountant with Kaiser Permanente and as a legislative aide for Knotts, to explain why she should be elected.

"I have a lot of experience in county government. I understand how it works," she said. "I have a passion for service; it is what I was born to do."

Horton-Hodge said she is most adamant about raising the standards for public schools and said she is willing to fight for funding while keeping politics out of the classroom.

"The school board needs to focus on educating our children," she said. "Every child deserves a quality education."

Mathis, 57, of the Potomac Estates neighborhood of Fort Washington said funding within county schools was not the issue but rather the mismanagement of funds. He said the $1.6 billion budget of the school system is nearly half of the county's operating budget.

"It's not about money; it's about the mismanagement of money," he said. "More is going for the teachers and administrators and not the students."

Mathis, who runs a realty company, points to his experience as a community activist, including pressing the County Council for legislation in requiring more minority participation in contracts at the National Harbor development as proof of his dedication to the community. He told residents that education, public safety and economic development all depend on each other to determine the quality of life in a community.

"I will be a leader. I have no problem standing up for the rights of the people," he said.

Gibson, 47, of the Potomac Estates community of Fort Washington said his top priority was pushing for stronger economic growth.

Gibson, who works as a systems analysis, told residents that the south county community cannot rely solely on the National Harbor development to stimulate job growth in the area and that the economy must diversity by attracting a broader spectrum of development outside of housing.

"National Harbor can't be everything. We have to break away from that," he said.

Nottingham, 41, of the Radford Woods community in Fort Washington focused on increasing residents' participation in local government. He told residents, if elected, he would create several resident-run oversight boards to also improve accountability among elected officials in the county.

"There is no other option, as far as I'm concerned," he said. "I see us being at a crossroad in Prince George's County. We need strong leadership."

E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.