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The election season has started in Rockville.

One-time mayoral candidate Mark Pierzchala last week threw his hat into this year's race for City Council, a move some say is early by Rockville election standards.

City residents will choose a mayor and four council members in November. Rockville elections are held every two years.

Pierzchala said Monday that he decided to run for council this time instead of mayor, the seat he sought in the 2007 election, because he would not have the time to devote to the higher office.

"I was looking to running for mayor and I think I could've pulled it off, but due to a changing job situation and a little bit of a family situation, I don't think honestly I could have had time to be mayor, especially given some of the daytime ceremonial stuff the mayor has to do," the College Gardens resident said.

Pierzchala said he is jumping into the race early this year in part because he felt he threw his hat into the 2007 election too late.

"I wanted to be at the front of it rather than at the tail end of it," he said.

Pierzchala, who works for Mathematica Policy Research Inc. in Washington, D.C., said he decided seek office this year because he was unhappy with the level of spending increase approved during the last budget cycle.

Many of those who ran for seats in the city's 2007 election made no promises of their intentions for this year's election, saying it is too early to tell.

"I haven't decided what I'm going to do, but I'm certainly thinking about it and I certainly commend Mark [Pierzchala] on his run," Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann said.

Councilwoman Anne R. Robbins and Councilman John B. Britton also said it was too early to decide. Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio said she wants to focus on her work on the council, as well as fiscal 2010 budget discussion, before making a decision and Councilman Piotr Gajewski did not comment.

Candidates usually make their official announcements in April or May, Robbins said.

Candidate election packets are not available at City Hall until May 1, when potential candidates can officially file their intention to run with the city, according to the City Clerk's Office.

Former mayoral candidate Drew Powell and former council candidate Richard Gottfried, who sought office in 2007, each said he is thinking about another run.

"Well, I'm certainly keeping my options open and have not made a decision just yet," Powell said.

Eric Kuowha Wang and Brigitta Mullican, who both ran for council in 2007, also said they have not decided.

"Only generally," Wang said. "There's still 10 months to go."

Some, like Planning Commissioner Tracy Pakulniewicz-Chidiac or former City Councilman Robert E. Dorsey, who both ran for council, said they have not even thought about it.

"But if I were to think about it, it would probably be for mayor," Dorsey, who served seven terms on the council before losing his seat in the last election, said.

While Pierzchala's announcement may seem early for some, it is not unique for candidates to make their formal announcements early in the year, said Rockville resident and local political observer Roald Schrack.

Schrack pointed to former mayor Larry Giammo's first run for office in 2001 when he made his announcement in late February.

"It may be a little early, but it's not so early that I would say it's too far out of line," Schrack said. "Two years ago, the whole campaign was a little late."

Hoffmann was the first to kick off the 2007 race in March of that year when she announced her intention to run for mayor. She had been a member of the City Council.

This year's general election will be on Nov. 3.