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A fourth City Council forum Wednesday night sponsored by three Rockville civic associations gave the candidates for mayor and council the opportunity to differentiate themselves from their opponents by asking them how the city would be better if they were elected or re-elected to office.

Instead of separating Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann and Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio to question them, as other debates have done, they were seated at the table with the 10 council candidates in a nod to the fact that the mayor and four council members have an equal vote, moderator Jim Reschovsky said.

Reschovsky is president of the Woodley Gardens Civic Association, which sponsored the forum along with the College Gardens Civic Association and the Plymouth Woods Condominium Association.

The candidates were asked how Rockville would be better after they served a term in office.

Bridget Newton said the city would be a "happier place" with a more civil council and a better, more inclusive planning process. There have been accusations that some members of the council do not respect residents who come before the body with comments and questions.

Max van Balgooy said there would be stronger code enforcement and a revisited business plan for Town Center.

Councilman Piotr Gajewski, a first-term incumbent, said he would continue to make sure Rockville governs itself well.

Mark Pierzchala said the city would know more clearly what it values and the council would run more smoothly and be more civil.

Trapper Martin said the council would have constructive conversations at each council meeting and the business community would have a stronger relationship with the Rockville Chamber of Commerce.

Councilman John Britton, also a first-term incumbent, said he, like Gajewski, would continue what he has been working on in his first term, namely increasing pedestrian and bike safety and civic involvement by the residents of Rockville.

Waleed Ovase said his main focus would be civility in his first term, but he would also look at smart, affordable housing.

Carl Henn said many small improvements would add up to large change, including better pedestrian safety, another Imagine Rockville meeting, which allowed participants to brainstorm ideas of what they would like to accomplish in the city, and opening the gate erected by Montgomery College and bordering Princeton Place to stop students and faculty from venturing off campus to smoke after the school banned smoking and tobacco use on college grounds in August 2008.

Virginia Onley said the residents of Rockville would feel like they've elected "a people person" who listens to their concerns and explains why she votes the way she does.

Tom Moore said the government would "speak to its citizens a little better, and the citizens will listen a little better to the government." The City Council would be more mindful of the effects of its decisions, he said.

Hoffmann said city buildings would be 100 percent wind-powered and the aging sewer and water infrastructure of the city would be replaced. There would also be walking town hall meetings, where city officials and staff walk through a community to learn of its needs and challenges, and the green building regulations would have passed, making the city greener as a whole.

Marcuccio said residents "will be a part of what happens in this city," the budget will be "scrubbed" and communication on the council and with the community would greatly improve.

Some of the candidates were asked if they support the city manager form of government currently in place, and if elected, if they would keep Scott Ullery in the position of city manager or consider replacing him. Ullery could not be reached immediately for comment.

Van Balgooy, Britton, Henn, Onley, Pierzchala and Martin said they support the structure, and would not consider removing Ullery from his post.

Newton also supported the system, but said council members need to take back some of the authority from Ullery and start setting the agenda themselves.

"It's not his fault if he's given bad direction," she said.

Ovase later agreed with Newton, saying he would not fire Ullery, but would give him "more direction."

Most of the candidates were also asked what their vision is for the area north of Town Square, including the area north of Beall Avenue.

Moore said he would like to see the area develop more mixed-use space because Town Center is fairly small.

"It can be more of a regional magnet," he said.

Ovase agreed that mixed use was the best idea, but he wants to focus on a "better mix" than what Town Square has and to advertise heavily.

Pierzchala said there are lots of options for development and he is a fan of mixed use.

Onley wants to see a family-oriented use as part of the development. She mentioned miniature golf or a Chuck E. Cheese as something she and her grandchildren would patronize.

Marcuccio said she thinks the bottom level of the former Bank of America building at North Washington Street and Beall Avenue and known as the "pink building," should be converted into a farmers market and the upper levels into a science center.

There are plans to renovate the building.

Newton wants to see more government buildings go in north of Beall Avenue so they are not all clustered in the south end of town, creating a "dead zone" at night in the north.

Van Balgooy also wants to see Town Center expand northward in order to make downtown Rockville more of a destination.

Gajewski took a different view, saying the free market needs to decide what businesses will go there. Trying to force development with the hand of government reminds him of the failed communist experiment in Poland, where he lived as a child, he said.

There are three more candidate forums before the election on Nov. 3.

One today at 7 p.m. is sponsored by the King Farm Citizens Assembly in King Farm. Another on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. is sponsored by the community blog Rockville Central at the Thomas Farm Community Center. The final forum is set for 1 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Rockville Senior Center.