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A lawyer and retired police officer top the ticket of hopefuls eyeing the Prince George's County Council seat in District 9. While the election is nearly a year away, the candidates already have their campaigns in full swing.

The two candidates who have filed to run said their platforms are built on curbing residential growth in favor of developing commercial space for high paying jobs around federal and military institutions in south county while allocating more resources to education and advocating for greater accountability.

The general election for all County Council seats is in November 2010. The District 9 seat is currently held by Councilwoman Marilynn M. Bland (D) of Clinton, who is prevented from serving more than two four-year terms.

Attorney Tamara Davis Brown, 43, of the Windbrook community in Clinton said her desire to run emerged after years of involvement in the community and a general dissatisfaction with the school system.

Backed with an administrative law degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., and a private practice, Brown said she was has the time and know-how to represent residents in District 9.

Brown, a mother of two who filed with the county's board of elections in September, said her priorities would be to develop a more comprehensive development plan for District 9 encompassing economics, public safety, transportation and education.

She is already eyeing the creation of a ‘federal triangle' along Route 5/Branch Avenue that would make more use of Metro stations in south county and their proximity to Joint Base Andrews. The corridor, she said, would spur contract opportunities in the area that would help diversify the tax base.

"We're most in need of a vision and how we want to grow the District 9 and the county," she said. "There are too many Master Plans that don't take into account the characteristics of District 9."

Candidate Catherine Taggart-Ross, 52, of the Surratts Garden community in Clinton said her first priorities are accountability and stronger social programs aimed at helping teens, the elderly and veterans in the community.

"I want to lay the foundation for accountability and responsibility for leaders in Prince George's County," said Ross, who filed Dec. 11 to run.

Ross, a retired Metropolitan Police officer and mother of seven adult sons, envisions more community centers in District 9 that offer services such as job centers and preventative health care clinics that would relieve pressure off of area hospitals.

She added that these community centers could help deter young people from crime and give them more options after graduation.

"Most of the children are going back to their communities [after graduation] feeling angry and abandoned," she said. "I think having been in law enforcement and dealing with communities has allowed me the ability to communicate with people."

Mel Franklin, 34, of the Marlton community in Upper Marlboro said it was a lack of strong leadership in the county that is behind his run for the District 9 seat. Franklin said he plans to file in January for the election.

"I think the residents in District 9 are really hungry for a change," he said. "I believe our residents in District 9 deserve the high quality of leadership that can help foster the very best of what we can be. That's not what we've had, but that is what I will give."

Franklin, a husband and father of a two-year-old son, moved to the county in 2001 shortly after finishing law school at Duke University in Durham, N.C. Originally working for the Federal Trade Commission in the District, he said he soon took up political ambitions in the county state as he was elected to the Democratic Central Committee for Dist. 27 in 2005 and currently works for the Office of the Maryland Attorney General in Baltimore.

Franklin said one of his key ambitions is creating more jobs locally that can afford the kind of tax base needed for more education resources and to put an end to strip mall developments in favor of more commercial office space.

"Our focus to date has been the shopping center model — we don't understand the missing component is the jobs," he said. "Right now our strategy for development should be to not develop the rural tier and instead focus on redevelopment near our Metro transit centers, focused on attracting federal and state agencies and private contractors."

Juanita Miller of Clinton, who has announced a run for District 9 but has not filed, did not immediately return calls for comment about her candidacy.

Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly stated Mel Franklin's employer, the number of children he has, and his position on development in the rural tier.