Dudley looks to go from the classroom to the council

Theresa Dudley (D-Kentland) has been a social studies teacher for 11 years. She has served on the board of directors of the teacher’s union for the past three years. Now, Dudley is seeking to fill the open District 5 position on the Prince George’s County Council, which she has unsuccessfully sought three times before.

“It feels different,” Dudley said about this election. “People are really looking at this race.”

Dudley will be one of seven Democrats competing in next Tuesday’s special primary election. Her opponents include Mayor Adam Ortiz of Edmonston, Adrion Howell, a Glenn Dale resident and former liaison to Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson, and Andrea Fletcher Harrison, the deputy chief of staff for the District 5 council office.

Saying she is “not controlled by any political machine,” Dudley said improving land-use development would be a top priority.

“Development has been much too heavy on the residential front,” Dudley explained, saying, “Schools, police, and the fire department can’t keep up.”

“There has not been a lot of commercial development because of the lack of funding for schools,” Dudley said.

The candidate called for “autonomy” for school systems, saying it would provide them with “the funding they need.”

Dudley did not blame Johnson for the land-use issues, saying, “The council controls that.”

“If you don’t manage the county properly—you cannot provide adequate facilities,” Dudley said of the council. “It’s time for this mess to stop.”

Dudley also accused unnamed council members of taking “developer dollars,” and said it affected the way in which they conducted county affairs.

In regards to Johnson, Dudley said, “He’s been trying to improve the quality of life.”

The teacher said she would be an “independent voice,” for the county, and said she had “educated more people” in this campaign “about developer dollars.”

“Other candidates are now saying what I’ve been saying for years,” Dudley said about the land-use situation.

“My message has not changed.”

In 2004, Dudley was the Green Party’s nominee for Congress in Maryland’s Fourth Congressional District, where she placed third behind incumbent Rep. Al Wynn (D- Mitchellville) and Republican John McKinnis, receiving 4.54 percent of the vote.

“I didn’t feel the Democratic Party was as progressive as it needed to be,” Dudley said about her decision to run as the Green candidate in 2004.

This year, Dudley feels her chances of winning are “great,” saying her “name recognition” will prove helpful in the Tuesday election.