Rebecca Dongarra, a recently announced Democratic candidate for the 1st District Council seat, said her home is not for sale and she’s been honest about the fact that she and her husband considered moving last fall.

“It’s on my (campaign) brochure,” Dongarra said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. “I think the public deserves honesty.”

Dongarra answered questions about the sale after an anonymous commenter mentioned mentioned it in the comments section of a story in the Catonsville Times about the Catonsville resident’s candidacy.

“I absolutely considered moving from the community,” Dongarra said, adding that she considered moving from the area she’s lived in for almost two decades because of some of the same concerns that are driving her to run for office — drugs in the community, schools and “a county government seemingly in the pocket of developers.”

Dongarra said she signed a contract with a local realtor on Aug. 14, 2009 but pulled out of selling her home prior to the 60 days before the contract ended.

After an unsuccessful bid on a home in Howard County, Dongarra said she had a heart-to-heart talk with her dad and decided to stay and run for office.

“I’m filing because you have to take a positive step,” Dongarra said.

“There was no need to be on the market anymore,” Dongarra said. “We’ve been happy here, and I’ve been very clear with people about that.”

Then there were four.

The owner of an area catering company has said she will hit the campaign trail and become the fourth Democratic candidate seeking to replace four-term incumbent Councilman Sam Moxley.

Moxley said last month that he will not seek a fifth term on the council and is “99.9 percent sure” he is going to run as a candidate for clerk of the court this fall.

Rebecca Dongarra, a Catonsville caterer who owns Dionysus’ Kitchen with her husband, Paul, filed to run in her first campaign late last month.

Dongarra said she was motivated to run in part by her desire to make her community better for her three children, ages 5 to 9.

“Walking my children to school, I see syringes by the side of the road,” Dongarra said, adding that she wants to “find the tools to address the hard-core drug problem.

“I can go to my gas station and buy $5 on pump three and buy a crack pipe while I’m there,” she said.

Dongarra said she believes her experience as a small business owner will be beneficial when it comes to the county budget.

She added that she was also motivated to run because of reports that two local development attorneys are financially supporting Democratic candidates in three open council races — including the 1st District.

“It’s troubling to see the amount of money that flows from developers into campaigns and how it influences decision making,” Dongarra said.

David Gildea and Michael Paul Smith, the son of County Executive Jim Smith, held $1,000 per person events for three candidates, including Tom Quirk, who is running to replace Moxley.

Campaign finance records submitted to the State Board of Elections show Quirk raised more than $47,000 from 135 donations.

Those records show Quirk raised nearly 75 percent of that money from just 35 donations related to the event hosted at Gildea’s Owings Mills home last November.

Dongarra is currently the only woman in the 1st District race and the only Democrat who has officially filed.

Three others — Quirk, Brian Bailey and Greg Morgan have all said they plan to run and are raising money.

Steve Whisler, the only Republican currently in the race, filed to run in October.