The next Roanoke City Council election is six months away, but political maneuvering has already begun.

Three council seats are up for grabs in May. They're occupied by Rupert Cutler, Gwen Mason and David Trinkle.

Cutler -- who was appointed earlier this year to finish the term of Alfred Dowe and Alvin Nash, who each resigned -- has said he won't run for re-election.

Mason -- who just came off a bruising state house campaign in which she was soundly defeated by her Republican opponent, even in the Roanoke portion of the district -- said she's still on the fence as to whether she'll run for the council again.

"I just finished an exhaustive six-month campaign, and need the holidays to really recharge my batteries and figure out what's best for my family first and the city second," Mason said.

Her 2006 running mate, Trinkle, said he's "strongly considering" another run.

"We're a young city council, and there's a need for continuity at this point," Trinkle said.

Of the seven current members, only Mayor David Bowers and Vice Mayor Sherman Lea have won more than one term. And Bowers' win last year came only after four consecutive losses in runs for mayor and a seat on the council.

Trinkle was among about 70 people who attended an early election brainstorming session Tuesday. Hosted by Jeremy Holmes of Ride Solutions and artistic activist Beth Deel, the event featured back-and-forth conversation that danced around ideas ranging from cutting-edge European planning concepts to "edible landscaping."

The group -- called reThink Roanoke -- hopes to forge the discussion into a platform and host a debate for council candidates this spring. Holmes said neither he, nor Deel nor third co-founder and blogger Hank Bostwick plan to run for the city council or recruit others to do so.

City Democrats will hold a primary election next year to nominate candidates, while Republicans will hold a mass meeting.

Democrats will meet next week for a reorganizational meeting. The last two such meetings -- in 2005 and 2007 -- were hard-fought battles between party factions for control of the city committee.

The main point of contention? Victory Stadium.

"Maybe at some point the whole Victory Stadium issue will finally die and go from people's memory," Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said.

Caldwell was a member of a Democratic caucus of elected officials who disagreed with the party leadership between 2005 and 2007. He says that he's now willing to serve as committee chairman to replace Tony Reed, who was elected in 2007 but said he has no plans to seek re-election this year.

Questions abound about this year's reorganization: Will Bowers rejoin the city Democratic committee? Will the various party factions put aside their disagreements to work together? Or, as in recent years, will a disaffected group leave to run independently in the general election?

A rising city Republican Party, meanwhile, is licking its chops at the prospect of more infighting among city Democrats.

"There's a lot of people excited about the chances of Democrats and independents running against each other," Roanoke City Republican Chairman Adam Boitnott said.

Boitnott said he received a lot of calls from potential candidates after sweeping GOP wins in last month's state elections. He said that since 2008 -- when no Republicans ran for the council -- the committee has grown by about 40 percent, largely because of an influx of young professionals.

Online: rethinkroanoke.org