A week after addressing a roomful of Arab Americans, the candidates for Board of Supervisors chairman criticized each other in front of about 100 members of the Fairfax B'nai B'rith assembled at Adat Reyim Synagogue in Springfield as the campaign enters its homestretch.
The forum took place hours before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, and hours after a suicide bomber killed 19 people in Haifa. Although the incident was not directly mentioned, it seemed to be on Gerry Connolly's mind as he delivered his opening remarks.
"I don't think anybody who visits Israel cannot be struck by the geography and the vulnerability of such a small country surrounded by so many would-be hostile neighbors," the Democratic candidate for Board chairman told the audience, noting that he had visited Israel several times when he worked on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Republican Mychele Brickner for her part wished the audience a happy new year, saying "I'm pleased to see so many of you here as you begin your High Holy Day later today."
BRICKNER REITERATED her call for a transportation bond referendum, an independent inspector general to oversee the county’s finances and a 5-percent cap on property tax revenue.
At one point, she batted away a question on the possibility of bringing a Major League Baseball team to Northern Virginia.
"I think in Fairfax County we need to focus our priorities and maintain that. As far as education and transportation, those are two priorities," she said.
When it was his turn to answer the question, Connolly, a native of Massachusetts, deadpanned, "You know how much I love baseball, I'm a Red Sox fan."
He added that he would oppose building a stadium with public funds and that the delicate question of a stadium’s location could doom the idea of moving a Major League team to the area.
"Everybody loves the idea in theory, but nobody wants it near them," he said.
Connolly, the current Providence District supervisor, derided Brickner's tax cap proposal as a "gimmick" that would jeopardize county services, and he pledged his support for transportation improvements, in particular the Rail to Dulles project.
He also sought to present himself as the candidate with the most experience.
When the moderator, Marvin Wagner, addressed a question on the Dillon Rule to Brickner, sending a puzzled murmur through the audience, Connolly leaped out of his seat to explain the rule.
The Dillon Rule is the brainchild of a 19th-century judge that restricts the amount of power that local governments can wield and places it in the hands of the state legislature, he said.
"Virginia's one of the four states left that has the Dillon Rule," he said as he sat down again.
"I agree with the explanation of the Dillon Rule and what it means to Fairfax County," Brickner said. "I wouldn't go as far as saying that we need to abolish the Dillon Rule. I think there should be a balance there."
But Brickner added that the state ought to give more taxing powers to the county, including the ability to tax cigarettes.
Connolly said he was in favor of repealing the rule, calling it a "terrible impediment" to the county.
IF CONNOLLY portrayed himself as the most experienced candidate, Brickner portrayed herself as the most ethical.
"The main issue in this race is integrity," she said, noting that Connolly had received tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from developers after he had approved controversial rezonings.
"This is a real emerging issue and one that you should be concerned about," she said. "I don't think that conducting yourself in that way deserves a promotion, and I hope you don't either."
She also repeated her charge that the county Board had treated the taxpayers like "an ATM machine" by raising property taxes 53 percent over the past eight years.
That charge did not go over well with some in the audience.
"I don't like statements like that," said Barbara Berger of King's Park West. "I don't like cliches; I like facts. ... If you don't have the facts, don't make the statement."
Berger also noted that Connolly had more experience in governing the county.
"I think that Mychele should have done a little more review," she said.
But Pat Rodio said he found Brickner to be "more serious in her approach in what she would like to do."
Still, the debate was “a toss-up," he said.
"It was the usual round of political rhetoric."