By Lisa Rein and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) said he "hit the roof" when he read late last month that health inspectors had barred volunteers from donating home-cooked meals to county homeless shelters.
Before the day was over, he ordered the county to release a statement in his name: "Nobody and no bureaucratic regulation will interfere with Fairfax County's ability to feed and help the homeless this winter."
The next day, he called off the kitchen crackdown.
The episode underscores Connolly's determination to avoid unflattering headlines about the county government as he prepares to ask voters for a second term in 2007.
A big reelection victory next year could position him to pursue the prize everyone in Northern Virginia politics says he covets: a shot at the congressional seat that could open in 2008 if Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) retires and Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) tries to succeed him. (Warner said last week that he was "leaning in favor" of running again.)
Connolly won't make an official announcement about a second term as board chairman until his St. Patrick's Day party, but there is little doubt about his political health. He has $500,000 in the bank -- an amount he says he intends to double -- and, as yet, no primary opposition. He can point to a record of progress on several important fronts, and his control of the 10-member board is unchallenged.
But Connolly, 57, is taking no chances. He's placed the Board of Supervisors on an election-season footing, making it clear, according to board colleagues, that he wants no controversial issues brought to the table next year.
Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully), who heads a committee that examines potential changes to the county zoning ordinance, said Connolly repeated that desire at a recent session of the panel. Frey and other board members said several politically nettlesome issues, such as the recommendations of a task force studying Tysons Corner and new regulations for adult video stores, might not come up until after next year's election.
Connolly said that isn't true, and that even if avoiding hot button matters were an objective, it would be impossible. "Events control the agenda," he said. "We're not going to hide from issues that need to be addressed."
Although no primary opponent is on the horizon, a possible Republican opponent is Gary H. Baise of Falls Church area, a lawyer active in party politics. Baise, 65, said he is "looking very seriously" at the seat after a 30-year career that included Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency posts in the Nixon administration and private practice in the District.
Most of the other six Democrats and three Republicans on the board are expected to run again, although Elaine N. McConnell (R-Springfield) and T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee) said they are considering other options.
Connolly, elected chairman in 2003, will stake his case for a second four-year term on what he calls evidence of advancement. They include a reduction in gang violence, an increase in the stock of affordable housing, a commitment to education funding and road improvements he says will improve mobility in the county despite inadequate funding from Richmond.
One issue Connolly will face questioning on from voters is the perception that he is too close to the county's development community. Although Fairfax is largely built out, several projects have generated debate. MetroWest, the office, retail and apartment development at the Vienna Metro station, was approved by the board this year in support of a "smart growth" strategy to curb sprawl by clustering high-rise construction around mass transit.
But the issue of what constitutes acceptable density in Fairfax remains unresolved and volatile.
"Gerry and all of the candidates [for supervisor] need to be prepared to address this issue," said Deborah Reyher, a Vienna environmental lawyer who fought construction of homes abutting the Washington & Old Dominion Trail. "I think we have had a Board of Supervisors that has belittled our concerns and been very slow to respond to the legitimate needs of citizens who take these issues seriously."
Adds Davis: "You have a county that has trended Democratic over the last three cycles, and Gerry has funded himself very well. But there's still an unease out there over traffic and development that any of us who hold office have to face."
Connolly said his critics overstate his ties to developers, noting he has good relations with the county's business community, of which developers are a part. He noted that he "pulled the plug" on a project near the Vienna Metro he believed was too far from the train station.
Connolly's greatest vulnerability might turn out to be style, not policy. A voluble former Catholic seminarian from Boston who enjoys peppering his rhetoric with Latin, Connolly can be charming and funny.
But in public and behind the scenes, he can also be thin-skinned and prone to bursts of temper. After a top zoning official said publicly last summer that the building industry has a lot of influence on the supervisors, Connolly said, he called her into his office to dress her down.
Several board colleagues said they were unhappy with Connolly's treatment of two neighborhood leaders who testified at a hearing last week on a proposed apartment and retail project at the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station.
When one leader, Becky Cate, an activist who ran against Supervisor Linda Q. Smyth (D-Providence) in 2003, criticized Smyth for not supporting the listing of local schools that would receive developer donations from the project, Connolly lashed out.
"You're trying to create a tempest in a teapot, and frankly it's political," Connolly said.
"I get no rebuttal?" Cate asked.
"It sounds political to me. I don't know how you rebut that."
Cate said later, "I thought he treated me very rudely. He takes the bully pulpit far too seriously."
Connolly said he was trying to correct what he described as "blatantly dishonest testimony" from a political enemy of Smyth's. Others said his tactics with staff and people who disagree with him on issues represent a blind spot.
"I would say Gerry's primary vulnerability is Gerry," said Eric Lundberg, the county's GOP chairman.
Kauffman, who praises Connolly's drive and ability to set an agenda said: "He does carry a big stick. I just wish maybe from time to time he'd speak more softly.
"He's great to have on your side, but you don't want to get in his way."
Connolly said critics often think of his passion as bluster. "Most people find me authentic," he said.
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