Behind Closed Doors, Hoping for Open Minds

By Bill Turque and Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 22, 2007

No political issue in Northern Virginia is more highly charged than transportation. And lately, no issue has been more likely to prompt elected officials to duck public debate and seek sanctuary behind closed doors.

Last week two massive initiatives reached critical, perhaps make-or-break stages: the $1 billion transportation funding bill passed by the General Assembly, and the first phase of the $4 billion Dulles corridor rail project.

The Fairfax Board of Supervisors met in closed session March 12 to discuss a resolution it had passed twice before in essentially the same form. Hoping that the third time would charm Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), Supervisors Linda Q. Smyth (D-Providence), T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee), Joan M. DuBois (R-Dranesville) and Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) prepared a resolution once again asking that the proposed Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport be opened to competitive bids that include the option of a tunnel under Tysons Corner.

The state is currently in negotiations with a single bidder, a consortium led by the engineering and construction firm Bechtel, for a fixed price to build an extension that would place the Tysons segment on elevated track. Board members, and a coalition sponsored by the McLean Chamber of Commerce, say that a tunnel is the best fit with Tysons' future, which they see as urban and pedestrian-friendly. State officials say that they stand to lose nearly $1 billion in federal funding if they make major changes to the project.

One of the board's grievances is the secrecy that shrouds the state's bargaining with Dulles Transit Partners, the name of the construction consortium. Because the project is under the auspices of the state's Public-Private Transportation Act, pricing information and other critical documents are treated as trade secrets and are likely to remain confidential.

Kauffman said one reason for the closed doors was that the board was getting legal advice from county attorney David P. Bobzien on the consequences of the project's collapse in the event that the state and Dulles Transit Partners cannot agree on contract terms. State law allows an elected body to solicit legal advice on specific matters in private session.

But he conceded that it did not look so good.

"Adding secrecy to secrecy is never a great thing," he said. "But there's so much financially at stake that we need a clear understanding of what the state is doing to us or for us. The only way we can flesh that out is behind closed doors."

The board spent about 45 minutes behind those doors on the rail project.

Back in public session, it took just under 10 minutes to approve the resolution by unanimous vote.

Five days earlier, elected representatives from at least 10 Northern Virginia counties, cities and towns had met -- privately -- with Kaine to discuss their objections to the $1 billion transportation funding package passed by the General Assembly last month.

At the top of the list was a provision allowing localities to raise $400 million a year for road and transit improvements if they agree to increase taxes and fees. Regional leaders want the state to accept some responsibility for raising taxes in an election year. Kaine plans to amend the bill extensively.

With no more than two officials from each jurisdiction, the meeting was not covered by the state's open meetings law. In an exercise more appropriate to a White House Cabinet meeting, reporters were ushered into a Fairfax County Government Center conference room for video and still shots of Kaine with Connolly, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott K. York (I), Prince William County Chairman Corey A. Stewart (R), Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille (D) and others.

No questions were permitted. The group emerged for a news conference after about 90 minutes.

Moran Eyes the Future

Del. Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria) has a new Web page criticizing the Republican-authored transportation package. But the page, at http://www.noraid.net, looks suspiciously like the work of someone with grander ambitions than battling the Republican majority of the Virginia House of Delegates.

The first thing the viewer sees upon calling up the page is a form for name, address and e-mail -- valuable information, say, for someone who might run for governor and ask for campaign contributions.

The substance of the site is nothing new for Moran, chairman of the House of Delegates' Democratic Caucus, who has been hammering the point all year that the Republican plan diverts too much money from existing state priorities.

Moran said the site is intended to encourage opponents of the transportation plan to voice their opinions -- not to further his political goals.

"This is the way to communicate your issues and educate people with respect to the issues of the day," he said. "This is the 21st century. I'm very pleased with the site and the response it's received."

The site has generated several hundred responses, Moran said. It was funded by his political action committee, Leadership for Virginia's Future.

Showing Connolly the Money

Connolly covered himself in green last week, and not just for St. Patrick's Day. About 250 people paid $1,000 a plate for his March 16 fundraiser at the Tower Club, where Kaine was the featured speaker.

That night, nearly 600 Democrats ponied up $35 each for beer, corned beef and cabbage at his annual St. Pat's party. Sen. James Webb (D) was the marquee name for the event at the Elks Lodge on Arlington Boulevard in Fairfax. The real stars though, were Webb's wife, Hong Le Webb, and their 3-month-old daughter, Georgia. The Webbs wasted no time immersing her in the family's military tradition by dressing her in a green camouflage T-shirt.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) won Connolly's traditional straw poll, followed by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), former senator John Edwards and Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.).

The polls have a decent track record of picking nominees. Webb was last year's winner.

Leslie L. Byrne's 2005 nomination for lieutenant governor was presaged as well, although she lost narrowly in the November general election to Republican Bill Bolling.