Board Chairman Gerald Connolly’s failure to recuse himself on a critical vote that placed Metro stations right next to land owned by his employer in both Tysons Corner and Reston disqualifies him from another term. Under Connolly, traffic has gotten much worse, and property taxes have spiralled. It it will only get worse if he is re-elected.

Unfortunately, Republican challenger Gary Baise has run a lackluster campaign, but he has offered long-overdue reforms to make transportation the county’s No. 1 priority, subject all spending to an outside audit, make grants and contracts publicly available online, and vigorously enforce housing codes.

Braddock, Mount Vernon and Sully: Nobody

Dulles Rail supporters Sharon Bulova, D-Braddock, Gerald Hyland, D-Mount Vernon, and Michael Frey, R-Sully, face only token opposition from Independent Green candidates who want even more inconvenient, prohibitively expensive rail for Fairfax County commuters.

Dranesville: John Foust

Dranesville voters should retire Republican incumbent Joan DuBois, who voted for Dulles Rail and then claimed that traffic in Tysons “isn’t that bad” at 11 a.m.! DuBois was also conspicuously silent on the county-funded Herndon day labor center that made national news.

Democrat John Foust understands the Dulles Rail Project’s many serious shortcomings. A construction lawyer and former McLean Citizens Association president, Foust calls the no-bid, no-fixed-price contract with Bechtel “a potential disaster” for taxpayers. His clear-eyed assessment of the future financial liability imposed by Dulles Rail on county taxpayers contrasts starkly to the current board’s willful disregard of the public interest.

Hunter Mill: Marie Huhtala

Instead of rewarding Sup. Catherine Hudgins, D-Hunter Mill, for her follow-the-chairman support of Dulles Rail, voters should give the nod to Independent Marie Huhtala, a retired ambassador-turned-civic activist who led the charge against Hudgins’ secret plan to put high-density housing near the South Reston Park & Ride despite vociferous public opposition. Hunter Mill residents deserve a supervisor who fights for them — not against them.

Lee: Jeff McKay

Dana Kauffman has immense political courage, and his retirement is a great loss. Chief of Staff Jeff McKay, who has worked side by side with Kauffman for 11 years, can’t fill his boss’ shoes, but such day-to-day experience will prove invaluable in managing huge disruptions from the Base Realignment and Closure initiative and proposed redevelopment of Springfield Mall now on the horizon.

Republican Doug Boulter, a retired Army officer, has run an excellent, issues-oriented campaign, but the next Lee District supervisor needs to hit the ground running. McKay already has the experience and staff contacts to make the coming transition as painless as humanly possible.

Mason: Vellie Dietrich Hall

Despite 12 years on the board, incumbent Sup. Penelope Gross is ineffectual. Gross studiously ignored constituents’ many complaints about illegal boardinghouses — including one near Gallows Road with three front doors. She spends more time rubber-stamping votes on various regional bodies than dealing with issues that directly affect her constituents.

Republican challenger Vellie Dietrich Hall is the kind of immigrant Northern Virginia needs: Legal, hardworking and patriotic. She is an energetic campaigner who promises to pay closer attention to quality-of-life issues like crime and overcrowding (several single-family homes in Mason District she visited had been turned into flophouses) while representing the county’s growing Asian community.

Springfield: Pat Herrity

RetiringRepublican Sup. Elaine McConnell sat on her hands as Connolly and the Democratic majority radically altered Fairfax County.

Republican Pat Herrity’s top three issues are transportation, protecting neighborhoods and keeping taxes low. The technology executive is determined to use the tough negotiating tactics he learned from his late father, Jack Herrity, who wrangled more money for transportation from private businesses when he was chairman of the board than all local, state and federal sources combined.

The younger Herrity points to a $10,000 offer to offset the impact of two 10-story condo towers near his office in Merrifield as a perfect example of “Condo Connolly’s” failure to demand significant impact investments by developers before approving their high-density rezoning applications.