reprinted with permission from the Northern Virginia Journal October 31, 2003 Northern Virginia Journal For Supervisor TUESDAY'S ELECTION WILL determine the direction of three local counties for the next four years. In FAIRFAX COUNTY, local supervisors' races have taken a back seat to the fierce contest for chairman of the Board of Supervisors between Republican Mychele Brickner and Democrat Gerry Connolly, D-Providence. However, in five districts, there's no real race to begin with. Incumbent supervisors Sharon Bulova, D-Braddock, Dana Kauffman, D-Lee, and Elaine McConnell, R-Springfield, are unopposed, and Gerry Hyland, D-Mt. Vernon, and Michael Frey, R-Sully, are clear favorites. But voters in the other districts have a once-every-four-years' chance to redirect the county from its current headlong descent into high-tax gridlock. Republican challenger Buzz Hawley is our pick to replace Sup. Penny Gross, D-Mason - who is so out of touch with her constituents that she voted to close Hidden Oaks Nature Center - after spending $200,000 to renovate it. Longtime McLean activist Joan DuBois is a good replacement for retiring Republican Stu Mendelsohn in Dranesville. Although he too often voted with the majority, Mendelsohn occasionally was a rare voice of dissent. Voters can send a strong message that they want relief from both spiraling property taxes and traffic congestion by electing James Hyland, a former aide to Sen. John Warner, to Connolly's seat in Providence. And commuters who don't want to pay higher tolls for a transit system they can't use should replace Sup. Catherine Hudgins, D-Hunter Mill, with GOP challenger Doug Bushee.