LEMAY -- The candidates for St. Louis County executive in the November election appeared together at a campaign event for the first time on Wednesday afternoon in Lemay.

Charlie A. Dooley, the Democratic incumbent, and his Republican opponent, Bill Corrigan, spoke for a few minutes and then took a couple of questions from a crowd of about 150 people at the Orlando Gardens Banquet and Conference Center. The event was sponsored by the Lemay Chamber of Commerce, and featured numerous candidates, or their representatives, from state and federal races.

Each candidate was allowed four minutes of speaking time.

Corrigan used his allotment to assail the Dooley administration, which he claimed has favored political donors with county contracts and has failed to encourage entrepreneurial activity.

He vowed to reform the county's property assessment procedures.

"We have a broken and unfair property assessment and tax system," he said.

Corrigan said he would impose a moratorium on tax increases and work to improve the county's three small-business incubators.

Dooley devoted most of his short speech to praising the current state of county government, from its police force to its AAA bond rating.

He touched on the county's recent bid to land a Chinese air cargo hub and his support of the half-cent Metro tax proposition which voters passed in April.

He told the crowd that he was devoted to tightening the county's economic belt, and noted that he had persuaded the County Council last year to cut the county's 55.8-cent property tax by 3.5 cents.

"St. Louis County is not broken," he said. "We're moving forward."

After they spoke, the candidates responded to questions from the crowd as to whether they would support a tax increase, and if they thought property taxes were too high.

Corrigan reaffirmed his opposition to tax increases and said he thought property taxes were, indeed, too high, which he blamed on the property assessment system.

And he noted that in 2007, Dooley had sought a property tax increase of 2 cents for every $100 of assessed value, which the County Council rejected.

Dooley told the crowd that the blame for higher property taxes should be put on taxing entities, rather than the assessment system. He pointed especially to school districts, which account for the lion's share of such taxes and may raise their tax rates to offset any drop in property values.

As to whether he would favor a tax hike, Dooley said, "Yes, I support investment in ourselves," pointing to his support of the Metro tax increase.