LISTEN TO JOSHUA LOPEZ
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
LISTEN TO VINCENT ORANGE
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
April 26, just eighteen days from now, is the special election for the D.C. Council (as well as for the State Board of Education for Wards 4 and 8). The Council seat was vacated when Kwame Brown, formerly an at-large councilmember, was sworn in as chairman of the Council.
In January, the D.C. Democratic State Committee selected Sekou Biddle to temporarily fill the seat until the special election.
TheFightBack has the same ten questions for each of the Council candidates, beginning with Vincent Orange and Joshua Lopez.
From The Current: “Joshua Lopez, recently a project manager for a Georgia Avenue community development nonprofit organization, is a former advisory neighborhood commissioner in Brightwood. Lopez, also a former vice president of the Ward 4 Democrats group, worked in various capacities for Adrian Fenty, including serving on the Commission on Latino Community Development.”
From The Current: “Vincent Orange, D.C. Democratic National Committeeman, served as the Ward 5 D.C. Council member from 1999 to 2007. Most recently, he was vice president of public affairs for Pepco. A lawyer, public accountant and auditor, he was chief financial officer for the National Children’s Center.”
Questions for Council candidates:
1. D.C.’s top income tax bracket begins at $40,000, so someone making $400,000 or $4 million pays the same tax rate as someone making far less. Are you in favor of taxing the District’s highest income earners in order to avoid further cuts to safety net services?
2. What are your thoughts on former Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s so-called school reform?
3. Do you support Walmart’s attempt to bring four stores to the District of Columbia?
4. D.C. taxicab fares are some of the lowest in the country. Would you be in support of making D.C.’s fares competitive with neighboring jurisdictions?
5. What is your position on the recently introduced taxicab medallion legislation?
6. D.C. Councilmembers are the second highest paid city council in the country, according to a report by the Pew Charitable Trust. Yet, in addition to their $125,000 salary, councilmembers are able to earn outside income. If elected, will you commit to foregoing any additional income and stick to just your Council salary?
7. What is your position on the HPV vaccine, which is mandated for sixth grade girls in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and nowhere else in the U.S.?
8. What is your position on statehood versus voting rights for the District of Columbia?
9. Did you vote for Adrian Fenty in the recent mayoral election?
10. Is there anything you’d care to add?
Related Links:
http://martinaustermuhle.com/four26/ (DCist continues to do a great job covering the upcoming special election)
http://www.orangeatlarge.com/
http://joshualopez2011.com/