Vincent Orange
Office Sought: D.C. Mayor
Age: 49
Residence: Brookland/Michigan Park.
Education: LLM, taxation, Georgetown Univ.; JD, Howard Univ.; BS, business, BA, communications, Univ. of the Pacific.
Occupation: Chairman, DC Committee on Government Operations; lawyer; certified public accountant.
Web site: www.orangeformayor.com
E-mail address: vorange@orangeformayor.com
Elected offices/civic activities:
D.C. Council Member, Ward 5, 1999-present; member, Metropolitan AME Church; local centennial chair, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. 100th anniversary; member, DC Bar, Greater Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants, National Association of Black Accountants, Leadership Washington; past president, Michigan Park Citizens Association; former board member, National Children's Center Inc.
Why should voters elect you?
"I have the expertise, credibility and commitment to run our $8 billion government, maintain fiscal responsibility and implement the D.C. citizens plan for prosperity."
What do you think is the most urgent problem facing your jurisdiction?
"The most urgent problem facing the District of Columbia is leadership that will implement the D.C. citizens plan for prosperity. This plan calls for the connection of D.C. education to D.C. employment to D.C. economic development. These connections will produce affordable housing, access to health care, jobs and business opportunities for all D.C. residents. Implementing the citizens plan will lead to the circulation of D.C. dollars in our communities and a better quality of life for all eight wards. Through effective leadership the citizens plan produces D.C. high school graduates with diplomas of value ready for college and/or the workforce."
What is your plan to reduce crime in the District?
"The crime epidemic that plagues Washington, D.C., is a result of neglect to our school system, closed vocational schools and the hopelessness of our residents. The reduction of crime will require a long-term, hard-nosed approach. As mayor, I will address crime by not only implementing a public safety program that will establish a Community Operations Division within the police department, where 800 new police officers will be assigned in our communities to foot, bike, scooter and Segway patrols. As mayor, I will also address crime by immediately implementing an educational program that calls for universal early-childhood education for 3- and 4-year-olds with measures of performance at the kindergarten, third- and eighth-grade levels to ensure students properly advance in preparation for high school. Students will graduate with diplomas of value ensuring readiness for college and/or the workforce. As mayor, I will address crime by immediately implementing a program to reopen vocational schools to provide the much-needed training in trade skills which go hand in hand with the economic development taking place in the District. As mayor, I will connect all of our residents to the booming prosperity in our city."
How would you maintain affordable housing for lower-income and working-class residents during a time of gentrification?
"Maintaining affordable housing during gentrification in D.C. requires a multifaceted approach. As mayor, I will allocate funds for the following projects: construction of 55,000 new affordable housing units, 1,700 new workforce units at New Town and additional funding for the new communities initiative, which maintains low-income housing. I will task our Department of Housing and Community Development to draw up plans for low-income and working-class housing on the 3 million square feet of land being made available by the District of Columbia public schools. I will host and engage the federal government in a low-income and working-class housing summit to save our Section 8 and other federally subsidized housing programs in the District of Columbia. Finally, I pledge that no senior on fixed income without a mortgage will lose their residence due to a D.C. real estate tax bill."
A federal court monitor says the District has shown a "pattern of neglect" toward mentally retarded citizens in its care. What are your plans for improving their care?
"I will improve care through hands-on leadership and oversight of personnel; commanding accountability, compliance and adherence to internal controls. The pattern of neglect shall cease and desist along with the personnel responsible for unacceptable delivery of care."
Should the city build a new central library on the site of the old convention center or rehabilitate the current Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library?
"The new central library should be built along with the new children's museum and connected to our children's educational development and advancement."
-- The Washington Post
