District of Columbia: DC Council, Ward 5

Candidates

Vincent Orange, Democrat
Edward Henry Wolterbeek, Republican

Issues: Predatory Lending | Nursing Home Quality |

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Question

Do you support or oppose amending the law so that all lenders are held to the same strong standard of consumer protections?

AARP Response

Predatory lenders target minorities and older people. Predatory loans include deceptive marketing practices such as making loans without regard to the borrower’s ability to repay the loan, failing to disclose terms such as balloon payments,; and refinancing loans and charging excessive fees each time.

The Council passed a predatory lending law that exempts certain lenders covered by a similar federal law. Unfortunately, federal law does not provide the same strong consumer protections as the DC law.

AARP supports laws with strong consumer protections which restrict and prohibit predatory lending practices by all lenders.

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Supports all lenders be covered by DC law
Supports amending DC law, removing exemptions

Candidate Response: Vincent Orange

The Council passed and the Mayor signed The Home Loan Protection Act of 2002, D.C. Law 14-132 effective May 7, 2002. The law was passed to address predatory lending being practiced by the sub-prime market. It has been proven that the sub-prime market has been victimizing our homeowners. This new legislation will bring a halt to that victimization. There is no evidence that the prime market is practicing predatory lending. The Council and the Mayor will be monitoring the prime market for predatory lending violations, and if necessary the Mayor and the Council are prepared to introduce legislation for prime lending violations.

Candidate Response: Edward Henry Wolterbeek

Too often, families eat less than nourishing meals to feed their mortgage and later are evicted from their homes anyway because of predatory mortgage lending. It is tragic! PML stole one of WOLTERBEEK’S three houses as WOLTERBEEK was defenseless, recovering from a life-threatening 1992 stroke. WOLTERBEEK had three homes and lost one. Often people lose their only home, lose confidence/self esteem, and are “put into the street” by PML practices and legal authorities. As CFO and Fort Lincoln Board of Directors member, WOLTERBEEK constantly checks the waters for “loan sharks” to protect his neighbors, his constituents and his realty investments.

As a realtor broker with GCAAR, WOLTERBEEK supports its continuous education of its members, specifically in detecting predatory mortgage lenders.

Question

Do you support or oppose legislation requiring DC nursing homes to meet the minimum staffing levels recommended by the Federal Government to prevent harm to residents?

Do you support earmarked funding to increase and train additional nursing home inspectors?

AARP Response

In 2002, the House Government Reform Committee released a study on the quality of DC nursing home care. The report found that three-quarters of nursing homes in the District failed to provide the quality of care the law requires and families expect. Staffing levels and enforcement were major Committee concerns. The Federal Government recommends 4.13 hours of direct nursing care per resident per day as the minimum staffing level to prevent such serious harm as bedsores, weight loss and infection. The DC government recently proposed 3.5 hours per resident per day. Not all this time has to be devoted to direct nursing care.

AARP supports increasing the hours of direct nursing care per resident and additional funding for more inspectors and training.

Issue	Yes	No	Unclear
Supports increasing staffing levels
Supports adequate funding for inspectors
Supports adequate training for inspectors

Candidate Response: Vincent Orange

I strongly support requiring DC nursing homes to meet adequate staffing levels to prevent harm to residents. I am open to ensuring that the District’s minimum staffing levels exceed the minimum staffing levels recommended by the Federal Government where the residents of nursing homes in the District as well as their family members believe that the minimum staffing levels recommended by the Federal Government are inadequate.

I support earmarked funding to increase the number of nursing home inspectors. In addition, I would like to see some funding to support the institution of family councils for each nursing home in the District, where the family members of the residents assist the District in surveillance of nursing homes. It is my opinion, that family members who have a vested interest in the care of their loved ones in residence at nursing homes can provide valuable information to the Government about issues that nursing home inspectors should look for.

Candidate Response: Edward Henry Wolterbeek

WOLTERBEEK is a strong advocate for increased funding, and a supporter of increased nursing home staffing levels; more than adequate funding for health care inspectors; and enhanced training for inspectors. In other words, inspectors should be better paid for their work and better trained.

Childhood visits to San Francisco’s La Honda Nursing Home scared WOLTERBEEK because of perceived lack of attention being paid to the patients’ needs. His athletic trainer skills help WOLTERBEEK grasp a full understanding of the physical and mental needs of child sport participants. Athletes, are at times unable to know their limitations which results in injury or death. As president of his Kiwanis Club, WOLTERBEEK participated in club trips to the Hospital for Sick Children.