SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

January 15, 2008

The 21st marks the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday. Like many holidays, it is easy to just accept it as a day off (for some, anyway) and not give it a second thought.

I fear Dr. King is becoming a caricature. A fuzzy image that we all glance at and say, “Oh, what a nice man.” We need to remember that Dr. King scared people. He was a radical.

Dr. King was murdered because he believed in the radical ideas of peace and justice. The people of the world give these topics lip service, but the powers that be do not really want peace and justice. Over the course of history, only the radicals truly fight the powers that be for peace and justice.

So the powers that be murdered Dr. King, they murdered Gandhi, and they murdered Jesus Christ, just to name a few peace and justice radicals. Forty years after Dr. King’s assassination, we continue to live in a world with too little peace and too little justice. The fight goes on.

I urge you to take some time to reflect on Dr. King, his radical ideas, and our continuing struggle for peace and justice.

The UI has several great events planned for Human Rights Week. See www.uiowa.edu/~mlk/schedule.html for more information. Happy Holiday, everybody!

The Iowa Legislature convenes this week, hoping to build upon last year’s very positive session. Good luck to our local delegation!

I heard reports of Governor Culver's recent talks with Legislative Leaders. The reports said Culver is unlikely to sign any tax increase of any kind. We know that State government does not have all the necessary resources. So what can be done?

I have a suggestion for our Legislators: Combined Reporting.

Here is how it works: There are thousands of corporations based in Delaware, because Delaware does not tax them. Years ago, Toys R Us realized that they could set up a shell corporation in Delaware. (It is named Jeffrey Inc., after their mascot, Jeffrey the Giraffe.)

Jeffrey Inc. owns every Toys R Us store, and charges outrageous amounts for rent, janitorial, building management, etc. So Jeffrey Inc. is very profitable, with all income earned in Delaware, and all income tax free.

Meanwhile, Toys R Us stores in Iowa show tiny profits, because they pay outrageous sums to Jeffrey Inc. These Iowa stores, in turn, pay much less in Iowa income tax.

While there are only 6 or 7 Toys R Us in Iowa, they should still pay their taxes as a simple matter of fairness. What's more, Wal-Mart is ubiquitous across Iowa, and they do the same thing. I have heard estimates that our lack of combined reporting costs Iowans $50 million or more per year. We could do a great deal with $50 million! I do not want to pay Wal-Mart's taxes, and neither do other Iowans.

This can be fixed through a method known as combined reporting. It forces a company to pay state income taxes in these cases. Many states already require combined reporting; Iowa does not. Our own Peter Fisher at the UI is an expert in this area, and could help you understand it much better than my simple explanation.

I truly believe that combined reporting is a necessary step for Iowa. It isn't sexy like a tobacco tax, but this nuts and bolts adjustment to Iowa's tax policy would help Iowans immensely.

The Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual banquet on Thursday the 17th at 6:30 at the IMU. The Chamber has had a fine year, and has plenty about which they can be proud.

I do have a challenge for the Chamber, however. The speaker at the banquet is Chuck Peters, CEO of the Gazette. Mr. Peters will be speaking on the topic of “Creating a High-Performance Region.”

Do you want to know what I think this will be? I could be wrong, but my guess is it will be yet another diatribe as to how we have too much government, and how governments need to consolidate and get out of the way of businesses. I have heard the mantra many times before. I have even heard it from Mr. Peters before.

I know the IC Area Chamber recognizes the importance of the public sector in Johnson County. I have been at the table, and I have listened to the discussions. I know the local Chamber gets it.

My challenge to Mr. Peters – explain how the Gazette outperforms local government. Which serves the public better? Compared to twenty years ago, there are far fewer local reporters covering far fewer local stories. The cost of a paper has recently gone up 33%, and instead of coverage of the local School Boards, we get canned stories on Britney Spears.

The Gazette has some great people in Johnson County – Lyle Muller, Linda Alexander, Greg Hennigan, Jennifer Hemmingsen… the list goes on. The Gazette employs quality journalists who do a good job; there just aren’t enough of them.

Newspapers (and other “local” media) have a sacred trust with the local people. Far too often in recent memory, that trust has been violated. A “High-Performance Region” simply must have “High-Performance” local media. Local media must follow local governments closely, report the results, and allow the people to decide how well their governments work.

We always hear that “government needs to be run more like a business.” This is BS. There are well-run governments, poorly run businesses, and vice-versa. There is no secret to success in either endeavor – you need to work hard, work smart, and get a little lucky. It is that simple.

If we are NOT “High-Performance”, perhaps it is NOT the fault of the public sector. Anyone ever consider that? The public sector gets a lot of blame for the things that go wrong, but little credit for the things that go well.

I applaud the IC Area Chamber on a fine year. And I suggest that next year, the Chamber have a speaker from local government talk about the need for high performance local media. :)

DID YOU KNOW? 1.4% of the surface area of Johnson County is water.

Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website - www.johnson-county.com/ .

"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!

---Rod

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SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

January 15, 2008

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