SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 29, 2008
Sullivan’s Salvos 7/1/08
Happy Independence Day! It is great to see so many Johnson County communities going forward with their plans for the Fourth. We have a lot of clean up to do, but we need to take the time to enjoy ourselves, too. I hope you and yours have a fun and safe holiday.
Want to volunteer to help with flood cleanup? The United Way has recently begun a Volunteer Action Center to link volunteers to the appropriate projects. If you need help or want to volunteer, please give them a call at 337-VOLS.
As of Tuesday, June 24, just under 1,100 Johnson County households had registered with FEMA. The breakdown was roughly 500 Iowa City, 500 Coralville, and 100 rural.
We headed down to Mosquito Flats Saturday and Sunday to join hundreds of others in volunteering to do flood clean up. Here are a few notes from the flood zone:
*The jokes have switched from “Normandy Beach” to “Normandy, post-War”. Unfortunately, many front yards do look as though a war had been waged.
*Please volunteer! You can make a HUGE difference! Five of us worked for 4 hours Saturday; six of us worked for 2 hours on Sunday. (That was about all my back could take.) But that is 32 hours of hard labor, and we could really see the results of our work. That little bit mattered.
*As is always the case in Johnson County, it is a small world. We began helping at a random house, and it just so happened we knew a couple other folks who were helping there. Moreover, as it turns out, the owner of the home is the author of Iowa’s Home Rule legislation. For people in city and county government, that is probably the most important piece of law ever written! After the clean up is complete, he and I are going to talk some Home Rule!
*There are more sad stories than I could ever begin to relate. In one poignant moment, I was explaining the significance of Home Rule to Melissa. She replied, “I could tell he was well-educated. He had me throw away a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Stanford.” Every home lost things of equal or greater sentimental value.
*Despite all these losses, flood victims remain unimaginably upbeat. I was inspired just to be in the presence of people dealing with tragedies in such a positive manner.
*If you require additional incentive to volunteer, the fried potatoes at the corner of Manor and Eastmoor were awesome! There are people from all over the US helping in this neighborhood; the potatoes are prepared by volunteers from Springfield, Illinois.
If you have read Salvos for more than 3-4 weeks, you probably recognize that I am no fan of President Bush. This is not a partisan issue, though we have several fundamental ideological disagreements. I like and respect most Republicans. Unfortunately, our President is not one of them. I feel strongly that George W. Bush has been one of the worst Presidents in US history.
I am sure there are several instances where I have puffed out my chest and boasted about what I might say if I had the chance to speak to the President. Well, I actually got that opportunity last week when President Bush visited the area to view the flooding.
I shook the President’s hand, and I got the chance to say one sentence. Did I charge him with being a war criminal? Did I accuse him of violating the Constitution? Did I accuse him of being a hypocrite?
No. I said, “Thank you for coming, Mister President.” Pretty wimpy, huh? I just decided that I was not there to make a political statement, but to do my best to ensure that our area gets the most possible Federal assistance in the wake of our disaster. Congressman Loebsack, Senator Grassley, and Senator Harkin can all deal with him civilly; I guess I should be able to do the same thing. In this case, discretion was the better part of valor.
(In case you were wondering, he is quite a bit shorter than I imagined. My guess is about 5’9”. He is very thin and wirey, too.)
DID YOU KNOW? The average six year old laughs 300 times per day. The average adult laughs 17 times per day. (Source: Iowa Foster & Adoptive Parents Association.)
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.
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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod @ 7:04 PM
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