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rodsullivan.org
SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
December 28, 2008
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/30/08 Happy New Year! I hope 2009 is the healthiest and happiest you have had to date! Go Hawks! I hope that each and every one of you is lucky enough to be reading this in sunny Tampa! If not, join me in rooting for the Hawks from the icy comfort of eastern Iowa. It has been a tough year in Johnson County. No matter what measures you use, the people of Johnson County had more than our share of bad things happen in 2008. I am not whether or not this is related, but I have noticed another disturbing trend… people seem to be treating each other worse. When I ask others, they claim to see it too. In general, there seems to be less tolerance, more anger, and greater impatience. We are less kind and polite with one another. Worse yet, I have seen myself behave badly much more often than I would like. Intuitively, this makes some sense. Perhaps people under stress are too concerned over other matters, and cannot focus on “little things” like thinking of others. Perhaps that attempt at pop psychology is totally off the mark; I just don’t know. Whatever the explanations, this is not a good trend. I know I need to improve my behavior. So what can we do about it? I welcome your thoughts! 2008 is coming to a close, and it is time for honoring a few select Johnson County residents with that most treasured of honors, the Salvos Salute. A few observations: * This is the fourth annual set of awards, and there are always more people who deserve awards than there are awards to give. We live in a great County! * There are some people out there that could win every year. I am trying to honor different folks, but repeat winners are not out of the question. As a matter of fact, 2008 sees our first-ever repeat winners! * Salvos Salutes do not have specific criteria, but you can bet that in general, most of the winners are courageous, advocate for peace and justice, have good ideas, speak truth to power, avoid hypocrisy, and look out for the less fortunate. Without further adieu, your 2008 Salvos Salutes go to: Flood survivors and volunteers: The community is full of people who were victims of the flood. Their positive responses to very difficult situations have been an inspiration! Steve McGuire: In addition to being a great guy, Steve has risked his own life 3 different times to pull drowning people out of the river. He helped organize Parkview Terrace before and after the flood, and donates vast amounts of his time to serving people with less. Tom Trump: A member of the Solon Volunteer Fire Department, Tom volunteered in the Johnson County Emergency Operations Center for over two weeks, serving as the person in charge of getting resources (pumps, sandbags, generators, etc.) to the people who needed them. This was an incredibly stressful job, with requests coming from all directions (Hills, Coralville, Iowa City, the UI, the National Guard, etc. were all requesting assistance) at all hours of the day. Tom handled it all masterfully. Tom also brought a great attitude to the job. He was so calm, confident, competent, and positive. He had a laser focus on keeping people safe. He really helped keep the whole place going the right direction. The United Way of Johnson County: They always do a great job raising funds that serve our community. But when the flood hit, the United Way of Johnson County really mobilized, creating a Volunteer Action Center in a matter of days. In addition, they managed flood relief funds and handled all their usual duties. The United Way could win this award any year; they are particularly deserving this year. County & Municipal employees: It has been about 6 months since the waters crested, so the anti-government types feel safe returning to their pre-flood pattern of bashing public employees and public employee unions. Well, the anti-government crowd may not appreciate public employees, but they are getting a big Salvos Salute for 2008! I worked side-by-side with employees from the Sheriff’s Office, Auditor’s Office, Facilities, Ambulance, Roads, Information Services, and countless other departments during the flood. Many employees worked 12-16 hour shifts for two straight weeks. Some got hotel rooms downtown because they could not get home. No one complained; they just kept us all safe. Remember that next time you hear public employees and their unions being criticized! Mark Martin: Pastor Martin not only served the members of Saint Andrew, but also countless local organizations like the Iowa City Public Library, Elder Services, the United Way, and many more. Every time I take on an issue - poverty, homelessness, health care, hunger, tax fairness, volunteerism – just about anything – I do so inspired by the sermons of Pastor Martin. There are hundreds of other folks in our community similarly inspired. Marybeth Slonneger: The Press Citizen said this so well in late November that I am copying it almost verbatim: Where most people saw a decrepit rental house, Slonneger recognized Iowa City's last physical connection to Isaac Wetherby. The 150-year-old cottage had been identified in earlier surveys of the Goosetown neighborhood, but no action was taken to ensure its preservation until a property owner wanted to demolish it. Luckily, Slonneger convinced the owner to sell her the house and to delay his plans until she could relocate it. Richard and Marilyn Jensen: Simply good people who seem to donate time, talent, and support to all kinds of good causes throughout Johnson County. Veteran’s events, school events, church events, social services events, library events… The Jensens just quietly do good work. It is the unsung efforts of people like this that make a community strong. Obama volunteers: Iowa made Barack Obama. And Johnson County led Iowa to that point. So, if you volunteered for President Elect Obama… especially way back in early 2007… this one’s for you! You made history! Janelle Rettig & Robin Butler (the first two-time winners of a Salvos Salute!): While many people worked on the passage of the Land, Water, Future initiative, Janelle and Robin took the lead. In addition to volunteering hundreds of hours, they strategized, fundraised, and became the public face of the initiative. Standing up to a great deal of public pressure and two well funded “No” campaigns, Janelle & Robin stuck it out, stayed positive, and won the day. In 50 years, tens of thousands of people will appreciate their efforts. I appreciate them now - therefore the Salvos Salute! Congratulations to all these very deserving winners! You make Johnson County the great place that it is! Thanks for all you do! DID YOU KNOW? Sullivan’s Salvos is sent once per week to approximately 350 individual E-mail addresses. 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.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
December 20, 2008
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/23/08
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it; Happy Holidays to all the rest! I hope this holiday season is safe, healthy, and happy for all the people of Johnson County.
Congratulations to Deputy Treasurer Betty Sass on an amazing 55 years of employment with Johnson County. That is not a misprint… 55 years of continuous employment!
Not only is Betty a great employee, but she is a great person. Best wishes, Betty, and congratulations on an amazing run!
I wrote last week about County services, and I had several folks ask me why I did not mention roads. Roads are certainly a big part of the County budget. I specifically omitted roads because only rural residents pay for rural roads. (There is a separate Rural Fund.) Since I live in a city, I do not pay into the Rural Fund. Therefore, I pay no taxes to support the Secondary Roads system. Since I was writing about my own tax bill, I left that out.
An additional note: state law prohibits the transfer of money from the Rural Fund to the General Fund and vice versa. So counties throughout Iowa may have extra money in the General Fund and no money for roads, or extra money in the Rural Fund and no money for General Fund expenditures. Transfers are not allowed.
My term as Chair of the Board of Supervisors is coming to an end. What a term it has been! A few of the things that occurred were quite unprecedented: For the first time ever, Johnson County granted the Chair the power to enact curfews. For the first time ever, Johnson County granted the Chair the power to do mandatory evacuations.
Unfortunately, I got to be the first Chair to exercise each of these powers. Several folks were required to leave their homes. Thankfully, no one died, and no one was severely injured. We lost a great deal of property, but all our public safety measures paid off.
In addition to the floods, my term as Chair saw the terrible winter of January-March; the record-setting Iowa Caucuses in January; fights over road embargoes in April and May; the record-setting election of November, including the passage of the Conservation Bond; opening two new County buildings; and many other less monumental events. All in all, it was quite a year!
Hopefully, you feel that County government provided you with quality services during this time. That is the real measure of what we do.
Now, as I prepare to pass the gavel to Supervisor Neuzil, I want to thank all of you for all of your support this year. It was quite a ride!
Since I am offering thanks… thank you all for listening to the weekly rants of a lowly County Supervisor! When I began doing this in December of 2004, I had no idea how it would evolve or what type of response I would get.
Four years later, I cannot imagine going without Salvos. Selfishly, I enjoy writing. More importantly, I have gotten tremendous feedback!
Unfortunately, most people do not pay much attention to local government. Thankfully, Salvos readers are not amongst that group.
You have lifted me up when I am down, knocked me down a peg when I was too full of myself, offered me excellent ideas, and given me some great advice. All the people of Johnson County have benefitted from your feedback. For that, you have my sincere thanks.
Meanwhile, keep those comments, questions, and ideas coming!
OK, enough navel gazing for one edition! Next week… the much anticipated Salvos Salutes! Check it out to see if your friends and neighbors made the list.
DID YOU KNOW? Astronomers believe that the Star of Bethlehem might have actually appeared in June of 2 BC. This comes as no huge surprise to religious historians, who knew that early Christians might have fudged the date of Christ’s birth to match up closely with the biggest pagan celebration of the time– the Winter Solstice.
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.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
December 13, 2008
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/16/08
It is not always a popular position, but I frequently take this opportunity to defend government. I firmly believe that government is inherently good. It exists so we can coexist.
Sure, sometimes individual elected officials make poor decisions. Sometimes elective bodies, collectively, make poor decisions. But I still stand by the mission of government. We are much better off because of the efforts of our governments.
There are plenty of people who make a living criticizing everything about government. It is all bad. We’d be better off without it. Government employees are all liars and crooks, incompetent, or both. I spend a lot of time fighting this perception.
Unfortunately, people who believe as I do were dealt yet another blow this week with the circus surrounding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
I will admit, when I first heard the transcript, I laughed. Between the salty language and unbelievable audacity, it was hard to keep a straight face.
But in the long run, those of us who believe in government were harmed by this incident, just as we were harmed by Tom DeLay, Scooter Libbey, Mark Foley, Richard Nixon, and anyone who abuses the power of elective office. This just gives more ammunition to the folks who say, “They are all crooks, and I do not trust any of them.”
I still believe in government as a force for good. I hope you do not get too distracted by these incidents, and recognize that governments at all levels do a lot of good things.
Johnson County elected officials and Department Heads recently met with members of our Legislative delegation to discuss issues that affect County government.
County governments have traditionally had a troubled relationship with the Iowa Legislature. Unfunded mandates, program cuts, and a lack of communication were the norm.
All of this changed in 2006. Democratic control of the House, Senate, and Governorship has resulted in several pieces of legislation that counties had been seeking for years. Even hardcore Republican Supervisors admit that the past two years have been good ones for local governments.
As is usually the case, counties are seeking increased funding in several areas. This year, Johnson County advocated for increased funding for roads, trails, and mental health services. There were also discussions regarding passenger rail, election law, weapons permits, and sex offender laws. I sincerely hope we can make progress on some of these issues.
We are blessed with an outstanding group of Legislators… it is great to know that we have people on our side in Des Moines!
Local governments are in the midst of budget discussions. As we do this, it is worth doing some comparisons. I talked about my own tax bill at Thanksgiving. My home in Iowa City is valued at $162,000. I pay just under $3000 per year in property taxes - $500 of that to Johnson County.
What do I get for $500? The best Department of Public Health in Iowa. The best Conservation Department in Iowa. The best Ambulance service in Iowa. The best Medical Examiner service in Iowa. The best paratransit service (SEATS) in Iowa.
Services for our veterans. Significant funding for the Crisis Center, DVIP, Shelter House, Free Med, Elder Services, MECCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, UAY, Neighborhood Centers, Visiting Nurses, and 4Cs, just to name a few. The whole system of supports for people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. General Assistance for our poorest residents.
Juvenile Court Services and the Department of Human Services get places to work. The County Attorney serves as our local prosecutor. The Sheriff patrols the unincorporated areas of the county, and operates the jail. The Auditor runs all our elections. The Recorder maintains all our vital records. My home gets assessed. Our Treasurer collects taxes, then invests County money and doles shares out to other taxing entities.
Emergency Management services are provided countywide, as well as enhanced 911 services. Planning and Zoning directs and manages growth in the County. The County GIS system provides valuable mapping data for numerous uses – including saving lives during the flood. All this and much, much, more. For $500.
Am I thankful for the services I get from Johnson County for my $500? You’re goddamned right I am! I am proud of Johnson County, and I am proud to pay taxes to support these efforts. The taxes I pay to Johnson County are a great value!
And how about this for comparisons: taxpayers in Johnson County, Iowa will pay $191.3 million for total Iraq war spending approved to date. That is correct - those figures are the cost for Johnson County alone! And it does not include the services that will be required for injured veterans and their families. (Source: Costofwar.com)
That is more than the combined annual budget of Johnson County and the Iowa City Community School District.
DID YOU KNOW? Beginning in February, Johnson County taxpayers will not be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent annually because county departments are now housed in county-owned buildings.
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.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
December 7, 2008
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/2/08
I simply do not have the words to express my sorrow for colleague Sally Stutsman and her family on the tragic loss of her son Mike. Sophie May, Jessica, Roger, and Sally are in my every prayer.
The Johnson County Planning and Zoning Department has been very busy lately. The Board of Supervisors will soon address several important P&Z issues.
First up is the phasing of the County growth area. History buffs may recall that there was quite a battle over phasing in the years 2001 and 2002. The compromise that was adopted at the time limited almost all growth to a specific area of the county broadly defined as the North Corridor. I am one of many people who feel this area is so large that it defeats the purpose of defining a growth area.
The Board recently spent a couple work sessions discussing changes to this phasing. P&Z staff drew up a map that kept the growth areas closer to the areas that are already zoned residential. A majority (including myself) decided to move forward with this plan.
Some Board members want to limit the areas that are available for residential development; others feel residential development is OK anytime, anywhere. The opinions of the public are all over the map.
Personally, I think it makes sense to keep building houses where the ground is already zoned residential. Otherwise, we begin using up farmland. Even marginal farmland (aka pasture) is carrying a big price tag right now. Farmers should not have to compete with developers for land when there is already land zoned and available for development.
Obviously, if at some point, the growth area gets completely built out, the Board may need to consider rezonings. Until such time, I think this plan makes sense.
In addition, the very reason we have zoning is to mitigate the conflicts that are inherent in different types of land use. Farmers typically run into problems when expensive homes encroach on their operations; similarly, people with expensive homes frequently find farming operations to be a nuisance. Zoning allows us to try to keep these conflicting land uses separate.
If you feel that anyone should be able to build anywhere at any time, you are just inviting the very problems zoning was created to solve.
If you care at all about this issue, please share your thoughts with the Board.
Second on our list is the Chip Seal policy. In a proposed change of policy, Johnson County would allow landowners to pay for chip seal treatments in front of their properties.
This has long been a sore spot for Secondary Roads maintenance people. It causes them more work, and there are always problems with people who disagree with the decisions of the County Engineer. Others simply refuse to pay after year one, creating a messy section of road. Then there are those areas where you have lots of homes… what if every other house wants it? What if neighbors disagree?
On the other hand, dust is perhaps the biggest quality of life issue facing rural residents. I have had over a dozen people tell me they would take advantage of this if it were allowed. I am certain there are others with whom I have not spoken. And since the landowner is paying, allowing chip seal really doesn’t cost the county anything.
The Board weighed both sides of this issue, and decided to give privately funded chip seals a chance. Hopefully, we have adequately protected the county interests. Time will tell if this change in policy is a good thing; I support giving it a try.
Again, if you care at all about this issue, please share your thoughts with the Board.
Finally, the Board recently gave P&Z the go ahead for making public a map that delineates all the public hunting ground in Johnson County. This is a frequently asked question, and should provide an important service to our hunters. Again, we need to do our best to accommodate conflicting uses of land.
If you have questions or comments on these or any zoning issues, contact the Board of Supervisors at 356-6000 and let them know what you think!
DID YOU KNOW? You can sign up for E-mail updates from the Johnson County departments of your choice. You can get agendas, minutes, meeting notices, policy changes, and much more. See http://www.johnson-county.com/esub/auth/login.cfm to sign up.
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.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/9/08
Johnson County is holding an open house Tuesday at 4 PM for the new SEATS and Secondary Roads building on Melrose Avenue just west of Highway 218.
I urge everyone to stop out, enjoy some refreshments, and learn more about the SEATS and Secondary Roads departments.
Remember how I talked about my goal of every Department Head in Johnson County being among Iowa’s 3-4 best at her/his particular job? One Department Head who exceeds that lofty standard is County Assessor Bill Greazel. The Johnson County Assessor routinely ranks in the top 2 in Iowa by every objective measure. Assessor Greazel recently wrote an outstanding piece explaining the current state of valuations in Johnson County. I am reprinting a slightly edited version here:
State law requires that all real estate in Iowa be revalued every odd-numbered year. Typically, in anticipation of this, we’d be starting to prepare assessment notices to send to all Johnson County property owners next April. That’s what we’ve done every odd-numbered year in recent history. In 2009, however, we won’t be doing such a mailing.
That’s because most property values are unchanged since the last assessment cycle in 2007—and it’s not economical to spend 60 cents (or more) to mail notices saying that nothing has changed. (Of course, owners whose property has changed in value for various reasons will still be notified.)
Some residents will be disappointed to learn that property values are not continuing to climb like they have in past years. The good news is that Johnson County fares better than most other areas of the U.S. right now; values in some markets have declined 30 percent or more. The market here is still stable and generally healthy.
There will also be property owners who expect their assessment to go down because of all the negative news about real estate lately; a few might even wish for that scenario because it might mean a decrease in their property taxes. But they probably don’t realize that having a real estate investment go down in value is not a good thing—it’s akin to watching a bank or other investment account balance decline.
To be sure, the number of Johnson County residential sales are down about 12 percent from 2007. (They’re down more than 18 percent in Iowa City proper.) But median sale prices (and thus assessed values) in Johnson County have not declined as sales have slowed.
Some real estate markets are also battered by foreclosures, which can drive all home prices lower. (Foreclosures sometimes cause a glut of homes on the market, and they’re often sold at fire-sale prices.) We’re fortunate to escape most of this situation in Johnson County. Through third quarter 2008, foreclosures accounted for less than 4 percent of all residential sales, and so far are having a negligible impact on prices.
We can’t predict where the market is headed—our mission is to stay focused on current real estate values. But we are pleased to be living and working in a market where values are holding steady, and the outlook is positive.
In the wake of Thanksgiving, perhaps you need something additional for which to be thankful. Try this:
I drove for the Shelter Overflow on Thanksgiving night. In addition to a full 29 people at Shelter House, 21 additional people spent the night at Saint Thomas More. It was so crowded that St. Thomas More even ran out of blankets!
On one of our biggest holidays, when people get together with family and friends to share a feast, the Shelter House is that overcrowded. Add in the population at DVIP and people who remained out on the street, and it is reasonable to assume that over 100 people in Johnson County had nowhere to sleep Thanksgiving night.
Just a few hours later, at the ridiculous hours of 4, 5, and 6 AM, shoppers streamed to worship at the temples of retail. What if just one percent of the money spent on Friday the 28th was donated to Shelter House?
I think next year, Shelter House ought to hold a fundraiser at 4 AM on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Advertise it right alongside Wal-Mart and Best Buy. Give people a legitimate reason to be out at that time.
DID YOU KNOW? One half of the homes that the US will need by the year 2030 do not exist today. (Source: the Brookings Institute.)
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.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
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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