SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
February 14, 2014
Sullivan’s
Salvos 2/18/14
In this edition:
*City Fed Chili Supper
*Arc Chili Supper
*Voting In Schools, Part 2
*County Budget
*Legislative Forums
*Did You Know?
*City Fed Chili Supper
The
Iowa City Federation of Labor is holding its annual Chili Supper and awards on
Thursday, February 20 at 6 pm at the new City Fed office, 940 S Gilbert Court
in Iowa City.
I
love the City Fed Chili Supper. I only wish it was still opposite the Chamber
of Commerce banquet. Then elected officials would really have to follow the
lead of the old labor song, pick an event, and answer the question “Which Side
Are You On?”
Please
bring a side dish to share. Questions: Call Joe Marron at 319-400-6391.
*Arc Chili Supper
In
case you did not get your chili fix with the Labor folks, The ARC of Southeast
Iowa Chili Supper is Friday, February 21 from 5-7pm at River Community Church
in Iowa City.
*Voting In Schools, Part 2
I
am thrilled by the amount of feedback I received on the topic of voting in our
schools. EVERY person who responded agreed that the schools should remain as
polling places.
So
what do we do now? Even though there is no official proposal in front of the
ICCSD Board, we must not wait until a bad proposal is on the table. We MUST
write them and let them know how we feel!
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an easy way to e-mail the
whole Board from their website. But the e-mail addresses can be determined from
the site - http://www.iowacityschools.org/pages/ICCSD/board/The_ICCSD_Board_of_Education_W/School_Board_Members
Please
write them! This issue is critical to our democracy!
*County Budget
The
public hearing for the FY15 Johnson County budget is Tuesday, February 25th at
6pm in the Boardroom at the County Administration Building.
This
has been an interesting budget year… we find ourselves looking to the future,
waiting for the other shoe to drop. The Iowa Legislature has hamstrung local
governments to such a degree that it is not a matter of “if”, but “when”.
In
the meantime, we are scrambling to get projects completed before we lose the
ability to do them at all. Repairs to the jail, a rebuilt Mehaffey Bridge and
Mehaffey Bridge Road, finishing 520th Street, and a new building to
replace the fire damaged Secondary Roads Building are a few of the highlights.
The
Conservation Board is using almost $1.5 million of the $20 million approved by
voters in 2008. There are very few new positions authorized, and all union
employees are in the final year of 6 separate three-year contracts. Cuts to
social services – while threatened – were not realized.
Johnson
County maintains a very strong Aa2 bond rating, and is projected to end the
year with a healthy fund balance. Tax rates in Johnson County rank right in the
middle among Iowa’s counties. All this despite the fact that TIFs in the County
make almost a BILLION dollars off limits to County taxation.
Meanwhile,
the budget process itself is very interesting. The budget is actually a series
of hundreds of smaller decisions. Some are 5-0 votes; others are 3-2. Every
Supervisor has things they want to fund that are not funded; every Supervisor
has things they would prefer not to fund that get in. Hundreds of decisions –
you win some, you lose some. The bottom line is, each Supervisor has had ample
opportunity for input.
A few years ago, two Supervisors abruptly voted against the budget
without warning. Had one more Sup done so, the budget would have failed to
pass, and the budget would have reverted to the previous year’s totals. This
would have truly been a disaster! It would have ended up costing us millions
over several years just to undo the damage.
Ever
since then, we make a point of discussing it. Several times each budget season,
we say aloud, “Is there anything in here that would cause any of you to vote
against the budget?” If the answer is yes, we will attempt to negotiate on that
point to arrive at a 5-0 vote.
I
liken it to playing pickup basketball where you call your own fouls. There is
always that guy who calls a foul every time he misses a shot. He drives you
crazy, but the rules are “respect the call”. If you get to the point where you
cannot “respect the call”, the game ends.
So,
there are compromises in this budget I dislike. But I am trying to “respect the
call”. There are also areas (such as maintaining the level of human services
funding) where I got what I wanted. You win some, you lose some.
That is how the sausage is made. Want to learn more? Attend the
public hearing on the 25th, visit our website at
www.johnson-county.com, or give me a call. It is your budget; I urge you to
take an interest.
*Legislative Forums
Now
that the Iowa Legislature is in session, Legislative forums are held the final
Saturday of each month. The League of Women Voters holds its longstanding
series at 9 am on those Saturdays. The Chamber of Commerce holds theirs at 8 am
those same days.
I
have two major gripes with the existing system. First, some background. Johnson
County is represented by three Senators – Democrats Bob Dvorsky and Joe
Bolkcom, and Republican Sandy Greiner. Johnson County is represented by 5
members of the House of Representatives – Democrats Mary Mascher, Vicki
Lensing, Dave Jacoby, and Sally Stutsman, and Republican Bobby Kauffman.
All
typically attend the Chamber event. Then Senator Greiner and Representative
Kauffman leave Johnson County. They refuse to attend the League events. So
their Johnson County constituents never get an opportunity to speak with them,
unless they happen to be Chamber members.
First,
I cannot believe how rude the GOP folks are toward the League and its’ members.
I think the League should make a much bigger deal out of the disrespectful way
they are treated. The League should be especially interested in spreading the
word to women who live in Washington, Keokuk, and Cedar Counties. Women in
those counties should be aware of the low regard in which female organizations
are held by these two elected officials.
While
Representative Kauffman’s father also chose to purposefully snub the League of
Women Voters, not ALL Republicans have always done so. Former GOP Senator David
Miller was a regular attendee when he represented southern Johnson County.
I
rarely agreed with Senator Miller on anything, but he will always have my
respect for showing up and addressing his constituents. He was far too right
wing for my tastes, but he was a stand up guy.
I
sincerely hope Senator Greiner and Representative Kauffman will put an end to
this childishness.
My
second gripe is with the Chamber events. These forums are only open to Chamber
members. Why? Why should our elected officials do private sessions with a
private membership organization? Why do this for the Chamber and not other
local groups? Why doesn’t Rotary get a members-only meeting? Or Farm Bureau? Or
Labor unions? What has this group done to merit special access that the rest of
the public lacks? Should elected officials really hold regular meetings with
only those who can pay for the privilege?
In
the interest of full disclosure, I am no fan of the direction the local Chamber
has taken. They have the exact same agenda as the Koch Brothers, and the
Chamber is hurting – yes, HURTING – the people in this community who need help.
The Chamber’s actions have turned me into a vocal Chamber critic, and I’ve been
pretty clear about that. But this has nothing to do with the fact that the
local Chamber hates the poor. This is about unequal access to government.
I
think our elected officials should demand that the Chamber open their forums to
the public. If not, our elected officials should not participate. Period. These
sessions should be public. The people deserve nothing less.
*DID YOU KNOW?
The Iowa City Federation of Labor (City Fed) is the local chapter of the
AFL-CIO.
Anyone
interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the
County website-
"Sullivan’s
Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief
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feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to
serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 5:18 PM
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