SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
December 19, 2014
Sullivan’s
Salvos 12/23/14
In this edition:
*Merry Christmas!
*Holiday Office Schedule
*Salvos Salutes Next Week!
*Iowa City Charter
*John Etheredge
*Did You Know?
*Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to those of you who
celebrate it. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!
*Holiday Office Schedule
A
quick note on the Johnson County schedule for the holidays – administrative
offices will be open on Wednesday, December 24 (Christmas Eve), but then closed
on Thursday the 25th (Christmas) and Friday the 26th.
Offices
will be open on Wednesday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve), closed Thursday,
January 1st (New Year’s Day), and open again on Friday, January 2nd.
As
always, the Sheriff’s Office, 911 dispatch, Medical Examiner’s Office, and
Ambulance service will be running 24/7/365.
*Salvos Salutes Next Week!
We live in a GREAT county! Why? Because of the great people that
live here! Unfortunately, we rarely do enough to acknowledge these wonderful
people and the wonderful things they do.
That
is why I really look forward to Salvos Salutes. It provides an opportunity to
mention just a few of these cool people and the good things they do. I hope you
look forward to it as well!
Iowa City Charter
The
Iowa City Charter Review Commission has been appointed by the City Council to
review the Iowa City Charter. Pursuant to the existing Charter, amendments
recommended by the Commission must either be adopted by the City Council or
placed on a ballot for consideration by Iowa City voters. A community
discussion on potential Charter amendments will be held Wednesday, Jan. 7,
2015, at 6 p.m., in Room A of the Iowa City Public Library (123 S. Linn St.).
In the
first part of the meeting the specific issues to be discussed include:
(1)
Election of Mayor - The Mayor is currently selected for a two-year term by a
majority vote of the City Council members. Assuming the Mayor's powers and
responsibilities remain largely the same, should the Mayor instead be directly
elected for a four-year term by a majority vote of the citizens? This would
require one of the at-large council positions to be designated as the Mayor's
slot.
(2)
District Representation - Currently there are three district Council Members
and four at-large Council Members. In a primary election, only voters from
within that district participate. In the general election for those district
seats all Iowa City voters may participate. Should the district Council Members
be elected only by the voters within the applicable district?
(3)
Initiative/Referendum - requirement for qualified versus eligible. The City
Charter allows individuals to submit initiative and referendum petitions to the
City Council. When presented to Council those petitions must either be adopted
by Council or submitted to the voters for consideration. Currently individuals
are required to be "qualified electors" (registered to voter) to sign
such petitions. Should the Charter be amended to allow "eligible
electors" (persons eligible to register to vote) to sign such petitions?
(4)
Council Compensation - Currently the Charter requires that Council set its
compensation by ordinance, and the present annual salary for the Mayor is
$8,070 and Council Members $7,072. Some have argued that this salary
discourages some people from running for City Council. Should the Charter
require a higher level of compensation for Council Members and the Mayor to
better reflect the time required to serve in those positions?
In the
second part of the meeting the public may raise any other issues relevant to
the Charter. The Charter Review Commission invites everyone to be a part of
this public discussion. Additional information can be found on the City website
at www.icgov.org/citycharter.
*John Etheredge
December
31st marks the last day in office for Supervisor John Etheredge, and I wanted
to take a few moments to share my thoughts on my colleague.
As
you probably know, John was the first Republican elected to the Board since
1958. He had run for the Board as an independent in 2012, but the campaign was
pretty amateurish. I overheard media folks wondering if John was even a real
person, because they couldn’t reach him! I never even met him during the course
of the campaign, which was a first for me.
John decided to run again, this time as a Republican, for the opening
created by Sally Stutsman’s election to the Iowa House. Most observers noted
that his March 5, 2013 election was literally and figuratively a “perfect
storm” – voters were worn out from the 2012 Presidential election; local
Democrats were complacent, while the local GOP worked very hard; and 6 inches
of snow the night before the election closed every school in the county,
dramatically driving down turnout (to about 6%). Add all those factors
together, and John squeaked past Democrat Terry Dahms by just 193 votes.
No
one knew quite what to expect when John took office – particularly John! I
think he would agree that he was quite naïve at first. For people who had been
accustomed to Supervisor Stutsman’s mastery of all things county, this was a
BIG change!
Then
there were some early votes. John had campaigned on property rights, but voted
against Sharon Dooley’s property rights. He voted against resolutions
supporting Earth Day and LGBTQ Pride Month. Followers of county government were
expecting 18 months of fireworks.
But
that never materialized. I think there are several reasons for this. First,
John was never well connected to the local Republican Party. (Remember, he had
run as an independent in ’12.) I was shocked to learn that after a full year in
office, he had never even met some of the real stalwarts of the local GOP. Letters
to the editor often quickly demonstrated that the writer did not know John. John
was never really engaged in the party, so he never really engaged in party politics.
He had plenty of opportunities, but he never did so.
Here
is an example: if one were a calloused political player, they would have
advised John to vote against the budget no matter what. Just sit back and claim
the other Supervisors are “tax and spend liberals.” But John never did that. In
fact, he supported GREATER spending in some areas than I did! More importantly,
he recognized that the whole budget process had been a series of compromises,
and to vote “no” after securing those compromises would have been dirty pool.
John refused to play that game.
Secondly,
John worked incredibly hard to get up to speed. He is bright, and picks things
up quickly. He asked a lot of questions, and did a lot of studying. I am
impressed by the strides he made in just a few months.
John
was also much more open-minded than I had anticipated him being. (That was
clearly my error!) He would listen to both sides, and he often came around to
what would be considered the “progressive” view of a given issue. When he
didn’t, he usually had his reasons.
Finally,
and most importantly, John is a wonderful human being. We do not agree on all
the political issues of the day; we may not even agree on half. But give me a colleague
who is honest, trustworthy, loyal, sincere, kind, considerate, thoughtful, and
modest ANY DAY! I found working with John to be a real pleasure, and I am going
to miss him!
Our
potlucks will definitely go downhill; John is a GREAT cook, and makes an
amazing cheesecake! It was also fun working with someone so young (John is only
30), and who has such a great sense of humor. And it was touching to watch John
become a new father. I am really glad I got to be around for that.
If
you are reading this and have some kind of a job opening – I honestly don’t
know how you could do better than hiring John Etheredge. He is one of the
finest young men I know. Please give him due consideration – he would be a real
asset to any organization!
Meanwhile,
good luck, John, on your future endeavors. It has been a pleasure and a
privilege to serve with you!
*DID YOU KNOW?
Elected at age 29, John Etherege is believed to have been the youngest
Supervisor in Johnson County history.
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
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 Sullivan @ 4:29 PM
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