SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
February 20, 2015
Sullivan’s
Salvos 2/24/15
In this edition:
*Congratulations, Denny!
*Bernie Sanders
*Dane County
*”Qualified Electors” and the Iowa City Charter
*Shelter House Used Book Sale
*Did You Know?
*Congratulations, Denny!
Congratulations to
Iowa City Assessor Denny Baldridge on his retirement!
The Assessor has a
difficult job. The Assessor must determine the value of every piece of land in
that jurisdiction – from houses, to apartment buildings, to farm fields, to gas
stations, to malls… the Assessor decides what each is worth.
Obviously, property
owners all wish their property was assessed lower. That way, they would pay
less in taxes. That is the case until the property owner goes to sell – then
owners tend to believe their property is worth much more! Basically, people are
always upset with the Assessor.
Because of this
inherent distrust, it is critical that Assessors do their jobs very well. The
public needs to have confidence that they are not paying too much (or too
little), and that their neighbors are not paying too much or too little. People
need to have confidence that the process is fair.
Denny Baldridge can
retire head held high, knowing that the Iowa City Assessor’s Office routinely
ranks in the top 2-4 offices in the state. If you own property in Iowa City,
you are being assessed fairly. And the credit for that goes to Denny Baldridge.
In addition to doing
his job well, Denny is a great guy. I have really enjoyed getting to know him,
and I’ll miss having him in the building. Good luck, Denny, and thanks for all
the good work!
*Bernie Sanders
It was great to have
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in town this week! I hope he runs for President
– we need a real Iowa Caucus season!
If you feel the same
way, please let the Senator know! He can be reached at: http://www.bernie.org.
*Dane County
I have some exciting
news! The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is making a trip to Dane County,
Wisconsin on May 4th and 5th.
Dane County is home
to Madison and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Of all the counties in
the US, it is one of the most similar to where we live. It is only about two
and a half hours away, and yet we have done very little in terms of exchanging
information.
I am proud to say I
was at the forefront of changing this. At our first Local Food Summit, just
about a year ago, our keynote speaker was Kyle Richmond, a Dane County
Supervisor who has been very involved in local food efforts there. As we
talked, I mentioned that we should come see the things he was talking about.
Kyle agreed.
A few months later,
I ran into Kyle and one of his colleagues at the National Association of
Counties (NACo) meeting. We spent some time together, and I once again broached
the subject of a visit. This time, Kyle gave me a contact name. Thanks to a LOT
of hard work by Executive Assistant Andy Johnson, the visit has been arranged.
We plan on focusing
on a few of the most important issues facing our county – local food, disproportionate
minority contact, affordable housing, and more. While Dane County has not
solved any of these problems, they offer us a fresh perspective on things. In
addition, they are ahead of us when it comes to addressing these issues. I’m
hopeful we can learn from the things they got right, as well as the things they
got wrong.
There may be
opportunities for some members of the public to attend, assuming they paid
their own way. Let me know if you are interested. Otherwise, please let me know
if there is something you want me to pursue while in Dane County.
*”Qualified
Electors” and the Iowa City Charter
As you have heard here, the Charter Review Commission will soon
be making recommendations to the Iowa City Council regarding the City Charter.
Of all the things that could or should be changed, the issue of “qualified
electors” is the number one issue in my book.
If you take out a petition from any level of government, you
will find a disclaimer. It warns anyone signing that their signature testifies
that she/he is an eligible elector, and that any type of misrepresentation is
punishable by law. So there is little incentive to lie on a petition.
If you turned this petition in to the County Auditor, the office
would verify signatures. In Iowa City, however, you’d get another step. The
City Clerk’s office would then compare every address listed on the petition to
the address listed in the voter file. If they do not match, the signature is
disallowed.
I find this very troubling. Iowa offers same day voter
registration. The signer is verifying that she/he is an eligible elector, and
that is true! That should be the end of it.
You hear “concerns” from grumpy old white men, who say that
those signatures should not be counted. They say, “If they don’t care enough to
register, why do we care what they think?”
This obfuscates the main point: the vast majority of petitioners
ARE registered to vote. They just aren't registered at their current address.
Most Iowa City citizens between 17 and 26 or so move every year.
So they sign a petition. Again, the City Clerk checks the address they have
given versus the address at which they are registered. The addresses don't
match. That signature does not count.
This process systematically disenfranchises thousands of people
- not "irresponsible" people as some would have you believe - but
YOUNG people. Who make up about half our population.
Imagine for a moment that instead of being
young, they were disenfranchised because of race or gender? Would we stand for
it?
This is just another
way in which Iowa City treats students as commodities to be exploited. Bring
your daddy’s money to town, pay tuition and fees, pay exorbitant rents, pay a
couple $500 PAULAs, and don’t try to involve yourself in the decision making.
Get a pat on the head from those who have exploited you, and go away tens of
thousands in debt.
This rule is wrong.
(I happen to believe it is unconstitutional.) I hope the ACLU sues over it. Of
course, they wouldn’t HAVE to if the Council simply did the right thing. I hope
the City Council will see fit to change this terrible rule.
*Shelter House Used Book Sale
The
annual Shelter House Used Book Sale is Saturday, March 7th from
10:30 am-4:30 pm and Sunday, March 8th from Noon-4:00 pm at the
former Ben Franklin store in the Iowa City Marketplace (formerly Sycamore
Mall).
Early
Birds can get in Saturday at 10:00am for a $10 entrance fee. All proceeds go
toward supporting the mission of Shelter House.
*DID YOU KNOW?
The Johnson County Assessor’s Office ranks number one in the state in
the most recent statistical ratings. The Iowa City Assessor’s Office ranks
second.
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.
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
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 3:53 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home