SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
July 10, 2015
Sullivan’s
Salvos 7/14/15
In this edition:
*Technical Upgrades
*Solon Beef Days
*Community ID
*Supervisor Race
*Other County Races
*Did You Know?
*Technical Upgrades
I
am making an attempt to improve the weekly Salvos by utilizing Mailchimp. I
hope this improves your reading experience! More importantly, frankly, I am
desperately trying to make things easier on myself. Salvos takes a lot of time
just to write; hopefully I can at least make the act of sending it easier.
In
addition, I’m rolling out a new website. You’ll find info about me, many more
photos, info on upcoming events, and links to my Facebook page. Check it out at
sullivanforsupervisor.org. I’d love to have your feedback!
This
may not seem like a big deal to any of you, but I am a bit of a Luddite. Any
change is stressful. What’s more, like most local elected officials, I have no campaign
staff of any kind. Since I have no technical skills, I have to rely on the
kindness and patience of friendly volunteers.
With that in mind, a HUGE thank you to my friend Megan Schwalm,
who designed the new website and helped me to set up Mailchimp. I could not
even begin to do this without her help!
So
– I hope you enjoy an improved Salvos and an improved website. Please let me
know if you see any places we can do things better!
*Solon Beef Days
The 44th annual Solon Beef Days runs Friday and
Saturday July 18 & 19 in Solon. Steaks, rides, entertainment, a parade, and
the now-legendary hay bale toss are just a few of the items on tap.
I
say this every year, and it is because it comes from a place of pride: I can
honestly say that I have been to roughly 40 of the 44 Beef Days. I wear it like
a badge of honor! This is the year to start your own streak!
I’ll
be marching in the parade Saturday – lineup is at 9 AM just east of the high
school. Please join me!
For
all the details, including a full schedule of events, see: http://beefdays.com/
*Community ID
Applications
for Johnson County Community IDs will be accepted beginning Friday, July 17 at
1 p.m. at the Johnson County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque St., Iowa
City.
Johnson
County will be the first community in the Midwest, and the first outside a
major metropolitan area, to offer community issued identification. The program
has been a joint effort of local governments, business, and labor.
The
Community ID program is designed to help people who may have difficulty getting
a state-issued ID, such as seniors who no longer drive, the homeless, people in
poverty or transition, and new immigrants. A Community ID can help these people
interact with law enforcement, local government, pharmacies and banks.
All
Johnson County residents, even people with a driver’s license or non-driver ID,
are encouraged to get a Community ID. Many area businesses will offer
discounts to people who present a Community ID.
Community
IDs will cost $8 for adults and $4 for children. Applicants will be required to
present secondary forms of identification to get a Community ID. The following
documents are enough by themselves:
US
or foreign passport; Driver’s license or non-driver ID card from any US state; US
Permanent Resident Card (“Green Card”); Birth certificate or consular ID
(“CID”).
People
who have no items from the above list may apply for Community IDs by presenting
two forms of personal identification and one document proving Johnson County
residency. A full list of accepted documents will be on the County web site, http://www.johnson-county.com. All documents will be verified before the
Community ID is issued, and Community ID cards will be mailed.
*Supervisor Race
It
appears that there is a full-fledged race for seats on the Johnson County Board
of Supervisors!
The
party primaries are not until early May of 2016, but the summer parade season
has given us a clue as to what is in store.
Three
incumbent Supervisors are up for reelection in ’16: Terrence Neuzil, Pat
Harney, and myself. In addition, Lisa Green-Douglass has been campaigning at
parades throughout Johnson County.
Green-Douglass,
of rural North Liberty, is not new to this: she ran in the ’14 Democratic
Primary, finishing behind current Supervisors Janelle Rettig and Mike Carberry.
Lisa made a run at it, finishing just 126 votes behind Carberry for the second
spot.
I
have known Lisa for quite some time. We met through Democratic Party politics
in the early ‘90s, when she and her husband Tom Douglass were quite active in
party business. That changed a bit, however, when Lisa had triplets in the late
‘90s! The triplets, the youngest three of her 5 children, are entering their
senior years at Clear Creek Amana.
I
have always liked and respected Lisa – she even got a “Salvos Salute” way back
in 2006 for her work on tax fairness issues in the CCA District. Her volunteer
work in that school district is well respected. Add in her professional career
as a Spanish teacher and consultant to law enforcement agencies, and you can
see that she has an interesting background.
Of course, with both of us running in the same primary, it can get
a bit awkward. Obviously, Lisa could easily out-poll me for a seat on the
Board!
I have not formally announced a campaign for reelection; neither
have Terrence or Pat. But all three of us are behaving as though we want to
keep our jobs. So that makes 4 candidates for 3 seats.
There
may be more candidates, of course. There is a group of 5-6 Newport Road folks
that will likely put forth a candidate in the Democratic primary, and fund him
or her handsomely. And I have not even touched on the GOP side.
But
you know what? This is a very good thing. You deserve choices. We deserve
choices. Just because a person is an incumbent does not mean she/he is entitled
to that seat forever. Every one of us should have to prove ourselves every day.
We should be able to stand in front of you and articulate why we are worthy of
the Democratic Party nomination.
Personally,
I’m very proud of my record, and I look forward to discussing it, along the
records of the other candidates. And I welcome Lisa and her ideas to the
campaign.
Meanwhile,
I urge you to spend the time between now and May learning about the candidates.
What have they done to deserve the Democratic Party nomination? What do they
plan on doing in the next term? Have they earned your vote? Now is your
opportunity to shop for candidates!
*Other County Races
The
other County elections that will be held in 2016 are for Sheriff and Auditor. I
am not certain that Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek and Auditor Travis Weipert are
running for reelection, but I certainly hope they are!
I
can honestly say that I cannot imagine finding two better public servants. We
are SO lucky to have them in office! I hold both Lonny and Travis in the highest
possible regard. They are great at their jobs, and they are even better people.
Let’s hope both these outstanding elected officials announce
campaigns for reelection soon!
*DID YOU KNOW?
Supervisors Harney and Neuzil were first elected in 2000, and have been
elected four times each. Supervisor Sullivan was first elected in 2004, and has
been elected three times.
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
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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 @ 4:44 PM
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