SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
July 2, 2015
Sullivan’s
Salvos 7/7/15
In this edition:
*SEATS History
*Talking When We Disagree
*Blues and BBQ
*Shaking My Head, Part 1
*Shaking My Head, Part 2
*Shaking My Head, Part 3
*I Know You Are, But What Am I?
*Did You Know?
*SEATS History
Johnson County SEATS Director Tom Brase recently
shared this brief history of his department. I thought you might find it
interesting.
East Central Iowa Transit was established in 1975
to provide demand-responsive, rural transit service in the counties of Benton,
Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, and Washington. In earlier years, transportation
services, if available, were provided informally by human service agencies on
behalf of their respective clients.
In 1973, Heritage Area Agency on Aging (HAAA)
received a Federal Highway Administration demonstration grant to provide rural
transportation services for elderly persons in a seven county area (Benton,
Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, and Washington counties). The service was
named Senior Elderly Area Transportation Services (SEATS). Following the
expiration of the grant in 1975, individual counties chose to make their own
arrangements for providing transit services, and ultimately decided to
coordinate a regional service know as East Central Iowa Transit.
The role of the transit service was also expanded
to include general public riders. Since that time, ECICOG has served as the
administrative agency and contracted with a provider in each county to operate
service. Providers include: Benton County Transportation, Iowa County
Transportation, Johnson County SEATS, Jones County JETS, Linn County LIFTS, and
Washington County MiniBus.
In just the past decade, SEATS has provided almost
1.2 million rides. Thanks for the history lesson, Tom!
*Talking When We Disagree
Recently
I mentioned the ability to talk across ideological lines. I really cannot
emphasize enough how important this is!
I
recently met a guy through work. This man had decided ahead of time that we
couldn’t really spend any time talking, because I was a Supervisor in liberal
Johnson County, and he was a Libertarian from Western Iowa.
I
just wouldn’t let him get away so easily. I learned that we both have children;
his two are a bit younger than my three. I learned that we were both farm kids.
We both love the Hawkeyes.
Then
the real topper – his wife is a breast cancer survivor. (My wife Melissa is
currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer.) As we parted ways, the guy
was almost in tears, saying, “Let me know how I can help.”
He
is a good guy. I know that, now, because we spoke. I’d like to think I’m a good
guy. I hope he feels that way now.
My
guess is that this gentleman and I would disagree on a lot of political issues.
But now I think we could actually discuss these differences with mutual respect
and understanding. And wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?
*Blues and BBQ
North Liberty is gearing up for a ninth year of
live music, great food, family fun and great brews on Saturday, July 11 in
Centennial Park. The purpose of North Liberty Blues & BBQ presented by
South Slope Cooperative Communications is to bring the community together for a
free, family-friendly event under the umbrella of live, Iowa blues music and
remarkable food.
The
festival is coordinated by the North Liberty Community Betterment Group with
the goal of providing North Liberty residents and visitors an opportunity to
enjoy the beauty of the area without spending money. The festival is paid for
by local business sponsorships and donations.
For
more information, visit: http://northlibertyblues.org.
*Shaking My Head, Part 1
I
am aghast at the terrorist attacks on black churches throughout the south. At
last count 7 black churches have been burned, while others have been
vandalized.
Let’s
be very clear. If ISIL did this, we would cease all air travel, call out the
National Guard, and every Presidential candidate except Sanders and Paul would
demand that we bomb a couple Middle Eastern countries.
But
these acts of terrorism are not even called terrorism! The violence has barely
been covered on the news. Why? Because the victims are black, and the
perpetrators might be white.
What
type of country ARE we? We need to act! The whole thing just leaves me shaking
my head.
*Shaking My Head, Part 2
Pope
Francis recently came out strongly in favor of addressing climate change.
Catholic Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum says, “The Pope should stick to
morality, and leave the science to the scientists.”
OK…
did you read the encyclical? THE MAIN POINT Pope Francis makes is that climate
change IS a moral issue! So… no.
Secondly,
NOW Santorum wants to leave science to the scientists? OK, let’s do just that!
Over 98% of all climate scientists agree that climate change is man made and
needs to be addressed. So yes, Rick – let’s leave the science to the
scientists!
One
last thing. Pope Francis IS a scientist! He has an advanced college degree in
Chemistry!
Shaking
my head. Just – shaking my head.
*Shaking My Head, Part 3
Americans
are furious over the fact that our government has been spying on us without our
permission.
Michael
Hayden, the man who headed up these programs, repeatedly lied to Congress while
under oath. He lives freely in the US, enjoying his government pension. Hayden
also works for the Chertoff Group, which gets all sorts of government security
contracts.
Edward Snowden, the man who let us know what the government was
doing, lives in exile. If he ever returns to the US, he will spend the rest of
his life in jail.
Does
this make sense to you? Me, either. Once again, I’m shaking my head.
*I Know You Are, But What Am I?
There
is a disturbing trend amongst local governments. These governments are
justifying their mistakes by saying, “It could be worse! We are better than our
neighbor.”
Let’s
look at some other examples where this type of justification gets used:
Sure,
I slap my wife around a bit. But my neighbor really pounds his wife!
Sure,
I steal money from my employer. But my neighbor takes much more from his boss!
Sure,
I use cocaine and heroin on occasion. But my neighbor is a meth head!
Is
this really all the better we can do? We can only strive to be a little bit
better than the guy next door?
Personally,
I think the public deserves better.
*DID YOU KNOW?
Because they offer fixed rate bus service, the cities of University
Heights, Coralville, and Iowa City are required to provide paratransit
services. All three cities do so through contracts with SEATS.
Anyone
interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the
County website-
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serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 6:36 PM
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