SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
April 27, 2017
Sullivan’s
Salvos 5/2/17
In this edition:
*Goodbye, Andy Johnson!
*North Liberty City Election
*Please Ask Me!
*May Day
*Democratic Party Hall of Fame
*Did You Know?
*Goodbye, Andy Johnson!
I regret to inform you that longtime Board Office Executive
Director Andy Johnson is leaving
Johnson County to join family in Omaha. While I am very happy for Andy and his
family, this is quite a blow both personally and professionally.
If
you have ever worked with Johnson County in any capacity, you know that Andy is
the one that makes it all happen. I cannot even begin to describe all of his
good qualities. Our Boards have not been the easiest groups for whom one could
work. We are very flawed as individuals, and even more flawed as a group. But
for the most part, things get done, and they get done because of Andy.
His
wisdom, kindness, thoughtfulness, patience, honesty, humility, and decency are
beyond comparison. I wish I was half as good a person as Andy. I could exhaust
my thesaurus looking for words to explain how I feel about Andy, but I think
I’ll settle on one: Grace. I never deserved a person like Andy as a friend or
coworker, but I got to enjoy him as both. Grace. Thank you, Andy. Thank you for
everything. Grace.
*North Liberty City Election
The
results are in from the North Liberty Special Election, and the winners were
Terry Donahue as Mayor and Sarah Madsen for the Council.
Donahue
won an interesting three-way race that pitted two incumbent Councilors (Donahue
and Chris Hoffman) against each other. Donahue won relatively convincingly, 48%
to 39% for Hoffman and 12% for Matthew Pollock.
Fun
fact! Terry Donahue is one of the rare people to serve as Mayor of two Iowa
cities, Creston and now North Liberty.
Donahue
had to give up his Council seat to run for Mayor, creating a 7 (!) person race
to fill his term. This is amazing, because interest in politics in North
Liberty has always been quite poor, frankly. It was extremely encouraging to
see all these candidates!
Sarah
Madsen won a close race, defeating former Councilor Gerry Kuhl, 29-26%. Madsen
serves as Corporate Counsel at True North Companies in Cedar Rapids.
While I only knew a few of them, most candidates looked very
capable. And I had people I respect deeply supporting a variety of candidates;
that speaks well for the whole group. Six of the seven candidates were between
29-38 years of age, which is also very encouraging!
A growing city like North Liberty needs multiple voices as part of
the conversation. I hope all the candidates will stay involved in local
government, and I hope a few will run for office again in the future.
So
how involved was the community as a whole? Turnout was 1025 voters, just shy of
the record 1031 votes cast in 2005. That only amounts to 9.3% turnout, however
– so we still have work to do.
Congratulations
to the winners, and thanks to all the candidates for throwing their hats into
the ring!
*Please Ask Me!
There
is a lot of misinformation out there. Fake news is not just a national
phenomenon – it happens right here. Just because someone posts something on
Facebook or writes a letter to the Press Citizen does not mean they have their
facts straight.
You
read these weekly missives. You must do so for a reason. So when you hear these
things, ask me what I think. I may agree with the writer; I may disagree. But
at least you are gaining some context.
I
am here. I am a resource. Please ask me.
*May Day
In
much of the world, May Day is a worker’s holiday. It used to be a holiday here,
too, until an unreasonable fear of communism clouded our collective national
judgment.
May
Day used to commemorate the Haymarket Incident. For those of you unfamiliar,
the following is lifted largely from Wikipedia:
The Haymarket affair occurred
during the course of a three-day strike that involved common laborers,
artisans, merchants, and immigrants. Following an incident in which police
opened fire and killed four strikers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Co. plant,
a rally was called for the following day at Haymarket Square. The event remained peaceful, yet
towards the end of the rally, as police moved in to disperse the event, an
unknown assailant threw a bomb into the crowd of police. The bomb and resulting
police riot
left at least a dozen people dead, including seven policemen.
A sensational show trial ensued in which eight defendants
were openly tried for their political beliefs, and not necessarily for any
involvement in the bombing. The trial led to the eventual public hanging of four anarchists. In the following years, memory of
the "Haymarket martyrs" was remembered with various May Day job
actions and demonstrations.
So, on this May Day, I plan on tipping back a cold beverage in
honor of the people who gave us the weekend!
*Democratic Party Hall of Fame
Save
the date! The Johnson County Democratic Party is holding our Annual Hall of
Fame Awards event on Saturday, May 6 at 7pm at Brown Deer Country Club in
Coralville.
Please
join us for coffee, desserts, and plenty of old war stories! A cash bar will be
available. Parking is free.
The
Hall of Fame inductees for 2017 are: Nancy Porter, Tom Larkin and Joyce Bernardy,
and Sally and Roger Stutsman. We hope you can join us in recognizing this
remarkable group!
Tickets
are available for a $25 suggested donation. People who cannot afford that
amount should still feel welcome to attend. Our honorees deserve a big crowd!
If
you have any questions, please contact Rod Sullivan at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. We hope you will join us for a fun evening, and
lend your voice to those who are honoring these very deserving people. We look
forward to seeing you!
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.
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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 @ 8:57 PM
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