SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
March 22, 2018
Sullivan’s
Salvos 3/27/18
In this edition:
*Kaufmann Hypocrisy
*My 2017 Schedule
*Gazette is Part Way There
*SILT Fundraiser
*Did You Know?
*Kaufmann Hypocrisy
I recently wrote the
following Letter to the Editor:
A
quick Google search will turn up several instances of State Representative
Bobby Kaufmann claiming to support “local control.” Unfortunately, his voting
record tells a very different tale.
Take
HF2372 for example. This Bill requires counties of over 60,000 to create
Districts for County Supervisor as dictated by Republicans in the Iowa
Legislature. Currently, voters in each county decide what type of
representation they want. This is the exact opposite of local control.
Unfortunately,
the hypocrisy doesn’t end there. The bill Representative Kaufmann voted for
strips the rights of voters in Linn, Scott, and Johnson Counties. Conveniently,
the same bill takes no rights from voters in Cedar County. Why the difference?
You can start by looking to Bobby’s father Jeff, (Chair of the Republican Party
of Iowa) who serves on the Cedar County Board of Supervisors.
To
recap – Representative Kaufmann voted to have the State Legislature decide
things for voters in Linn, Scott, and Johnson Counties. But Cedar County voters
get local control. Does this make any sense? Only if your last name is
Kaufmann!
I
hope voters in Eastern Iowa will hold Representative Kaufmann accountable for
this egregious display of hypocrisy.
Follow up: Representative Kaufmann mentions
this in his regular newspaper column. In that, he says a number of things that
I find to be half true at best. So, I thought – why not let people decide for
themselves?
So
I have challenged Representative Kaufmann to debate the merits of HF2372 at the
time and place of his choice. My only stipulation is that multiple people be
allowed to record it.
I
will let you know if he takes me up on this offer.
*My 2017 Schedule
Supervisors
received a little surprise on March 1 when we were hit with a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request from the Gazette’s Adam Sullivan. Adam requested
our calendars for every day of 2017.
Let
me begin by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with this request.
While it feels a bit petty, it is fully within the law. We are public
employees, and our schedules should be made available to the public if they
request it. So no complaints there. It is just that this made for an
interesting request logistically.
Each
Supervisor has a different calendar, and each has a different way of
maintaining it. It sounds as though each of us will be able to comply with the
FOIA request, but that was never a guarantee. One Sup uses paper calendars;
luckily, he still had 2017. Other could easily have been using programs/systems
that deleted old calendar entries. For what it is worth, it seems the data is
all there.
Getting
it to print in a usable format was another matter. I don’t see my calendar
anywhere but my phone. There is no way to print from my phone, per se. It took
the help of our IT Director; I couldn’t figure it out myself.
Even
then, printing the whole year was basically visually unusable. Even printing a
month at a time truncated important data. So I opted for a format that shows a
week at a time. Once printed, this amounted to 75 single-sided pages in all!
Why
single-sided? Unfortunately, there were things I had to redact using a black
magic marker. For example, I had a Foster Daughter at my house all of 2017. I
had to redact her name about 50 times, from doctor and dental appointments to
school conferences to track meets. It was a pain in the butt.
Additionally,
I had several meetings that I needed to leave in, but had to redact cell phone
numbers that I had entered into the calendar.
This
was another twist; I only keep one calendar. Life is confusing enough – I
cannot imagine different calendars for work and personal events. I have always
kept it in a single calendar. I could have gone through and redacted every
personal event. But that was WAY too much work! So Adam also got my doctor and
dental appointments, my kids’ birthdays, and other assorted personal data. Oh
well.
Now
that Adam has this info, the question is what can he learn from it? I had to
laugh – I gathered all this information a couple of Fridays ago. I spent 6
hours in the office that day… and nothing was on my calendar! So I’m not
certain what he can divine there.
For
what it is worth, I have done 3-4 time studies during my tenure as a
Supervisor. Each one was about three weeks long. In each case, I averaged about
43 hours of work per week. (I know – boring, right?)
*Gazette Is Part Way There
While
the FOIA request was frustrating, at least a media outlet cared enough to ask a
question! I am actually really glad the Gazette hired Adam to comment on things
from the Libertarian perspective. It is a viewpoint that deserves some ink.
My
frustration is that the ONLY thing one reads about Johnson County is filtered
through that Libertarian lens. Yes, Libertarians are important. They are also a
very small percentage of the population. Johnson County has 91,500 registered
voters; about 500 of those are Libertarian. One half of one percent. So it is
ironic that the ONLY things we read about our County, cities, and schools come
through such an unrepresentative lens.
The
Gazette does a pretty decent job covering Linn County, CR, Marion, the CRCSD,
and the rest. I wish the Gazette covered Johnson County, Iowa City, Coralville,
the ICCSD, etc. But they do not.
Because
the Gazette doesn’t cover us, it is frustrating when their Editorial Board
wades into Johnson County waters. Frankly, I don’t know how they possibly think
they can endorse candidates or efforts that they don’t cover. The Editorial
Board doesn’t even call people from Johnson County before opining on their
issues! There is a certain irony there!
Columnist
Todd Dorman covers Linn County, CR, Marion, the CRCSD, and the rest quite well.
He is a good writer. Columnist Lynda Waddington covers issues of poverty,
equality, racial issues, women’s issues, environmental issues, and whatever
else she sees fit. Lynda, too, is a good writer. Adam offers a Libertarian view
on the Johnson County area. Again, another good writer. But the average Johnson
County reader is still out of luck.
The
Press Citizen doesn’t cover anything in Johnson County. I wish the Gazette did.
There is an opportunity here. Meanwhile, if you want to see what a good local
newspaper looks like, visit the Solon Economist and/or North Liberty Leader.
These papers routinely do an excellent job!
*SILT Fundraiser
Join
the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) for a benefit concert to support local,
healthy food and farms. The event is Friday, March 30 at 7PM at The Mill in
Iowa City. Artists include Steve and Michaela McLain and Iowa City’s own Dave
Moore. You can purchase tickets at silt.org/tix.
*DID YOU KNOW?
By law, Supervisor Districts MUST be equal in population. There IS no
fair way to “guarantee” some type of rural representation. Otherwise, you
violate one person, one vote. For what it is worth, 2/5 Johnson County
Supervisors live in the unincorporated area.
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 @ 2:08 PM
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