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SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
December 26, 2019
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/31/19
In this edition:
*Happy New Year!
*Salvos Salutes!
*Did You Know?
*Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to all Salvos readers! I hope you and your loved ones enjoy a wonderful 2020!
*Salvos Salutes!
2019 is coming to a close, and it is time for honoring a few select Johnson County residents with that most treasured of honors, the Salvos Salute. A few observations:
* This is the fourteenth annual set of awards, and there are always more people who deserve awards than there are awards to give. We live in a great County!
* The focus is on Johnson County. It is certainly worth noting the daily heroism of someone like our firefighters, police, and paramedics. There are also examples that garner international attention. But we have everyday heroes right here in Johnson County that deserve a shout out.
* There are some people out there that could win every year. I am trying to honor different folks, but repeat winners are not out of the question.
* Salvos Salutes do not have specific criteria, but you can bet that in general, most of the winners are courageous, advocate for peace and justice, have good ideas, speak truth to power, avoid hypocrisy, and look out for the less fortunate.
Without further adieu, your 2019 Salvos Salutes go to:
Jim Throgmorton (again): I want my Mayor to be intelligent, compassionate, and progressive. Check! It has been a wonderful past 4 years! Iowa City needed Jim at exactly the moment he served. The city is headed in the right direction. Thanks, Jim – a rare two-time Salute winner!
Bob Welsh: I wrote the following when the Board honored Bob a few months ago: “I am not a young man, yet right around the time I was born, Bob began a crusade to improve the lives of Johnson County's neediest residents. Over the decades, thousands of people have lived better lives because of his work. No one has given more to the ‘least among us’ than Bob Welsh.”
Katie Roche: The campaign to make Iowa City “The Greatest Small City for the Arts” was a huge success, raising important money and awareness for the Englert Theatre, Filmscene, and their many collaborations. It was also a showcase for one of Johnson County’s real treasures, Katie Roche. If you get an opportunity to work with Katie, do not hesitate! Whatever the project, you can bet that if Katie is involved, it is cool, fun, and the right thing to do!
Jen Shearer: Bigwigs decided to put an end to the UI Labor Center. They did not anticipate the fight they got from students, faculty, and workers from across Iowa. Had they reviewed the previous work of Jennifer Shearer, they could have seen it coming. Jen is not simply a rockstar as Director of the Labor Center, but a top-notch organizer to boot. Jen is also steady progressive voice on local matters.
Janet Martin: Janet Martin is retiring from the Johnson County 4H program after many, many years of quietly shaping our young people. Janet is one of those people that simply puts a smile on my face every time I see her. She really cares about our children, and really works hard. Congratulations, Janet!
Alice Atkinson: Another retiree, Alice is stepping down from the Johnson County Conservation Board after 10 years of stellar service. Many people recall the 2008 Conservation Bond vote that brought $20 million into the county. (Plus leveraging over $20 million more.) I can guarantee you that does not happen without Alice Atkinson! Then, like always, Alice stepped up and gave her time, talent, and treasure. Thanks for your service, Alice!
Kevin Monson: You may not give a great deal of thought to the many municipal buildings in Johnson County. You may not think much about the buildings that house our many nonprofit organizations. So it makes sense that you might not realize how much Kevin Monson has given back to this community. Whether it is a donation of his considerable talents, volunteering his time, or contributing financially, Kevin Monson is a quiet, low-key hero. Thank you, Kevin, for all you do!
Lynn Gallagher: Activists, regardless of the topic about which they are passionate, should follow the lead of Lynn Gallagher of rural Solon. Lynn is a vegan, and staunchly opposes any mistreatment of animals. To Lynn, this includes farming animals for meat and milk. Lynn’s activism is often met with anger and bullying, but she is undeterred. I don’t know any activists who are better prepared and have studied the issues more carefully. Just as importantly, Lynn always follows every rule to a T, and is unfailingly polite.
Mark Nolte: Mark recently announced he was moving to Moxie Solar after spending the past 14 years at the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD). Under normal circumstances, someone working at this type of big business employer group would not show up in Salvos. But ICAD and Mark are exceptions. As the primary leader of our local economic development efforts, Mark has been thoughtful, innovative, bold yet practical, and ultimately, successful! ICAD is not your grandfather’s economic development agency – and that is a good thing! I am certain we have not heard the last of Mark Nolte!
Mike Ryan (again): The people of Tiffin have had it very good for the past 8 years with Mike Ryan on their City Council. Since 2011, Mike has brought his plainspoken common sense to the government of our fastest-growing city. Mike is the best example I know of combining progressive, populist politics with down home, Midwestern common sense. He is a smart, decent man who has done a thankless job exceedingly well. Thanks, Mike!
Jon Green: I have often said that the toughest job in politics is that of small-town Mayor. There is no Administrator or Superintendent to whom you can assign the work. Small town Mayors chase down loose dogs, plow streets, and take on the weight of their neighbor’s problems 24-7/365. In the case of former Lone Tree Mayor Jon Green, he not only accepted these burdens, but managed to get his community of 1400 to begin thinking outside the box. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for your outstanding leadership!
RaQuishia Harrington: North Liberty continues to grow at a rapid pace. When that happens, it is good to know that someone is looking out for those who growth can leave behind. North Liberty City Councilor RaQuishia Harrington is the perfect leader for this city in this moment. The more time I spend with RaQuishia, the more I realize how much we undervalue this incredible young lady. She could easily be a candidate for Governor or Congress. And probably should be.
Michelle Kenyon: The Executive Director of Field to Family, Michelle is a key mover and shaker in the local food movement. From farmers markets to the Food Hub to changes in county policy, Michelle is an important voice for local farmers and local eaters. Johnson County is at the forefront of the local food movement, and no one deserves more credit than Michelle!
IC Climate Strikers: When it comes to the most critical issue of our time, high school students have led the charge. The Iowa City Climate Strikers have made real change in their community. There is much work left to do – and I like our chances, given the presence of the IC Climate Strikers!
Lyz Lenz: She is not a Johnson County resident, but Gazette columnist Lenz has brought an important perspective to Eastern Iowa readers. Unabashedly feminist, Lenz makes no apologies and pulls no punches. In this time of diminishing local news and opinion, Lyz Lenz is a breath of fresh air!
Linda Herring (again): Linda Herring is retiring from serving as a first responder for the Tiffin Fire department, something she had done for over 20 years. She is also no longer going to be a foster parent, after having over 600 kids since being licensed in 1980. Let me say that again. SIX HUNDRED foster children! In addition, she has taken special needs kids that would often have gone to some sort of group care. An example is Linda’s daughter, Dani. Dani was born with only a brain stem in August of 1990. Linda took her into her home as a foster child, and was told she wouldn’t live more than a few months. Dani is now 29 years old. All I can say is God Bless you, Linda!
Congratulations to all our winners!
*DID YOU KNOW? 191 individuals/groups have received a Salvos Salute since they were started in 2006.
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
December 19, 2019
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/24/19
In this edition:
*Merry Christmas!
*Happy Hanukah!
*Salvos Salutes Next Week!
*Good Things Coming at a Great Time!
*Fertility Stats
*Items in Salvos
*County Holiday Schedule
*Did You Know?
*Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!
My granddaughter will be with us for a couple of weeks, and I am on cloud nine! I hope each of you gets to experience something that good!
*Happy Hanukah!
Happy Hanukah to all my Jewish friends! I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday! Chag Urim Sameach!
*Salvos Salutes Next Week!
We live in a GREAT county! Why? Because of the great people that live here! Unfortunately, we rarely do enough to acknowledge these wonderful people and the wonderful things they do.
That is why I really look forward to Salvos Salutes. It provides an opportunity to mention just a few of these cool people and the good things they do. I hope you look forward to it as well!
*Good Things Coming at a Great Time!
The holidays and Salvos Salutes are both coming at a really good time. Unfortunately, life has been pretty tough of late.
My children have problems with which I cannot help. I have several friends going through various health crises. Work has been absolutely miserable, with people from all over the county calling me stupid, heartless, etc. I really need some positives.
I hope the holiday season gives you a good dose of what you need. And I hope you find Salvos Salutes as inspirational as I do! Meanwhile, take good care, and seek help if you need it!
*Fertility Stats
The Sierra Club recently put out some interesting data on fertility. As you may know, this has been a difficult issue for the Sierra Club.
On one hand, they push the scientific fact that human activity is having catastrophic consequences for the planet. On the other hand, there are policies of immigration, reproductive rights, and other hot topics in which groups disguise racism and misogyny as environmental policy. The Sierra Club has been fighting this for a long time.
A recent issue of Sierra Magazine touched on these topics once again. I found the following stats to be quite remarkable:
*In 1960, worldwide, women gave birth to 5 children on average. That average has fallen to 2.5 today.
*In 1960, 86% of women worldwide had at least one child by age 19. In 2017, that fell to 43%.
*It took the US 82 years (from 1844 to 1926) to go from 6 to 3 children per woman. It only took China 11 years (1967 to 1978) to do the same thing. (Demonstrating the efficiency of a totalitarian regime!)
*In countries where nearly 100% of girls finish middle school, women have an average of two children. In countries where less than 20% of girls do not complete middle school, women have an average of 6 children.
Interesting data!
*Items in Salvos
I get occasional requests to run things in Salvos. I never realized how controversial this could get, but it seems to have caused some friction between some of my friends and I! So please allow me to explain my thoughts.
I have never created “rules” in terms of what I will/will not include. I just don’t want to get that formal, frankly. Getting this out weekly can be a bit of a chore, and I just don’t want to make it any more difficult. I don’t have any staff. No intern. Nothing. This is just me, which can get a bit daunting.
I date each edition of Salvos as a Tuesday, even though you will likely get it over the weekend. The idea of how to date each edition is stolen from the publishing industry; they want you to be able to buy magazines over a period of time knowing they will remain relevant. So Salvos is written in such a way that if you do not read it until Tuesday morning, it should still be relevant.
That affects what I will run and when. If you send me an item on Thursday the 13th for Saturday the 15th, I am extremely unlikely to run it. Because I know several folks will not see it until after the 15th. And I want each edition to be relevant.
So get me your information ASAP. Give me some time to work it in. And please do not be offended if I decided not to run your item. I am doing my best to put out a product that 400+ people will find interesting and informative each week. It is not easy!
*County Holiday Schedule
Most Johnson County governmental offices will be closed Tuesday, Dec. 24 and Wednesday, Dec. 25, in observance of the Christmas holiday. Offices will also be closed Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020, for New Year’s Day.
Detailed schedule changes and other office closures include:
Ambulance: Johnson County Ambulance Service (JCAS) will be available for routine and emergency response. The JCAS billing and administrative offices will be closed. Emergency services remain available 365 days a year. In an emergency, residents should always dial 911.
Attorney’s Office: The Johnson County Attorney’s Office will be closed, however, the courthouse will be open until noon on Tuesday, Dec. 24.
Board of Supervisors Office: The Board of Supervisors will not have a work session on Wednesday, Dec. 25 or Jan. 1. The Board’s weekly formal and informal meetings will take place as scheduled beginning at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 26. The 2020 formal organizational meeting will take place at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 2, followed by the regular weekly formal and informal meetings.
Conservation: The Conservation administrative office and Education Center will be closed. All conservation areas will remain open and park rangers will be on call.
Emergency Management: The Emergency Management Agency administrative office will be closed, but available for emergency call in.
Medical Examiner: The Medical Examiner Department (JCME) will be available for emergency response. JCME administrative offices will be closed. JCME should be contacted via the 24-hour pager service by calling 563-244-0054.
SEATS: The SEATS administrative office will be closed and will not provide rural service on Tuesday, Dec. 24, but paratransit service will operate until 6 p.m. in Coralville and Iowa City. The office will be closed and there will be no service on Wednesday, Dec. 25. On Tuesday, Dec. 31, the SEATS administrative office will be open and will provide rural service. Paratransit service will operate in Coralville and Iowa City until 6 p.m. The office will be closed and there will be no service on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020.
Secondary Roads: The Secondary Roads administrative office will be closed. Road crews will be on standby and will respond to winter weather conditions on roadways if necessary.
Sheriff’s Office: The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Administrative, Civil and Records divisions will be closed. All other services will operate as normal and be available for routine and emergency response.
State offices located in County buildings: The Clerk of Court, located in the Johnson County Courthouse, 417 S. Clinton Street in Iowa City, will close to the public at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 24. The Clerk of Court will be closed on Wednesday, Dec. 25 and Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020. The Department of Human Services and Juvenile Court Services, both located in the Johnson County Health and Human Services Building, 855 S. Dubuque Street in Iowa City, will be open on Tuesday, Dec. 24.
*DID YOU KNOW? There are 373 County Supervisors in Iowa. 61 counties have three person boards, and 38 counties have five person boards.
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
December 12, 2019
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/17/19
In this edition:
*Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)
*Did You Know?
*Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)
As you may know, Johnson County has been working on a new Comprehensive Plan for quite some time. Back in May of 2018, after 18 months, 31 public meetings lasting over 100 hours, and hundreds of public comments, Johnson County passed its 2018 Comprehensive Plan by our usual 4-1 vote.
But that still left considerable work ahead. Ever since that time, Johnson County has been working on our Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The UDO is basically a collection of all county ordinances dealing with planning, zoning, and development.
After months of work, we are nearing the end. Most of our ordinances are in good shape and ready to be updated. The biggest challenge we face is coming up with a new and improved approach to the Ag Exemption.
A bit of history: Long ago - even prior to the 1988 Land Use Plan - Johnson County began feeling the pressure of people wanting to move here. They were gobbling up farmland to put up housing developments. It seemed a shame that some of the world’s best farmland was being sacrificed for these houses.
In addition, land values went through the roof. There was little incentive for some farmers to grow commodities and sell at low prices when they could just sell their land for development. Young farmers were shut out by these high land prices.
So the Board of Supervisors acted. They began to prioritize the preservation of Ag land, especially prime Ag land. And as soon as they did, developers started finding ways around it. They knew that Iowa law provided something known as the Ag Exemption. The Ag Exemption, written specifically for farmers, allows unfettered building of farmhouses. Suddenly, every person with an apple tree was a “farmer.” The Board was going to need to do more, or all the Ag land would be gobbled up.
One of the ways in which they did this was the “40 Acre Rule.” This is pretty simple. It says that in order to be considered Ag exempt, you must have a minimum lot size of 40 acres. 40 acres is basically the standard Iowa field, also known as a quarter of a quarter section.
By limiting the Ag exemption to lots of 40 acres or more, the Board put a stop to 5 and ten-acre residential lots, while still allowing conventional farmers to enjoy the exemption intended for them. This worked fine for many years.
As the local food movement took hold in the 90s, and as it has grown since, more and more people want to get involved in growing their own food. There are few prohibitions on this, mind you. You can start growing food almost anywhere in Johnson County. What you could not have was the Ag Exemption, which allows you to build a house. That is the key to the rest of our discussion.
You will often hear people disparagingly claim that the Board says less than 40 acres is not a “farm.” Here is the deal - everyone has her/his own definition of a farm. When people talk about the definition of a farm, they are typically referring to the Ag Exemption. Ag Exempt property is just that - exempt - from most zoning laws.
So there are several things you can do on Ag Exempt property. You can have a virtually unlimited number of animals. You can build two houses, and the houses do not need to be inspected. You can build an almost unlimited number of outbuildings, and these buildings do not need to be inspected.
There are people who grow food on several acres, but are taxed residentially. There are people taxed as Agricultural who don’t grow anything. Tax status has nothing to do with the Ag Exemption.
Ag exempt homes are typically not inspected. If you build your dream home on 3 acres, the County inspects it. If you build your dream home on 40 acres, the County does not. Do we really want every home going uninspected? How many lives will be lost? How many unsuspecting buyers need to get burned? (Literally and figuratively!) Personally, I believe ALL houses should be inspected, period. Who cares what the owner does for a living?
One more housing related issue. As I mentioned earlier, since the 1990s, Johnson County has done a really good job of reducing sprawl and saving farmland, despite incredible growth pressures. Look at the growth rates of Coralville, North Liberty, and other cities before 1990, then after. As the County reduced options for new housing, population in those cities exploded! And that is a good thing. In general, it is better that people live in the city if they are not farming. Johnson County has done a great job of making this a reality!
The Ag Exemption can be used as a tool to get around County zoning requirements. It is easy to picture the young farmer buying her 10 aces, building a nice house, and starting to farm. What happens in two years when she decides farming is too hard? The house is already there. The farmland is already gone. This creates a HUGE loophole!
Anything the Board does to change the 40 Acre Rule could have a devastating effect in terms of urban sprawl. We need to make changes, but we need to make them thoughtfully, carefully, and with a sharp eye toward unintended consequences.
Thankfully, County Planning staff have come up with what I believe to be a very good set of compromises. This UDO is something of which we should be VERY proud!
Unfortunately, all this good work is overshadowed by a single topic over which we have no real control: Confined Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs.
You are going to hear that the Supervisors who supported the new ordinance “voted for CAFOs.” That is simply false. Here are the facts: the State of Iowa does not allow local governments to regulate CAFOs. We can pretend all we want that we somehow have control here, but we do not. The State law is clear. The idea that our old “40 Acre Rule” kept farmers from putting up CAFOs is ridiculous. If a farmer wants to put one up, he will put one up. They always have. If the rule was stopping CAFOs, how did we get the ones we have?
There are people who think Johnson County should write an ordinance that expressly bans CAFOs. Let the Farm Bureau go ahead and sue us, they say. I say be careful what you wish for. The State level Iowa Farm Bureau would love to hurt the residents of Johnson County. Governor Reynolds would love to hurt the residents of Johnson County. The Republicans in the Iowa Legislature would love to hurt the residents of Johnson County, and ALREADY have a bill ready to go that takes away even more local control. This is not a game. This is not the “friendly rivalry” politics of the 1980s. They hate us, and they want us to suffer. And they have the power to make that happen.
I do not want to lose a great set of ordinances over an issue we cannot control anyway. I’d love to see a rural western Iowa county with three Republican Supervisors push the CAFO issue. But Johnson County is not the right messenger. Couple that with the fact that State Law is already against us, and I see fighting this as just a waste of staff time.
In fact, changing the 40 Acre Rule is something local small farmers have been requesting for 20 years. Finally, Johnson County has made a move to address their concerns. Why jeopardize that?
The Board had considered requiring a public hearing for new CAFOs. Not existing ag operations or even existing CAFOs, mind you – just new CAFOs. Why add a public hearing when you really cannot regulate the activity? Because neighbors deserve to be aware that something is proposed.
The Farm Bureau is up in arms about this. But spare me the outrage. You can do any damn thing you want. If you want to construct a CAFO, your neighbors deserve to know. That is all I was trying to do. But unfortunately, this appears to be where the Farm Bureau and Iowa Legislature are drawing the line.
So, what to do? I have been back and forth on this topic. I was one of three Supervisors that suggested the Planning, Development, and Sustainability Department (PDS) draft rules that required a public hearing. Unfortunately, the idea of a public hearing appears to be the thing that gets us sued. It appears to be the thing that holds up all the other good things in the UDO. In the end, I had to ask myself if an essentially meaningless public hearing was worth holding up the whole UDO. I decided it was not.
The people who claim the world is ending because of this? Give me a break. The UDO always ran the risk of becoming the proxy battle between rural and urban residents of the County. Unfortunately, it got far worse than that. It became a reflection of America under President Donald Trump – falsehoods of every type being repeated constantly. Great public servants under attack. It has been ugly, and the people who led the charge should be ashamed.
In the end, the vote on December 5 was 3-2 in favor. (Passing the ordinance requires 3 readings; they are scheduled for the 5th, 12th, and 19th of December.) Supervisors Porter, Heiden, and myself voted in favor. Supervisor Green Douglass voted no because she wanted the public hearing piece included. Supervisor Rettig voted no because of the public hearing piece and because this was “too much regulation.”
Supervisor Rettig was always going to be a “no” on this, as she is on every major piece of legislation. It comes as no surprise to anyone that follows county government. It never mattered what was actually in the plan; her vote was decided a year ago.
Nobody got everything they wanted out of this process. We did the best we could in a situation where there are multiple issues with multiple competing interests. I do not want to see the perfect be the enemy of the good.
So, let me be very clear: this UDO does the best possible job of protecting farmland and stopping urban sprawl, while at the same time empowering small local farmers. This UDO deserves your support.
*DID YOU KNOW? You can find the UDO on the PDS section of the Johnson County website.
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
December 5, 2019
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/10/19
In this edition:
*County Wins Award!
*Minimum Wage Thoughts
*There But for the Grace of God Go I
*Warren Endorsers
*Did You Know?
*County Wins Award!
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors and Finance Department have been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the County’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. The awards are given by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA), a nonprofit professional association that serves more than 19,000 government finance professionals in North America.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Johnson County has been awarded the Certificate of Achievement for the CAFR, and the fourth consecutive year for the PAFR.
The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting and, according to GFOA, its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. Both reports were reviewed by an impartial panel with experience in governmental accounting and financial reporting.
“These awards from GFOA demonstrate our County’s commitment to excellence in financial reporting, accounting and the quality of the financial information made available to all of our citizens,” said Dana Aschenbrenner, Johnson County Finance Director. “We hold ourselves to a very high standard in that regard and we take these duties very seriously as public servants to the residents of Johnson County.”
In order to receive the Award for Outstanding Achievement, the CAFR must meet the high standards of the program, including demonstrating a constructive “spirit of full disclosure” to clearly communicate a government unit’s financial story and motivate potential users to read the CAFR. To receive the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Popular Annual Financial Reporting, a government unit must publish a PAFR whose contents conform to program standards of creativity, presentation, understandability and reader appeal.
*Minimum Wage Thoughts
There are more people than ever talking about income inequality. And that is great! To really address this issue, it will take a combination of laws and initiatives. There is no one single answer.
That said, something that simply MUST be a part of the solution is an increase in the minimum wage. Here is why:
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a great idea. It puts money in the hands of the working poor. We have an extensive program here in Johnson County designed to get people what they have coming. Here is the downside – we all pay for it.
To illustrate: if I work at a job that pays me $15/hour, I am barely able to get by. But I can make it. Meanwhile, my employer carries the full cost of me getting by.
If I work at a job that pays $9/hour but I get $4000 in EITC? Sure, it helps! But it has only lifted the effective income to $11/hour. PLUS, the employer that only pays $9/hour in the first place gets a big break. Why? Because you and I and every taxpayer pays for the EITC. That doesn’t even account for the bureaucracy necessary to collect the taxes and redistribute the money.
Doesn’t it make more sense to simply require the employer in the second scenario to pay more? Our first employer, who pays a decent wage, subsidizes the bad actor. Why do we reward this?
Corporate responsibility is at the lowest point since the election of Teddy Roosevelt. It is time that corporations step up and pay decent wages. We don’t need to subsidize it; we need to REQUIRE it!
The easiest and simplest way to take on income inequality is to raise the minimum wage. It is not the only thing that needs to happen. But it might be the most important thing.
*There But for the Grace of God Go I
I heard this a lot as a child. My Grandmother, a devout Catholic, would say it in hushed tones. I knew what it meant, but I never really thought deeply about it. Sometimes the message was, “This could easily be us.” Other times, the message was, “This probably won’t ever be us, but just the same, we are not going to judge.”
Then one Sunday in the early 2000s I heard Mark Martin, my former Pastor at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, speak about the idea of grace. Suddenly, the phrase came back to me, and it really clicked.
I was reminded of this again recently when a friend asked me about other people who might choose to run for Supervisor. “I am not really worried about it,” I said. “Why?” asked my friend. “Because I feel like I give this job the best effort I can,” I said. “I will probably get whatever outcome I deserve, win or lose.”
I think I surprised myself with that answer. I do certainly believe that hard work is important. And I think hard work generally gets folks good results. Typically, you get what you earn. But not always. Sometimes it is important to remember that everything we have – and do not have- comes via the grace of God.
We live in a world where we are measured in many ways. How much money you have, your sales, your grades, your military rank, the number of votes you get, wins and losses, etc. People have obviously worked hard for those things. There are also people who never had the same chance. People have accidents. They have adverse childhood experiences. They have disabilities. They are born into deep poverty. There but for the grace of God go I.
So sure, work hard. That is a good thing. But always remember – there but for the grace of God go I!
*Warren Endorsers
Here is a list of the elected officials in Johnson County that have endorsed Elizabeth Warren. It is a great group of people, and we would love to add your name to the list! Please let me know if you would like to join us!
State Senator Joe Bolkcom, State Senator Zach Wahls, State Representative Mary Mascher, former State Representative David Osterberg, County Recorder Kim Painter, County Supervisor Rod Sullivan, Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton, Tiffin City Councilor Mike Ryan, and Solon City Councilor Lauren Whited.
*DID YOU KNOW? There are many additional folks who have endorsed Elizabeth Warren. To see a bigger list, visit:
https://iowastartingline.com/2020-endorsements/
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
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