rodsullivan.org
SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
January 29, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 2/4/20
In this edition:
*RIP Joe Brisben
*Caucus!
*Elizabeth Warren
*Update on MHDS Region
*Did You Know?
*RIP Joe Brisben
I was sad to hear that Joe Brisben of Iowa City passed away. Joe was a Renaissance Man - musician, storyteller, teacher, financial professional, Democrat, and all-around great guy. RIP, Joe!
*Caucus!
Most of you will see this prior to Monday, February 3rd. So I still have time to impart this message: Please caucus!
Yes, it is a strange process. Yes, it will be crowded. But it is critical that people participate in their government!
*Elizabeth Warren
I endorsed Elizabeth Warren for President way back in early June of 2019. Now, with the 2020 caucuses here, I want to make one last case for her election.
I feel very strongly that she is what this country needs right now. No one is more courageous. No one is smarter. No one works harder. That is a great combo!
I support Elizabeth Warren because we know exactly where she stands.
Billionaires, insurance companies, big pharma, polluters, tech giants, big Ag, and Wall Street HATE her. That is good enough for me! As FDR once said, “Judge me by the enemies I’ve made.”
We need big ideas. Nobody has more big ideas than Warren. Plus, she can explain how every big idea will work and exactly how it is paid for. I am so proud to endorse Elizabeth Warren for President!
And you have heard about many of those plans. Universal Childcare. Student debt relief. Free college. Historic investment in affordable housing. Ending corruption. Rebuilding the middle class. Strengthening Democracy. Equal Justice. Each with detailed plans!
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 Attorney Janet Lyness, County Recorder Kim Painter, County Supervisor Royceann Porter, County Supervisor Janelle Rettig, County Supervisor Rod Sullivan, ICCSD Board Member Lisa Williams, ICCSD Board Member Charlie Eastham, former Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton, Iowa City Councilor Mazahir Salih, Iowa City Councilor Laura Bergus, Coralville Councilor Meghann Foster, North Liberty Councilor RaQuishia Harrington, Tiffin City Councilor Mike Ryan, and Solon City Councilor Lauren Whited.
I would love to talk with you about the Warren campaign. Please contact me if you would like to know more!
*Update on MHDS Region
The East Central Iowa Mental Health Region has been in the news lately. Unfortunately, Linn and Johnson Counties had not being as supported as they need to be by the other counties in the Region.
First, some background: In 2011, the State of Iowa redesigned its mental health system. By 2014, Iowa’s counties had merged Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities Services (MHDS) into 15 regions across the state.
Johnson County ended up in a very odd 9-county geographical region – we are combined with Benton, Iowa, Linn, and Jones Counties – that comes as no surprise. What I would not have guessed is that we are also teamed up with Buchanan, Bremer, Dubuque, and Delaware Counties.
The region is governed by a 9-member board, consisting of one Supervisor from each county. I was Johnson County’s appointee to this group for the first four years of its existence, plus the previous two years of negotiating the creation of the region. So yes, I am personally very invested.
We accomplished a lot. Until relatively recently, the Board has worked well together. Staff people have been great. And I’m pleased to report that more people have received more services than ever before. That is the key, so let me repeat it: more people have received more services than ever before. It has not been perfect, but it has been an improvement!
This transition changed the financing considerably. Medicaid is primarily a Federal funding stream, but it has a local match. In the past, counties paid the cost of this local match. Now the state is paying the non-local match for Medicaid. Meanwhile, county property tax dollars pay for all the non-Medicaid services.
The idea behind the creation of regions was to increase the available services, while making services consistent statewide. After several years of operation, I think we would have to consider regions a qualified success. Have they solved our mental health crisis? Absolutely not! But again, they have led to more people getting more services.
The actual solutions to our mental health crisis are actually quite simple: 1.) We need to roughly triple the available funding, 2.) We need to reduce bureaucratic rules, and 3.) The state should run the system equitably across Iowa.
The state wants #3, but they are completely unwilling to act upon #1 and #2. Until we do so, we are simply moving limited resources around.
So back to the current situation. Police are often faced with difficult choices. They are frequently dealing with people who are under the influence, experiencing a mental health crisis, or both. Unfortunately, often the only options for police are to take these folks to jail or the ER.
To address this, Linn and Johnson Counties are in the process of developing “Access Centers”. Access Centers are short term treatment facilities designed to keep people out of the ER and/or the jail. The Governor, the Department of Human Services, NAMI, and many others support this type of facility.
Both Linn and Johnson Counties have been moving forward on the development of Access Centers. Linn County will be remodeling an existing facility; Johnson County is building new on Southgate Avenue in Iowa City.
Unfortunately, the Region has been – until last week – unwilling to commit to providing the necessary funding for these facilities. This was frustrating for many reasons:
1. The services are a “best practice” treatment, and will really help people in times of crisis.
2. The facility will save law enforcement officers thousands of hours of time they currently spend sitting at the ER and/or jail.
3. The Region is funded by property taxes from all 9 counties. Linn and Johnson Counties provide the huge majority of these funds.
4. Residents of all 9 counties will undoubtedly use the services.
Thankfully, the Regional Board saw the value in this approach. They approved funding for both the Linn and Johnson County centers! We still have work to do to make this fly financially. But I am happy to report we are in a much better place today!
*DID YOU KNOW? 19.1% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2018 (47.6 million people). This represents 1 in 5 adults. 4.6% of U.S. adults experienced serious mental illness in 2018 (11.4 million people). This represents 1 in 25 adults.
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
January 23, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 1/28/20
In this edition:
*My Caucus History
*Elizabeth Warren
*Did You Know?
*My Caucus History
I have a long caucus history. And the more I share it with people, the more I realize that I was witness to a great deal of history!
From the perspective of a political junkie, I was quite lucky. My father always attended the caucuses. He was a Business Agent for Laborer’s Local 43, and he was determined to have a labor voice at the table. Dad and I did a lot of “adult” things together when I was a kid, and thankfully, he let me tag along to caucuses three times before I was an adult. I am so lucky I went!
So here is my caucus history. It is a long read, but I hope you find it interesting:
1972: I grew up on a Heritage farm south of Lisbon. While the town of Lisbon was fairly Democratic in those days (a good density of union folks), our rural precinct was mostly Republicans. One BIG exception were our neighbors, the Ferguson family. My family and the Fergusons had been friends for literally over 100 years by this time. They were well-known Democrats; I may not have all my facts straight here, but I believe Gladys Ferguson was the first woman to run for the Iowa Legislature in something like 1920 or 1922. She was the matriarch of the family, and passed away in ’76 at 86 years old. Her husband Everett, a “piece of work” if ever there was one, lived until the mid-90s, passing away at 104 years of age! So any discussions including them had the benefit of a lot of experience!
The caucus was held at the home of Gladys and Everett’s son and daughter-in-law, Dave and Dorothy Ferguson. They are Democratic Party legends in their own right! Dave was a very dear friend, cut from the same cloth as his father; Dorothy taught kindergarten in Mechanicsville for 50 years!
There were probably 12 people there, half of them members of the Ferguson family. I don’t remember the outcome; I just remember that they all wanted the war to end. Dad caucused for George McGovern, and I think he won our little caucus.
1976: We were at Ferguson’s once again, again with about 12 people, but there were fireworks this time! The Fergusons were farmers, and loved Jimmy Carter. (So did my farmer-first, Republican-second grandfather!) I do not recall who Dad supported, but I know it wasn’t Carter. And I will never forget the fight they had! There was a lot of swearing and yelling, but in the end, everyone made up and headed home.
1980: Dad now lived in town, and I tagged along to caucus at a very familiar place – the lunchroom at Lisbon Community Schools. (It was a k-12 building with a single lunchroom.) There were many more people this time; my memory may be incorrect, but I will bet it was 30-40.
This year also had fireworks. Dad and many other union folks supported Ted Kennedy against the incumbent President Carter. I don’t recall who won our caucus, but it was quite contentious, and foreshadowed Carter’s loss in the general election.
I was a teenager at this point, and as you know, teenagers generally care too much about what others think. I found it uncomfortable. I remember thinking that the process was really stupid, the way it caused people to argue. You could tell LOTS of people in the room would have preferred to simply vote and leave!
1984: This was the first year I was eligible to caucus myself. And I hate to admit it, but this is also the only caucus I missed. I was out drinking beer, chasing a girl, and never even considered going. In retrospect, I should have caucused! I have a lousy success rate when it comes to getting my choice to be the nominee, but despite that I was still more successful at caucusing.
1988: This was a watershed year! I got very involved in the Jesse Jackson campaign, and met my longtime mentor Dave Leshtz. In many ways, this set the stage for the rest of my life in politics. Jackson did much better than expected in my precinct, in Johnson County, and in Iowa, and I was hooked!
1992: Like most Iowans, I caucused for Iowa’s own Senator Harkin. Man, I wish Tom had won that race! I lived on Broadway Street and caucused at Grant Wood Elementary. There was a good crowd, but it was pretty uneventful given Harkin’s dominance.
One funny thing I do recall is that there was a small group of Jerry Brown supporters who reeked of pot, and basically refused to follow any caucus rules. They constantly challenged the Chair, and stayed in their own group despite repeated explanations that they were not viable. In the end, we put away all the chairs and they were still sitting there protesting. I don’t recall who the caucus Chair was, but I know he was threatening to call the cops when I left.
1996: I lived in a tiny house in a great neighborhood just west of City High, and caucused at City. This year the fireworks came after the caucus! I was one of several Democrats in my precinct who disliked Bill Clinton. He was a liar, and likely a sex offender. Meanwhile, he had orchestrated huge cuts to social services programs. I was a frontline social worker at the time, and I saw firsthand what his policies were doing to our poorest residents. So I caucused against the incumbent President, for Undecided.
I was not alone! There were several LGBTQ folks in my neighborhood, and they were pretty united in their dislike of Clinton. (He had thrown the LGBTQ community under the bus a few times in his first term.) There weren’t too many African Americans at our site, but there were some, and most of them were also angry with the President. (Crime bill, welfare reform, Sister Souljah, etc.) There were a few labor stalwarts upset over NAFTA. Throw in the old-fashioned liberals, and we had several Undecided delegates. Don’t get me wrong; Clinton won handily, but the delegate count was something like 9-3.
I went to the after-caucus party, and heard similar stories from around Iowa City. Mann, Lincoln, and the IMU had voted similar to my precinct. At Longfellow, Undecided had fared even better. There were similar reports from Polk, Linn, and Black Hawk Counties. Not lots – but some.
So imagine our surprise the next day when every paper in the state reported that Clinton had won all the delegates! It was a legitimate scandal, followed by a legitimate coverup! I don’t recall how it was resolved; I think it was simply swept under the table. At this point, I had grown pretty cynical about the Democratic Party. It didn’t seem anything like the party of FDR the Sullivan side of my family worshipped.
2000: I was still longing for the Democratic Party of FDR, so I went against the incumbent Vice President Al Gore and caucused for New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley. Bradley actually did better in Johnson County than any other county in the country, so we had a powerful team! This also started a long tradition of Melissa and I caucusing for different candidates!
Honestly, I don’t have much memory of the caucus that year – I think it is overshadowed by the series of events that took place immediately after the caucus. First, longtime State Rep and local legend Minnette Doderer announced her retirement. My friend David Tingwald was serving as the Chair of the local Democratic Party, and he resigned to pursue running for her seat. David ended up not running; instead, Vicki Lensing defeated Cathy Kern for the seat. But because David had resigned, a vacancy existed. He urged me to run, and by the convention in March, I was suddenly thrust into the role of Chair of the Johnson County Democratic Party.
The 2000 caucuses may not be memorable, but ask me some other time about the general election of 2000!
2004: This time it was my turn to resign. I had decided to run for the office of County Supervisor, and resigned as Chair. I supported Howard Dean for President, and participated in Dean for America (DFA) activities. You remember the Dean collapse – Gephardt going on a suicide mission to undermine Dean and prop up John Kerry. The caucuses were crowded; this is the first year I ever felt this way. They were also frenetic and frustrating.
I never did warm to John Kerry. I saw him at an event at the Iowa River Power Company, and I caught his off the cuff comments to his staff. It was NOT pretty! (Ask me privately if you want details.) He hated the Caucuses, and he hated the process. The word gets overused, but he struck me as an elitist.
I did get the signatures I needed, and went on to get elected as a County Supervisor that year.
2008: What a year! I was one of the first elected officials in the country to support Barack Obama. Melissa and I were finally on the same team. For the first time in my life, my candidate won!
We caucused at Hoover Elementary, and the numbers were unbelievable! We were technically in the school gym, but we filled the whole first floor of the building. People registered to vote on napkins, pizza box lids, and notebook paper. I will never forget the crowd that night!
We pulled a classic caucus move; Obama was guaranteed 10 of our 13 delegates, but could not mathematically reach an 11th. So we sent our extra people to the Edwards camp, earning him a second delegate and leaving Clinton with only one. Obama won big in my precinct, big in Johnson County, and big in Iowa. The rest is history!
2012: This year was easy – Obama again!
2016: I was the first elected official in the country to endorse Bernie Sanders. The Caucus was HUGE (or as we Sanders supporters liked to say, “Yooge!”); about 900 people in the cafeteria at City High. It was also the closest ever; Hilary Clinton defeated Bernie Sanders by one percentage point both in my precinct and in Iowa as a whole.
What will happen in 2020? We will find out soon! I support Elizabeth Warren, and I hope you will, too!
*Elizabeth Warren
As I said, I support Elizabeth Warren for President. Next week we will talk about WHY Elizabeth Warren is the best choice for President!
*DID YOU KNOW? Caucus attendance statewide jumped from 11% in 2004 to 23% in 2004, and to 40% in 2008.
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
January 16, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 1/21/20
In this edition:
*Who Can Beat Trump?
*Crazy Busy!
*County Wins Award!
*Boards and Commissions
*Did You Know?
*Who Can Beat Trump?
I knock on a lot of doors. Lots of people share what is on their minds. And the number one thing I hear – by far – is “I just want to beat Trump.”
Because this is SO prevalent, everyone is trying to guess which candidate might be the most likely to defeat Trump. It is the dreaded question of “electability”. While I certainly understand the motivation, I do not believe that is the way to win an election.
Every time I hear someone talk about “electability,” I cringe. What the hell is “electability”?
Did you HONESTLY believe in 2006 that a black man named Barack Hussein Obama could be elected? (I was on his team that early, but I was far from certain!) Did you HONESTLY believe in 2015 that Donald Trump could be elected? I didn’t.
And the list goes on and on. “Electability” is not real. It is a creation of pundits – pundits whose predictions are about 80% wrong. “Electability” can only be measured after the fact – did the person in question get elected? Anyone who pretends to know something about “electability” before an election is simply a fraud.
Now the pundits have regular people thinking about this completely fabricated idea. And regular people are making decisions based upon guessing how their neighbors might guess. The whole thing is a big farce! The Emperor has no clothes!
What’s more, when asked to define “electability,” we often get into racist, sexist, homophobic traps. Who “looks like” a President? Well, all but one are old white guys. So I guess it is the old white guy?
Polling of Democrats continues to show that their number one issue – by far – is defeating Donald Trump. If this polling is accurate, then one becomes “electable” simply by winning the Democratic nomination.
So please… stop perpetuating the “electability” myth. Let’s talk policy. Let’s talk ideas. And let’s stop trying to guess what will happen.
*Crazy Busy!
I often ask people, “How’s it going?” And when people respond, they almost always respond, “Busy!” I believe them! I think we are all working harder than a few years ago.
Since I work for you, I thought it might be interesting for you to know how I am spending much of my time.
This is a particularly busy time of year because of budget meetings. The Board spends dozens of hours between mid-December and early February going through every Departmental budget. Each Elected Official or Department Head explains what she/he feels they will need to spend in the upcoming year. Then the Board decides what will be in the budget and what will not.
In addition, the Legislative session is about to begin. We have been crafting our Legislative priorities, as well as determining how we might respond to various things the Legislature could do. In addition, I am the Board’s representative to the Urban County Coalition (UCC). The UCC is a group of Linn, Scott, Johnson, Black Hawk, and Dubuque Counties. Those are the number 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8 counties in Iowa in terms of population. Together, we craft an agenda specific to more urban counties, then push it at the Legislature.
Another time-consuming thing is the new Access Center. Access Centers are short term treatment facilities designed to keep people with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues out of the ER and/or the jail. Johnson County is building a new facility on Southgate Avenue in Iowa City.
There is an unbelievable amount of work required to bring all the parties together, figure out the funding, etc. I will be writing in greater detail about this soon; trust me when I say it has amounted to a tremendous amount of time and effort!
Another time -consuming thing is our Space Needs Study. Johnson County is working with OPN Architects to look at our Admin, AME, and HHS buildings. Many things have changed since the buildings were built. For example, MH/DS has gone from 35 employees to 11. The Treasurer’s Office has half the employees it had in 1990. Meanwhile, other Departments have grown. We do not need more space so much as we need to reorganize the space we have. I am serving on the core team for this project.
As Chair, I am involved in setting every agenda. That process is more complicated than it might sound at first. You have to schedule every item in a way that makes the most sense, juggling the schedules of all involved, all the while guessing at the length of various topics of discussion.
Then there are the regular duties… responding to constituents, planning and zoning applications, meeting with Department Heads and Elected Officials, work sessions, formal meetings, informal meetings, employee evaluations, committee meetings, etc. etc. etc.
So, if you ask me, “How’s it going?” and I reply, “Busy!” I hope you know I am telling the truth!
*County Wins Award!
Johnson County has been awarded the national Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the fifth consecutive year. The award, which is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting, recognizes the County’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget.
According to the GFOA, the award represents a significant achievement by Johnson County and reflects a commitment to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. To receive the award, the County had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation.
A copy of the County’s FY2020 budget is available at http://www.johnson- county.com/dept_finance.aspx?id=15283.
*Boards and Commissions
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is seeking volunteers to serve on various County boards and commissions. Board and commission members serve in an advisory role to help direct policy by making suggestions and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors and County staff.
Vacancies are available on the following Johnson County boards and commissions:
- Building Code Board of Appeals (one vacancy for a person representing the plumbing industry; four-year term) – Application deadline: Friday, Feb. 7
- Compensation Commission (four vacancies for one-year terms) – Application deadline: Friday, Feb. 7
- Juvenile Justice and Youth Development Policy Board (one vacancy for a representative of law enforcement; unexpired term ending Sept. 30, 2020) – Application deadline: Friday, Feb. 7
- Livable Community for Successful Aging Policy Board (one vacancy for a resident of Johnson County living outside of urbanized areas; unexpired term ending June 30, 2021) – Application deadline: Friday, Feb. 7
- SEATS Paratransit Advisory Committee (one vacancy for a consumer of Johnson County SEATS service; unexpired term ending Jun 30, 2021) – Application deadline: Friday, Feb. 7
- Solon Public Library Board of Trustees (one vacancy for a resident of unincorporated Johnson County; four-year term) – Application deadline: Tuesday, April 7
- Zoning Board of Adjustment (one vacancy for a resident of unincorporated Johnson County; five-year term) – Application deadline: Friday, Feb. 7
Information about specific boards and commissions, vacancies and application forms are available on the Committee/Board Openings webpage of the Johnson County website at www.johnson-county.com/vacancies. Questions can be directed to the Board of Supervisors Office at 319-356-6000 or applications@co.johnson.ia.us.
Completed applications must be returned to the Board of Supervisors Office by 4:30 p.m. on the day of the stated deadline.
*DID YOU KNOW? Since serving as a County Supervisor, I have put myself through “time studies” on three separate occasions. Each time, the results were the same: I work just over 40 hours per week on average.
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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