SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

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-

www.johnson-county.com.

"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

Previous Posts

SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

January 16, 2020

0 Comments: