rodsullivan.org
SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
May 28, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/2/20
In this edition:
*Vote!
*Sullivan for Supervisor
*Johnson County Partial Reopening June 8
*Joni Ernst Is Being Disingenuous!
*Did You Know?
*Vote!
Tuesday, June 2 is Election Day in Iowa, and both Republicans and Democrats in Johnson County have races to consider. It will be interesting, because we have had a record number of absentee ballots requested and returned. We may end up with a large number of votes cast, yet the smallest Election Day turnout in our history! We shall see!
*Sullivan for Supervisor
Dear readers – if you will do me the honor, I would be proud to serve another term as your Johnson County Supervisor. I would sincerely appreciate your vote on June 2 or before. I am grateful for your past support, and thank you for your future consideration. I promise to never take this position for granted!
*Johnson County Partial Reopening June 8
Johnson County buildings are scheduled for a partial reopening on Monday, June 8, 2020. That is 78 days after things were closed down on March 17.
What does a “partial reopening” mean? Excellent question! The public will be allowed to reenter County buildings, but there will be several additional rules.
We are starting with opening by appointment only. You will need to call or email the office you need and arrange an appointment. Once you arrive, there will be signs asking about a variety of health issues. If the symptoms listed on the signs apply to you, you should not come into the building! Once in the building, you will find plexiglass shields on the countertops. Staff will assist you with what need, and you can be on your way.
People accessing County buildings will be expected to wear a face covering. County staff will have disposable masks available for anyone who needs one.
Staff people are still going to be working remotely when possible. When staff people are coming to work, they will be required to check their temperature every day before leaving home. A variety of personal protective equipment (PPE) will be available for staff to use depending upon their individual job functions.
There will be additional cleaning taking place in each building during the day, in addition to the regular cleaning that occurs each night. On top of that, staff people are responsible for cleaning their own work spaces. Buildings will have markings on the floor indicating proper social distancing. There will only be a single public entry for each building.
We spent quite a while discussing the idea of taking temperatures at the front door, but decided against it. A few of the reasons why:
1. You can be contagious with the virus and not have a fever.
2. In order to have properly trained people taking the temps, we would need to divert paramedics from more urgent tasks.
3. Because of HIPPA, people would need to be screened in a separate room. We simply don’t have the facilities to do this.
4. Lines created in the parking lot for testing would likely be a worse scenario than simply admitting people at their scheduled appointment time.
5. Remote, no-touch temperature screens are notoriously inaccurate.
6. A private business has a bit more leeway in terms of telling people they cannot enter; these buildings are owned by the public.
7. How would we deal with someone who refuses to have her temperature taken? Would we need to keep a deputy at the door at all times? Are we ready to jail folks for issues of noncompliance?
There were simply far too many things making temperature checks an unrealistic option, primarily the fact that many people could still be contagious and walk right in.
So, the actions I described above is the plan. It has the blessings of our Public Health experts and the County Attorney. Now – let’s be completely honest for a moment. There are going to be people who claim that anyone who supported this plan is an evil murderer who doesn’t care about public health. Hyperbole is never in short supply when it comes to the actions of the Board of Supervisors. So if you have questions – ask. Call or email the whole Board. I know personally I’d be happy to talk about the Board’s response to the Covid-19 crisis.
This has been a very challenging period. It continues to be a very challenging period. There are no easy answers in terms of what to do. We will give this a try, and hope things go well. Meanwhile, we would still urge the public to continue to transact business remotely if possible. Your patience is appreciated!
*Joni Ernst Is Being Disingenuous!
Senator Joni Ernst keeps saying something along these lines: “I know Iowans are hurting. That’s why I want to give them a payroll tax cut.” This is like a doctor prescribing sugar to a diabetic! The condition is going to get much, much worse! Let me go into some detail.
There are basically four different taxes that are “payroll taxes”. This means your employer (or you, if self-employed) must remove this money from the pay that is owed, and submit it to the government. So when you get your pay stub, you see an amount of taxes that were withheld.
The four taxes that are withheld are federal income, Social Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment. What would a cut to any of these mean?
Well, in 2017, the Republicans (including Joni Ernst) passed the largest federal income tax cut in history. Almost everything went to the richest people in the world. Meanwhile, as quality jobs disappear, regular Americans have been pushed into public benefits like Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps). So she had her income tax cut. I’m certain she’d love to give rich donors another income tax cut at our expense, but that’s not what she’s talking about here.
She could be talking about foregoing the Social Security tax. And from her perspective, that would make sense. She wants to see Social Security weakened, so that when she comes for it, it is less popular with the public.
She could be talking about foregoing the Medicare tax. And from her perspective, that would make sense. She wants to see Medicare weakened, so that when she comes for it, it is less popular with the public.
She could be talking about foregoing the unemployment tax. And from her perspective, that would make sense. She wants to see unemployment weakened, so that when she comes for it, it is less popular with the public.
There is almost NOTHING Americans need right now more than strong systems of Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment. Don’t let Ernst fool you with her talk of a “tax cut”. This would be devastating to needy Americans!
If you actually care about people, these cuts make no sense. I honestly don’t know if she is stupid or devious. I guess it doesn’t matter. In either case, vote for the Democratic candidate for US Senate this year!
*DID YOU KNOW? The Social Security Administration estimates that 21% of married couples and 44% of single seniors rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income. Those percentages are expected to increase.
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
May 21, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 5/26/20
In this edition:
*Governor Reynolds Mishandling Covid-19 Crisis
*Health Versus the Economy
*End of Ramadan
*Foster Care and Adoption Month
*Sullivan for Supervisor!
*Primaries Are Good!
*Using Superlatives
*Did You Know?
*Governor Reynolds Mishandling Covid-19 Crisis
As you know, Governor Reynolds “opened up” Iowa back on May 15, despite the fact that infections and deaths both continued to rise. There was no ramping up. It was let ‘er rip! That is in keeping with the way in which she has mismanaged everything regarding the Covid-19 crisis. To wit:
*For starters, long before we had a pandemic, she made critical cuts to the State Hygienic Lab.
*Let’s be very clear: despite her extreme overuse of the buzz words “data” and “metrics”, Governor Reynolds has never used either in response to the Covid-19 crisis.
*We never had adequate testing. We never had adequate tracing. We still don’t.
*The UI has volunteered to help. But the Governor doesn’t want to work with Iowa City liberals. Once she finally relented, we have a contract that prohibits data from being released. This, despite the fact that you and I paid for this data.
*The data we do have has been misused. Remember our “regions”? They were critical. Until they weren’t. With no explanation.
*Ask to see the data? Not happening. She refuses to share this public information with the public that both pays her and paid for the info!
*Speaking of paying – Governor Reynolds spent $26 million on a no-bid contract with an out-of-state company for testing that never worked. Now those results are lumped in with all the rest, so we cannot see how badly these tests perform.
*The Governor traveled to DC when Zoom would suffice. She didn’t wear a mask. When she got exposed to the virus herself, the rules didn’t apply to her. Her quarantine was “modified.”
*Reynolds appeared onstage (without a mask) with meatpacking executives – all rich, white, men. She has not visited the workers she calls “essential” - people of color who work on the line.
*Black and brown people are affected at a much higher rate. But we refuse to track that data. Meanwhile, the places they work are defined as “essential,” even though they don’t get the PPE other “essential” employees get.
*Other workers? The Governor “opened up” so that you lose your unemployment. Now get back to your job. And quit whining about the fact that Iowa’s minimum wage remains $7.25.
*Want to ask questions about all of this? Sorry – 4 questions per day, no follow ups. Only two of the four questions are the type of tough ones we need; she simply doesn’t answer those.
*Finally – and most importantly – where is the compassion? We have had over 15,000 of our fellow Iowans fall sick. Almost 400 have died as of this writing. But all she can talk about is people going out to restaurants!
The whole thing is shameful!
*Health Versus the Economy
Republicans are presenting us with a false choice. It is NOT a choice between staying safe/healthy and opening the economy.
The best thing for our economy is to get the virus under control. Nothing will help the economy more than a vaccine. Beyond that, taking steps to ensure people do not get sick and die is the next best thing.
Public health and the economy are NOT mutually exclusive! As a matter of fact, they are deeply intertwined!
*End of Ramadan
Ramadan is coming to an end. Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim friends and neighbors! Thank you for enriching my life and the lives of all our friends and neighbors.
*Foster Care and Adoption Month
May marks National Foster Care and Adoption Month. As many of you know, Melissa and I have 3 adopted children, and served as foster parents for another 50 + children. We surrendered our license two years ago after over 20 years.
Unfortunately, the need did not go away. In fact, it may be greater than ever. Even if you do not feel you can serve as a foster parent, help us to recruit others. We need families!
You can learn more by visiting Four Oaks Family Connections at: https://iowafosterandadoption.org.
*Sullivan for Supervisor!
I am on the ballot in the Democratic Primary for County Supervisor. I am grateful for your past support, and I thank you for your future consideration. I promise to never take this position for granted! I respectfully request your vote on or before June 2.
One more thing… there are a lot of ballots out there. A record number, actually. If you believe in me, please share that with others in your life. Please spread the word about voting Sullivan for Supervisor. Thanks!
*Primaries Are Good!
As you know, we have a primary for County Supervisor. For three of us, that is stressful as hell. But you know what? For the other 155,000 people in Johnson County, that is a very good thing.
As stressful as it might be for me personally, I wish every single seat was contested in every primary. These seats belong to the people. Primary elections are part one of a two-part job evaluation from your bosses. Nobody should be allowed to skip the evaluation.
Primary elections push elected officials to do a better job. Primaries improve their communication. While they might stress incumbents, these elections are not FOR those incumbents. They are for everyone else!
*Using Superlatives
I am a frequent critic of the way in which we overuse superlatives; particularly those that require a bit of historical knowledge. Here are just a few that have gotten my goat:
*Superlative: The Covid-19 crisis is unprecedented.
*Fact: The 1918 flu pandemic affected 500 million people worldwide. 50 million died. There were 675,000 deaths in the US.
*Superlative: Hillary Clinton was the most qualified Presidential candidate we have ever had.
*Fact: Prior to running for President, Thomas Jefferson was the foremost intellectual of the American Revolution; established the ideas of a free press, religious freedom, and universal education; wrote the Declaration of Independence; had tremendous influence over Madison as he wrote the Constitution; served in the Virginia House; served in the Continental Congress; served as Governor of Virginia; served as Ambassador to France (the top US ally); served as Secretary of State; and served as Vice President.
*Superlative: The Joe Maddon era was the greatest in Cubs history.
*Fact: In 5 years, Maddon went 471-339, a 58% winning percentage, with a World Series Championship. In the 11 seasons between 1903 and 1913, the Cubs went 1068-638, a winning percentage of 63%. They appeared in four World Series, winning two.
*Superlative: The US has never been more divided politically.
*Fact: See 1860-1865.
*Superlative: Donald Trump is the worst President in US history.
*Fact: OK, with apologies to Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, this one might be true. But you get my point.
*DID YOU KNOW? The month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the month in which the Quran was revealed to the Islamic prophet Mohammed. The calendar is a lunar calendar, and months begin when the first crescent of a new moon is sighted. Since the Islamic lunar calendar year is 10 to 11 days shorter than the solar year and contains no intercalation, Ramadan migrates throughout the seasons. The Islamic day starts after sunset.
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
May 14, 2020
Sullivan’s Salvos 5/19/20
In this edition:
*Please Be Kind, Patient, and Calm
*Congratulations Octavious (BJ)!
*Sullivan for Supervisor!
*The Least Among Us
*Did You Know?
*Please Be Kind, Patient, and Calm
I don’t know about you, but I am beginning to really mourn the many things that have already been cancelled or altered dramatically.
Typically by this time of year I would be spending every Wednesday and Saturday at the Iowa City Farmer’s Market. I would be spending my Friday evenings at the Summer of the Arts Friday Night Concert series. (Or George’s Buffet as a rain location.) I would have spent a few Sundays up at Sutliff. We would have had a somber Worker’s Memorial Day. I would have taken my Mom and Wife out to eat for Mother’s Day. Grad parties would be starting soon. I would be anticipating the Iowa Arts Festival, IC Pride, Juneteenth, and the Block Party. I would be playing catch with people. I would be listening to Cubs games. I would be enjoying regular Scrabble games with Gary, Dan, Jim, and the rest.
That is all gone. And I am finding it very difficult. First World Problems? Yes, I suppose so. But it still has me down. I am sure you are missing some things, too. I hope you are handling the losses OK. Please reach out if you need something. And please stay kind, patient, and calm!
*Congratulations Octavious (BJ)!
Congratulations to my son Octavious (BJ), who just completed the requirements for an Associate of Arts Degree in Liberal Arts from Kirkwood Community College!
This is a particularly big deal for BJ, as he has really never cared for school. He has always been a great worker – personable, thorough, hardworking, and conscientious. But academics were never his cup of tea. That is part of why I am so proud; he decided this would be good for his resume, so he sucked it up and did it. And he methodically got through it while working the whole time.
The Covid crisis means no graduation ceremony, so no cap and gown, and no pomp and circumstance (literally and figuratively)! But we are still very proud.
*Sullivan for Supervisor!
As you may know, I am running for reelection to the Office of County Supervisor. The June 2 Democratic Party Primary will be here soon; I thought I should take a moment to make my case to Salvos readers!
I grew up on a Heritage farm (150 years in the same family) near Sutliff, and attended K-12 in the Lisbon school system. I attended the University of Iowa, earning a BA in 1988. I have held several positions in the field of human services, including 6 years with the Department of Human Services and 6 years as Executive Director of the Arc of Johnson County.
I am married to Dr. Melissa Fath, a Research Scientist at the UI and a volunteer Pharmacist at the Free Medical Clinic. We have 3 adult children-Rachel, Jordan, and BJ, and have served as foster parents for another 50+ children.
I have been active in many local organizations over the years, including volunteering for the Shelter Overflow, Furniture Project, United Way, Community Foundation of Johnson County, Affordable Homes Coalition, Coalition for Racial Justice, UI Center for Disabilities and Development, Hoover PTA, City High Little Hawks Club, Yes for Kids Steering Committee, One Community, One Bond Steering Committee, and the Batterer’s Education Program.
I am a member of several community organizations, including: St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Iowa Foster & Adoptive Parent Association, NAMI, Sierra Club, Bur Oak Land Trust, Center for Worker Justice, ACLU Hawkeye Chapter, AFT Local 716, and Iowa City Federation of Labor. I also served 4 years as Chair of the Johnson County Democratic Party.
Some of the accomplishments of which I am proud:
· Leadership during the Covid-19 crisis.
· Leadership during ’08 floods.
· Raising the minimum wage – the 1st county in Iowa to do so.
· Human Rights Ordinance – the 1st county in Iowa to do so.
· Sensitive Areas Ordinance – the 1st county in Iowa to do so.
· Conservation Bond Initiative – the 1st county in Iowa to do so.
· Community ID – the 1st county in Iowa to do so.
· Started 1105 Project with gift of old Public Health building.
· Saved Sutliff Bridge after ’08 floods.
· Started trails funding.
· Free Tax Help project.
· Livable Community Successful Aging.
· Outdoor warning sirens to unincorporated Johnson County.
· Local Foods Policy Council.
· “A” in local government transparency from Sunshine Institute.
· Heritage AAA Outstanding Elected Official – 2009.
If reelected, my goals are:
1. Continue community recovery from Covid-19;
2. Begin serving people at the GuideLink Center;
3. Improve Affirmative Action results;
4. Renegotiate 6 union contracts to the benefit of all.
I am grateful for your past support, and I thank you for your future consideration. I promise to never take this position for granted!
I respectfully request your vote on or before June 2. And if you would be kind enough to recommend me to others, that would be great, too! Thanks!
*The Least Among Us
The following passage is from the Bible - Matthew:25. Please consider it in light of how we are dealing with the “least among us” in the US today. How is Jesus viewing us?
For I was an hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:
36 Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you cared for me: I was in prison, and you came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
I think it is quite clear that we are failing the “least among us” in almost every way possible. Those of us who do claim to be Christians should be ashamed.
I recognize that many Salvos readers are not Christians. And that is fine. I simply feel it is important to share these thoughts, as they have a profound influence upon how I view the world, and how I approach the job you elected me to do. I also feel that it is important that we hold hypocritical politicians accountable when they claim to be Christians but fail miserably when it comes to the “least among us.”
I feel we are failing as a society. I hope Christians can agree to make a better effort to live up to Matthew 25.
*DID YOU KNOW? On average, workers with an AA earn $140/week more than workers with only a high school diploma. In addition, workers with an AA are 50% less likely to be unemployed. (Source: Southern New Hampshire University.)
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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