SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
March 18, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 3/23/21
In this edition:
*COVID Anniversary
*Jinxed?
*Wealth Tax
*Healthy Organizations
*Correction Lines
*Did You Know?
*COVID Anniversary
Mid-March marks one year since Johnson County first responded and reacted to COVID-19. It is not much of an anniversary. Dozens of our fellow residents are dead, and others face lifelong health consequences. Still others suffered economic consequences. It has been a tough year.
March 10 was the first time the Board discussed COVID in a meeting; on March 17, we held an emergency meeting that closed County properties, sent employees to work from home, and took several additional significant steps. It is pretty amazing how quickly it all escalated. In retrospect, I wish we had known what to do a couple weeks earlier, when several county residents returned from an ill-fated Egyptian cruise. But hindsight is 20/20. We acted as quickly and decisively as we knew how.
In the course of this year, about 13,000 Johnson County residents got COVID, and about 75 Johnson County residents died from it. Both numbers are tragic. Both are better than some of our comparable counties because Johnson County residents took medical advice seriously, and masked up.
I remain troubled by the cavalier attitude many take toward those 75 deaths. Unfortunately, it demonstrates the callous disregard we have for our seniors. Imagine the outrage if 75 children were killed. Or 75 college students. The response would be much different.
It has been a very tough year. But we are almost there. Thousands of county residents have been vaccinated. More are getting the vaccine every day. Hang in there!
*Jinxed?
For some reason, every time I serve as Chair of the Board, we get an emergency/disaster or two! I was Chair for the ’08 floods. I was Chair in ’12 when we experienced the worst drought in 30 years, a humanitarian disaster at Regency Mobile Home Park, and a summer of stressed relations between minority residents and police. I was Chair in ’16 when we got another round of floods, plus a rash of gun violence. Then came ’20, with the COVID pandemic, BLM protests, and derecho.
I don’t know; perhaps I am jinxed. I can only say that I have done my best to get us through each of these situations. I hope this COVID anniversary finds you and yours safe and healthy.
*Wealth Tax
Elizabeth Warren is back, and she is bringing her Wealth Tax! I think this is fantastic! One of the biggest problems we face in America is that the ultra-wealthy make unbelievable profits and do not contribute to the common good.
Warren’s Wealth Tax adds a two-cent tax – that’s right, two cents – to the wealth of the richest people in the world. There may be no one in Johnson County who would be subject to the tax; it is unlikely anyone here is that rich. Perhaps there are a few families in Iowa, but not many.
99.9% of Americans pay no new tax under this plan. From $50 million to a billion, it goes up two cents. After a billion, it goes up to 4 cents. And over ten years, this would raise $3 trillion dollars.
What would $3 trillion buy? A lot. Picture free preschool for every child. Picture two years of free college for whoever wants it. Plus much, much, much more. America needs these things. Bezos and his buddies can afford it. It is time they paid their fair share.
*Healthy Organizations
After spending many years as a part of many membership organizations, it strikes me that there is a formula for success. Unfortunately, there are built in roadblocks to making success a reality.
In my opinion, a healthy organization has members that fall into three groups:
1. Workhorses. These are the people who devote the most time and energy. They tend to have a fair amount of experience, but not so much that they have become set in their ways. It is easy for organizations to wear the Workhorses out.
2. New Blood. These are new people with fresh energy and fresh ideas. They can give the organization the jolt it needs, but they may not understand the history, rules, and lessons learned. It is easy for organizations to underutilize New Blood and ignore their ideas.
3. Veterans. These are the people who used to be workhorses, but have moved into a different role. They may not be workhorses, but they maintain the history, rules, and lessons learned. They can be resistant to the fresh ideas brought in by the New Blood. It is easy for organizations to push Veterans aside, and forget the lessons they have already learned.
It is easy to think of this in terms of age, and often age does play a part. But older people can be New Blood, and younger people can be Veterans. It just depends upon the group. Additionally, some people move between the groups, which can be very helpful in terms of understanding each other.
And understanding each other is a key. Each of these three groups is important. If you are in one group, it becomes easy to resent the others. Do not allow yourself to fall into this trap! The three groups need to communicate their feelings.
If you have all three of these elements in your organization, you have a great base. The challenge is striking a proper balance. In my experience, you need to strike a balance that is something like 50% Workhorses, 20% New Blood, and 30% Veterans. This is an organization that works, is open to new ideas, and understands its roots. If you can strike this balance, you will do well!
*Correction Lines
Have you ever looked at a map and noticed the small indentation on the far west side of Johnson County?
Look at an Iowa map, and focus on the horizontal row of counties that includes Johnson. You’ll notice small jags in their western boundaries. These are called correction lines, and were created to fix the fact that straight lines do not lay out perfectly on our spherical earth. So every so many miles, the surveyors would do a “correction” of approximately a few hundred feet. It is just enough to show up on a detailed map.
Our correction line falls on the border of Hardin and Washington Townships, and makes Washington Township slightly thinner than the townships to its north.
This mapping quirk also exists in other midwestern states. Iowa even has a town (Correctionville) in Woodbury County named for the procedure.
*DID YOU KNOW? Johnson County has fared much better than our peer Iowa Counties when it comes to COVID deaths. Polk County has had one death per 848 population. In Linn County it is 1:702. Scott County 1:800. Black Hawk County 1:450. In Johnson County, the ratio is 1:2,013.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 12:00 PM
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