rodsullivan.org
SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
April 29, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 5/4/21 In this edition: *Happy Birthday Zuri! *Happy Mother’s Day! *Farmer’s Markets *Candidates for Supervisor *Thank You Matt Miller! *Dems Hall of Fame Event *Did You Know? *Happy Birthday Zuri! May 10th marks the 4th birthday of Ms. Zuri Foote, our first grandchild! I can honestly say that being a grandfather is the best gig I have ever had! And Zuri makes it easy! She is sweet, kind, fun, and smart! And oh my gosh do I love her! I found the following stats about grandparents today. I would have to say that I am in the majority in every category:
72% think being a grandparent is the single most important and satisfying thing in their life.
63% say they can do a better job caring for grandchildren than they did with their own kids.
68% think being a grandparent brings them closer to their adult children.
90% enjoy talking about their grandkids to just about everyone. I should mention that I am really proud of my daughter Rachel – Zuri’s mom. Rachel has done a great job as a mother, and I could not be more pleased with her. Happy Birthday, Zuri! Papa loves you! *Happy Mother’s Day Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 9. I know that this is a difficult day for many people, and I want to respect that. Yet I feel the need to talk about a special person in my life. I want to wish a particularly Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, Susan Sullivan Smith, and my wife, Melissa Fath. One is a birth mom, one is an adoptive mom – both are amazing people who have touched many lives. I sometimes wish people could actually see how amazing Melissa is. We’ve had over 50 foster children over the years, and she has never missed a beat once. Melissa has done all that parenting, while at the same time doing full time cancer research. She is truly incredible! Six years ago at this time, I was afraid I might lose her. Melissa was fighting cancer, and we did not know exactly what to expect. Thank God things went well, and this Mom-of-all-Moms is still with us today! I hope all the moms out there have a wonderful day! You deserve it! Thanks for all you do! *Farmer’s Markets It is May, and that means it is time for our local Farmer’s Markets! Pork from Lois Pavelka, apple cider doughnuts, a Local Burrito, seeing Steve and Lora at their coffee booth, Marv Hotz’ sweet corn, and so much more… my mouth is watering! People who know me know that I am a farmer’s market fanatic. I can be found at the Iowa City Farmer’s Market pretty much every Wednesday and Saturday. I love the food, I love the farmers, I love the customers … I love everything about it! See you at the market! *Candidates for Supervisor “Who are the candidates for the open Supervisor seat?” I have been asked this literally scores of times. Before answering that question, I think it is important to understand the process. A special election is being held June 8. That contest will almost certainly be a race between the Democratic Party nominee and the Republican Party nominee. Independent candidates may also compete. In order to appear on the ballot as an Independent, you must be 18 or older, not a felon, and be registered to vote in Johnson County. Then you collect 250 signatures of eligible electors, and you are on the ballot. Democrats and Republicans must first secure their party nomination. There can only be one Democrat and one Republican on the ballot. So party candidates must also be 18 or older, not a felon, and be registered to vote in Johnson County in their respective party. Both parties will be holding Nominating Conventions soon. To be a delegate to those Conventions, you needed to be elected a delegate back at the 2020 Caucus. If you were elected as an alternate at the 2020 Caucus, you may be able to be seated as a delegate, provided not all the delegates show up. At Nominating Conventions, delegates select the nominee of their respective parties. From whom do they pick? From anyone who wants the job and is 18 or older, not a felon, and registered as that party. In other words, we will not know the nominees until just before the votes are held. A couple examples: When Janelle Rettig was elected, no one else said anything about running. But at the convention, a delegate simply decided last minute she should throw her hat in the ring. She had every right to do so. And even though it was literally last minute, she got some votes. In the most recent (two years ago) instance, 3-4 Democrats went to the Convention indicating they might run. In the end, it was just Supervisor Royceann Porter defeating former Supervisor Pat Harney. It did not have to be only two candidates; it could have been ten. There appear to be a number of Democrats interested right now; perhaps an independent or two; and the Republicans are holding a Convention. This is great, in my opinion; I want people paying attention to the job of Supervisor! *Thank You Matt Miller! The GuideLink Center is now open for business, offering an alternative to folks who would have previously ended up in the hospital or jail. The early returns are very promising; I think it is safe to say the GuideLink Center represents a huge step forward for Johnson County. None of this would have been possible without the help of Matt Miller. Actually an employee of UIHC, Matt served as the GuideLink Project Manager for Johnson County. And now, after several years of planning and a couple years of building, Matt’s time with us has come to an end. I will forever be grateful to Matt for his calm, patient, and thoughtful demeanor; his thorough and inclusive planning; and his ability to keep everyone on task. UIHC has a very good one in Matt Miller. Thank you, Matt, for your fantastic work on the GuideLink Center! You and your work are deeply appreciated! *Dems Hall of Fame Event The Johnson County Democratic Party is holding our Annual Hall of Fame Awards on Friday, July 9 at 7pm at Brown Deer in Coralville. 2021 marks the 11th consecutive year that the Johnson County Democratic Party has held a separate Hall of Fame event. Please join us for coffee, desserts, and plenty of old war stories! A cash bar will be available. The Hall of Fame inductees for 2021 are: David and Marion Coleman, Dave Leshtz, and the late Mel Stahmer. We hope you can join us in recognizing this remarkable group! Tickets are available for a $25 suggested donation. People who cannot afford that amount should still feel welcome, but please call 354-7199 so we can get a count. Sponsorships are available at the following levels:
$100 includes two tickets
$250 includes 4 tickets
$500 includes a whole table (8 tickets) We hope that this will be an in-person event, and we are planning for there to be both in-person and Zoom options for attendance. Obviously, we will continue to monitor the COVID virus as we continue to plan the event. *DID YOU KNOW? Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants. Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website- www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov. "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 rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you! ---Rod
April 22, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 4/27/21 In this edition: *Rettig Resignation *May Day *Worker’s Memorial Day *Life Post-Vaccination *Roots *Did You Know? *Rettig Resignation As you may have heard, Supervisor Janelle Rettig resigned abruptly on Sunday, giving no notice. So Johnson County now has four Supervisors. Taking on her work will not be difficult. Rettig only worked 12-15 hours per week in 2019; that was down to about 6 hours per week in 2020. She was both literally and figuratively calling it in. So the rest of the Board can easily pick up the slack. What happens now? A committee of Recorder Kim Painter, Treasurer Tom Kriz, and Auditor Travis Weipert meets on Friday to choose one of two options:
1) Appoint someone to fill out the remaining two years of Rettig’s term; or
2) Call for a special election. This trio has been leaning toward special elections, and with two years remaining on the term, I am guessing they will go that route once again. If they do so, the parties would need to hold conventions and choose nominees. The election would probably be in June. *May Day I celebrate May Day. You should, too! May Day continues to be a worldwide worker’s holiday; it used to be celebrated in the US, too, until McCarthyism. Workers earned the holiday then, and deserve it still today. So feel free – celebrate May Day! *Worker’s Memorial Day Each year dozens of Iowa workers are killed at work and hundreds more suffer work-related injuries or diseases. Join us to remember those who have died on the job, hear from workers and advocates who are confronting workplace hazards, and renew our dedication to the struggle for safer workplace. A remembrance will be held Wednesday, April 28 from 12:00-1:00 PM near Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City. Sponsored by Iowa City Federation of Labor AFL-CIO and the University of Iowa Labor Center. *Life Post-Vaccination As you read this, it has been two weeks since my second vaccination. I feel very fortunate to have avoided COVID-19, and now to be protected against it. More and more Johnson County residents are joining me every day. That this is happening at basically the same time that spring is arriving makes the idea of a new beginning seem very real. So what comes next? I am planning to follow the advice of the experts, and I am going to continue to maintain precautions. But yeah, I am going to be doing things in-person. I’m really, really excited. *Roots Planting of all sorts is going on in Johnson County, and it causes me to reminisce about the farm. Anyone who has known me long knows that I grew up on the family farm. It is not just any family farm; both my maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather came from families that settled in Iowa prior to statehood. We have two family farms that have been in the family seven and eight generations, respectively. My family has been on the same land since 15 years before the start of the Civil War! So yes, I am proud of my family farm roots. After growing up out on the farm, on a gravel road, miles from the nearest town, I moved to Iowa City. And while I love the things city life offers, I often miss the farm. One small connection that I maintain is my screensaver. Both home and at work, my screensaver is a photo of my Grandpa, Ed Jack, winning the 1960 State Corn Picking Championship. I love the photo for a lot of reasons, but primarily the way in which he holds his hat in his hands. Though he had become quite wealthy through farming, he was a very humble man. The photo really captures that. And despite the fact that he had been using a mechanical combine for several years, he obviously had not lost his touch when it came to picking corn. We used to pick a lot of sweet corn when I was a kid. If you have ever seen anyone pick corn by hand, you know that it is not easy. And my Grandpa was a perfectionist – you had to do it right! I knew intuitively why he won that contest – he had the cleanest row and fewest deductions. Sure enough, that was true. My Grandpa loved to enter contests. He liked to experiment, and he had a competitive spirit. So his house was full of trophies and plaques. Only one, however, was first place. That was the State Corn Picking Championship. Also on a shelf were about a dozen trophies earned in various statewide competitions. There were 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place trophies – in some cases, multiples. Most of the awards were in yield competitions. He got second in the highest yield contest in the late ‘50s, and once averaged 200 bushels per acre, which was the farming equivalent of breaking the 4-minute mile. The statewide average now is 189 bushels per acre, so technology has certainly caught up. I remember the importance he placed on watching the markets. The guys who were working on the farm came into the house every day at EXACTLY 11:55. They washed their hands with Lava soap, filled their plates, and started to eat dinner. There was no “lunch” – dinner at noon, supper for the evening meal! Then they put on the WMT noon news, with the volume cranked, because years on the tractor (no cab) had ruined my Grandpa’s hearing. (KCRG showed a soap opera at noon and had no noon news. That was an unforgiveable heresy in the eyes of my Grandfather!) They would intently watch the weather and the markets, then decide what to do that afternoon. Maybe you got things ready to go to town and sell. Maybe not. The whole plan for the next 24 hours depended upon the market and the weather. Nowadays, the commodities are presold on contract. There is no need to closely monitor prices and react. It is probably a lot less stressful. But at the time, it certainly seemed exciting to a kid watching it all unfold! My Granny played a different role, and we kids were her helpers. Each family had HUGE gardens – between the 5 families, the garden space (not counting sweet corn and fruit trees) was probably almost 2 acres. We spent all summer picking strawberries, asparagus, beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, pears, lettuce, cabbage, radishes… then Granny showed us how to clean them, cut them, and store them. Farming has changed a lot since I was a kid. I was recently asking my Mom who was renting the family’s various plots of land. She reported that there are only 3-4 people farming in the whole area, and that these operations have become so large that what used to be considered a family farm (say, 100 acres) is barely worth their time to rent! I never wanted to go into farming – I realized right away that I was a people person, and agriculture could get lonely. But I miss those days, and remember them fondly. *DID YOU KNOW? Clarion is the only county seat in the exact center of the county (Wright County). Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website- www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov. "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 rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you! ---Rod
April 15, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 4/20/21 In this edition: *UI Presidency *Increased Property Assessments *Laws Matter for Governors, Too! *Endorsements *Did You Know? *UI Presidency I am very excited at the prospect of a new President at the UI. The Presidency is such a big job; I really don’t think many people fully appreciate the breadth and depth of knowledge required to properly fill this role. Not to mention the critical interpersonal skills required in a job where you simply cannot keep everyone happy. I am rooting for the next UI President, whoever they may be. It is a big job, and it has a tremendous impact upon our whole community. Interviews are occurring as I write this. Stay tuned! *Increased Property Assessments I have heard a number of people complaining about the recent reassessment notices that arrived from the Assessor’s Offices. And I get it! My own home was recently reassessed from $192,000 to $201,000. That is a pretty significant increase – about 4.5%. Thing is? This makes perfect sense. Several homes in our area have sold recently. Most were smaller than ours, and all went for well over $200,000. Sure, it hurts the pocketbook a bit. But being accurate is critical. And these assessments are accurate. The Iowa City Assessor's Office routinely ranks in the top 2-3 in the state in terms of accuracy (as does the Johnson County Assessor's Office). Fact is, you may complain about the increase, but would you REALLY sell your property for less than the assessed value? If so, there is an appeals process, and you should use it. Otherwise, just take a deep breath and remember: if you are making a property tax payment, you are by definition one of the wealthiest half of all Johnson County residents. Count your blessings. *Laws Matter for Governors, Too! One of the things that really upset a lot of Americans during the Trump years was the way President Trump ignored so many laws. Americans are brought up learning that no one is above the law, including politicians. When politicians flout this, the public feels angry and helpless. I am feeling angry and helpless right now when it comes to the many ways in which Governor Reynolds is ignoring Iowa laws. Just a few examples: Reynolds has paid huge ($50,000) bonuses to employees, flouting the law. Reynolds continues to ignore Freedom of Information requests. Reynolds illegally transferred emergency funds to balance the budget. Reynolds illegally spent CARES Act money on a computer system. Reynolds has illegally handed out several no-bid contracts. Those are just a few of the laws ignored by our Governor. And frankly, it pisses me off. No one should be above the law! *Endorsements The following appeared in Salvos in late November of 2020. With Senatorial and Gubernatorial races coming up in 2022, I thought it might be good to revisit the topic of endorsements. Let’s start by defining a group of Iowa Democrats that I will call, The “100 Most Important Dems”. You don’t need to like the name of the group, but bear with me. In this group are the 18 Democratic Senators, plus maybe 7-8 recent Senate retirees. It includes the 40+ Democratic House Members, plus maybe 10 recent retires. It includes any Democratic Member of Congress and recent retirees. It includes the State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Attorney General. It includes recent IDP Chairs. Throw in a handful of top Labor leaders, big money donors, and a smattering of others, and you have the “100 Most Important Dems.” Please understand – I am not judging these folks. Most are really good people. A few are really good friends of mine! They reached this status through hard work. I am not disparaging these people. What I fail to understand, however, is how they seem to almost always arrive at the same conclusion when it comes to endorsements. Look at the 2020 US Senate primary. Iowa had several really good candidates. How is it that Theresa Greenfield had been endorsed by 95+ of the “100 Most Important Dems” before anyone had ever asked her a question? How does that happen? No knock on Greenfield, but seriously... How does that happen? And how does it happen so early? It has happened many times before. 99% or more of this group endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, despite the fact that the rest of the state split 50/50. I’m not making that number up – show me three people in the group who backed Bernie. I’ll wait. An even higher percentage favored Bruce Braley in his 2014 Senate race; he didn’t even need to have a primary! The same thing happened (though not to as great a degree) in the 2016 Senate primary, where the “100 Most Important Dems” chose Patty Judge over Rob Hogg. Ditto the 2018 Gubernatorial primary and Fred Hubbell. Why is this? How does it happen? Do they have a big meeting? Is there an email chain? Do Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer decide? Do carrots and/or sticks come from someone in DC? Or, is it just Occam’s Razor, and the best-known person gets some endorsements and it snowballs from there? Seriously, why is this group able to move forward in lock step when the rest of Iowa’s Democrats do much the opposite? It seems to happen too frequently to be random; perhaps someone can disabuse me of that idea. Let’s assume for a moment that there are no conspiracies. This is just something that happens. Then the questions become how and why? Is it a good phenomenon, bad, or indifferent? To me, it is indicative of some type of herd mentality or groupthink. I can’t see much good coming from it. Again, I am happy to be proven wrong! I think getting to the root of this issue would significantly assist Democrats in Iowa in moving forward. There is a disconnect between Party Leaders and the rest of the Party that should really be examined. Open and honest discussion of this phenomenon would be a great start. *That is what appeared in November of 2020. So, now the ball is in your court. Urge everyone who represents you to allow the 2022 candidates for US Senate and Governor to actually campaign around Iowa. We don’t need another set of elections decided by 20 phone calls. *DID YOU KNOW? The University of Iowa has had 20 Presidents in its 166-year history. Presidents #7 through #15 have on-campus buildings named after them. (Schaeffer, MacLean, Bowman, Macbride, Jessup, Gilmore, Hancher, Bowen, and Boyd, respectively.) Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website- www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov. "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 MacLean, 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 rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you! ---Rod
April 8, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 4/13/21 In this edition: *Rita Hart *Conservation Annual Report *THE Way to Understand Income Inequality! *Reopening County Government *Did You Know? *Rita Hart By now you have all seen that Democrat Rita Hart stood down in her challenge to the election of Marianette Miller Meeks in Iowa’s Second Congressional District. I could write about it here, but the definitive piece has already been written by my good friend John Deeth. You can read his commentary at: http://jdeeth.blogspot.com. Rita is a really good person, and she deserved better. But it was not to be. I congratulate her on a fine effort, and I wish her well in whatever comes next. *Conservation Annual Report Below is a link to the Conservation Board’s FY20 Annual Report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-zf9frOqESBbjr0eLXxuvVUj7ON5Pj2Q/view?usp=sharing FY20 was an incredible year in terms of visitation, projects we accomplished and dealing with the pandemic. Congratulations to the Conservation Board and staff! *THE Way to Understand Income Inequality! Income inequality is the highest it has ever been. 60 people now have wealth equal to the poorest half of the people on earth. If the United States had the same income distribution it had in 1979, the bottom 80 percent of the population would have $1 trillion – or $12,000 per family – more. The top 1 percent would have $1 trillion less. Remember when I mentioned perspective? I find the following comparison helpful in terms of understanding the difference between a million and a billion: A million seconds is 11 days. A billion seconds is 32 years! That last statistic has always been very helpful. People have a very difficult time wrapping their heads around the concept of a billion. Comparing a billion seconds to a billion dollars really helps. So, if you are reading this? You are likely pretty well off. And there is a small group of people hoarding the world’s resources! *Reopening County Government Johnson County has been discussing reopening county government. Let’s have some conversation as to what this means. First, it is important to recognize that even during the COVID pandemic, much of county government never closed. The Sheriff’s Office has operated 24/7/365 throughout the pandemic, just as they had before. The jail has remained in operation. Ambulance, Emergency Management, Medical Examiner, and dispatchers at the JECC have also operated 24/7/365. Obviously, each of these groups had to take precautions, with careful use of PPE. While it is far from 24/7/365, there are also a number of county employees who have reported for work regularly throughout the pandemic. I am proud to count myself among the people who have been in the office almost every day since this hit. Obviously, Public Health personnel have worked overtime during the pandemic. Some offices have seen upticks in business; others have seen downturns. Again, each of these employees had to take precautions, including social distancing and careful use of PPE. Other county employees have managed to keep up with work through a combination of coming into the office and working remotely. This was a big change for county government, which had actively discouraged work from home options pre-pandemic. Once the pandemic hit, the County responded quickly, and about half of our 500 employees entered into some sort of work from home arrangement. The IT Department provided the equipment and technical know-how, the Attorney’s Office drafted a “work-from-home contract,” and HR handled all the various complaints and concerns. I am very proud of the efforts and teamwork that went into this undertaking! So, as we begin to see a larger and larger number of county residents vaccinated, the public has been asking for us to reopen. Obviously, we cannot just reopen without planning. That planning process is now complete, so I thought I would fill you in as to what is being considered. Johnson County is planning to bring back all county employees on Monday, April 26. Then, two weeks later, on Monday, May 10, the public can return to county buildings. We will still require masks, and still require social distancing. And, needless to say – if things get substantially worse, we reserve the right to return to more restrictive measures. The Board voted 4-1 to make this move, with Rettig in the negative. In voting no, Rettig claimed that the decision was “unscientific.” I think it is important to note that our Public Health Department has been involved in the decision-making every step of the way. They believe the science supports this set of decisions. Personally, I would not support anything without the approval of Public Health. Science matters here. It is just so easy to vote “no” without trying to address the problem. I have been in hours of meetings on this topic. Some of the people in the room believe we should have never closed. Some believe we are opening way too early. Public Health brings the science to the table. In the end, you make compromises, and you make decisions. This is the hard work of governing. The easy part is voting yes – or no. I also think it is important to consider the individual motives of each Supervisor in this situation. Rettig has not set foot in a county building during working hours in 13 months. That just might influence her vote. Some employees may have special circumstances to address with HR. They can obviously do so. Some employees may have additional concerns. To address this we have two options – one is Synchrony, our employee assistance program. Their counselors will be available. In addition to that, Public Health will be making some staff available to assist their fellow county employees by answering questions and fielding concerns. Next, let’s discuss the numbers. As of 8AM on April 8, about 10% of Johnson County adults have had the disease. About 35% have been fully vaccinated. 45% have received at least one dose. We continue to see a couple thousand more residents vaccinated every day. So we can certainly see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some may ask: Why not wait until everyone is vaccinated? There are a few answers to that question. First, Johnson County is providing a free Moderna vaccination clinic for county employees on Friday, April 9. Every county employee is eligible. (If enough vaccines remain, county employees will also be able to sign up household members over the age of 18.) Since Moderna is a two-shot regimen, the second vaccine clinic is already scheduled for Friday, May 7. That should give every county employee an opportunity to be very well-protected prior to the public returning to county buildings. Secondly, some residents and some employees will never get vaccinated. We will never hit 100%. Obviously, we cannot simply never open again. So we need to look for something resembling a herd immunity number. While estimates vary, some say this will be achieved at 60%. Others say it could be as high as 80%. So let’s just say 60-80% is required. We are close to 60% as we speak. By the time employees return, we may be at 80%. If not by then, we should hit that milestone well before the public returns. Finally, we are still requiring the use of masks and social distancing. Couple with the people who are already vaccinated, these precautions should keep the public and employees safe. And again, if trends change, we reserve the right to change. There are people who believe we never should have closed. There are people who believe we should not reopen. We will never please everyone. I think the important thing is using science to make decisions that protect our employees and the public. I believe this plan does so. *DID YOU KNOW? Iowa has approximately 3.1 million residents. 55% of those, or 1.7 million, live in just ten counties. (Source: US Census.) Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website- www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov. "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 rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you! ---Rod
April 1, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 4/6/21 In this edition: *Easter *Happy Birthday Jordan! *Congratulations, Dan! *Iowa Versus Recovery Act *Stop Asian Hate *Student Loan Forgiveness *Did You Know? *Easter Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! I hope you have a great holiday! *Happy Birthday Jordan! My daughter Jordan turns 27 on April 8th. Jordan works at a place very similar to Four Oaks in Memphis, Tennessee, and has done so ever since college. She continues to get promoted, and is doing very well professionally. More importantly, she is a really good person. Man, am I ever proud! Happy Birthday, Jordan! I love you! *Congratulations, Dan! Congratulations to Coralville City Engineer Dan Holderness, who is retiring after 34 years in that position. Dan is a great guy, and I wish him well! *Iowa Versus Recovery Act Governor Reynolds has decided to sue the Biden Administration over some rules that come with the American Recovery Act. The Biden Administration wisely decided to limit the ability of states to accept federal money, then cut taxes rather than spend the money. That is exactly what Reynolds wants to do. So she’s suing. Wow. A higher level of government attaching strings to a lower level of government. I have never heard of such a thing! Obviously, Reynolds would *NEVER* commit such a sin! No way she would unfairly burden local government! In case my attempt at sarcasm fell flat – I am not sympathetic. Reynolds is a hypocrite. *Stop Asian Hate I attended the Stop Asian Hate rally at the Ped Mall last Sunday, and I am very glad I went. Asians and Asian Americans have always been subject to racism in this country, but it has rarely been discussed publicly. The recent murders outside of Atlanta have turned the spotlight on the many ways in which Asians and Asian Americans face racism and discrimination. Much of the recent uptick in violence toward Asians and Asian Americans can be traced directly back to Donald Trump. There was a study done of his Tweets, and each time he used the phrase “China Virus” or “Kung Flu” there was a substantial uptick in reported hate crimes toward Asians and Asian Americans. So yes, Trump is an awful person. We already knew that. But racism against Asians and Asian Americans goes back long before Donald Trump. It is ingrained in American society. It takes actual work to make things better. We are all guilty, and we all have work to do. Thanks to the organizers for a great event, and thanks to Coralville Councilor Hai Huynh for a rousing speech! *Student Loan Forgiveness In the 2020 Democratic Primary, there was a great deal of discussion over student loan forgiveness. The candidate I favored (Elizabeth Warren) was very adamant about the need to forgive federal student loans. President Biden, while far less enthusiastic, agreed that some form of loan forgiveness needed to be considered. Pretty much every Democratic candidate was somewhere on that continuum. The conversation has started again, and I thought it was a good time to dust off the arguments for forgiving federal student loan debt. First, here is a bit of data about the scope of the issue: The US has 45 million citizens with student loan debt, who owe a total of $1.7 trillion. That makes student loan debt the second biggest type of debt, behind only home mortgages and ahead of credit card and automobile debt. 70% of all college students in 2020 had some type of student loan. 2019 grads average $30,000 in debt; in 2009, that was $23,000. That is a 27% increase in ten years.
So why is forgiveness important? 1. Experts agree it is good for the economy. People who pay back student loans make payments averaging $300/month. Eliminating this debt is like a $300 stimulus check every month, going to people who need it. It will create consumer demand for homes, cars, clothes, restaurants – young people will stimulate the economy with their newly-found extra money.
2. It evens out racial disparities. 90% of all African Americans who attend college have student loan debt. The number is 86% for Hispanic students. Only 60% of white students take these loans.
3. We are paying ourselves. 93% of all student loans come from the federal government. It is similar to loaning your kid $20, then simply never asking for that $20 back. No one is really hurt by the forgiveness; it can be written off.
4. Why should we forgive loans for rich kids? We won’t. This is a red herring. Rich kids do not take student loans; their parents pay for their college. Nor do we pay for students to attend prestigious universities; only 0.1% of Ivy League students had any student loan debt whatsoever. The benefits here do not accrue to the rich. By the way - I hope those same critics apply the same logic to tax cuts.! We would not want to unfairly benefit someone who is wealthy!
5. Someone else DID pay for you! I am really tired of people claiming, “I paid for my own college! They should do the same!” To that, I say, “Bullshit!”
You see, the State of Iowa used to believe that educating our young people was part of the state’s mission. So the Legislature funded the State Universities. In other words, kids now pay a MUCH higher percentage than you ever did!
A friend just sent me his personal example: He started at the UI in 1968. Tuition was $310 per year; room and board was $1040 annually. Add in a bit for books, and you are at about $1500 to attend the UI. In 1969, just working over the summer, Jim made over $1000. In 1970, he made almost $2000. He paid his own way.
Fast forward to today. Tuition, room, board, and books at the UI is almost $25,000. Say a student works for $10/hour times 40 hours/week times 12 weeks. (None of those is a given, BTW!) = $4,800. So our independent student would need to come up with another $20,000+.
Things have changed dramatically for today’s students! They deserve the same deal we got!
6. More on the change in public support – the State of Iowa budget has grown $3.4 billion since 1998, while UI support dropped $8 million. Consider a 62% CPI during that time, and in real dollars, the UI has endured a $446 million cut.
7. Another response to the person whose argument is, “Nobody gave me anything!” It makes him sound incredibly old when I say this, but my Dad was born in a house with a dirt floor, no running water, and no electricity. He always brought that up when people made these types of arguments. Dad was a Union man, and I often heard him say, “Why would I want my kids to have to live like I did? I want better for them.” We need more of that attitude. Forgiveness of federal student loans just makes sense. I hope President Biden is able to get something passed, because it will help the economy tremendously. *DID YOU KNOW? Easter is a “movable feast” – one that is set according to the phases of the moon – so the dates are different each year. Easter always occurs between March 22 and April 25. Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website- www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov. "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 rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you! ---Rod
|
