SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

October 28, 2021

Sullivan’s Salvos 11/2/21

In this edition:

*Happy Birthday Rachel!

*VOTE!

*Election Anger

*Remembering November 1, 1991

*Interesting Economic Development Results

*Medical Examiner Annual Report

*Did You Know?

*Happy Birthday Rachel!

Happy Birthday to my oldest daughter Rachel, who turns 30 on the 6th! I am SO proud of Rachel! She has grown into a wonderful young woman and a great Mom. I love you, Ray!

*VOTE!

Tuesday, November 2 is Election Day! Please go to the polls that day if you have not already voted!

A friendly reminder: For Iowa City Council, I am supporting Bruce Teague and Megan Alter in the At-Large race, and Shawn Harmsen in District B.

For the ICCSD Board of Directors, I am supporting JP Claussen, Ruthina Malone, and Jayne Finch for four-year terms, and MaKa Pilcher Hayek for the two-year term. Also, please vote YES on the ICCSD school funding question!

If you have any questions about voting, please contact the Johnson County Auditor’s Office at 319-356-6004.

*Election Anger

The run up to this election has me angry.

To be clear, I voted for Bruce Teague and Megan Alter in the At-Large Iowa City Council race. To be doubly clear, I have spent literally dozens of hours speaking with Jason Glass. I consider him a friend. If he gets elected, I’ll try to help him be successful. Whatever the outcome, I like and respect him. But he did not get my vote.

Unfortunately, outgoing Councilor Susan Mims has taken a different approach. Mims is urging people to vote ONLY for Glass. That is her right. But I strongly disagree with Susan's criticisms of the other candidates.

For one, just 4 years ago, Susan Mims specifically encouraged voters to consider her gender when voting. But she says gender should NOT be a consideration when contemplating the candidacy of Megan Alter.

Secondly, Susan Mims has spent the past 25 years saying we need to elect businessmen to the Council. Bruce Teague started and runs his own successful business. Why doesn’t he count?

Finally, Susan Mims says the Council needs “balance.” I think "balance" means different things to us. Historically (probably 917 out of roughly 950) council seats have been held by white people. (12 by Wilburn; 8 by Strait, 6 by Botchway, 4 by Saliah, 3 by Teague.) Meanwhile, moderate-to-conservative white men have held roughly 850 of those 950 seats. Conservative white men have not been historically underrepresented; they have been *WAY* overrepresented!

How can a person really look at the history of Iowa City and say, “We need another middle-aged, straight, white man. Not this gay, black candidate who has already capably served as Mayor”? And where was Susan Mims’ commitment to “balance” when the Council was 100% white, straight, and conservative? Why wasn’t she pushing for “ideological diversity” then?

Yeah, I am angry. We need some public discussion as to exactly what “balance” means.

*Remembering November 1^st, 1991

Thirty years ago on November 1, a UI post-graduate student named Gang Liu killed four faculty members, a student, and himself.

Faculty members Christoph Goertz, Dwight Nicholson, Robert Smith, T. Anne Cleary, and Linhua Shan were all slain. Student Miya Rodolfo-Sioson was shot and survived but was left paralyzed from the neck down. She died several years later from complications due to her injuries.

If you ask longtime residents of Johnson County, most can tell you where they were that fateful day. (I was working my second job - a Friday night shift in a Systems Unlimited group home. The residents of the group home were supposed to go out to dinner that night, but we quickly cancelled those plans.)

I wish I could say that in the decades that passed, something good had come from this horror. Frankly, I simply do not see it. Even bigger mass killings have occurred on other campuses across the nation. Heck, it happened in an elementary school! Our mental health system is not really any better, and our gun laws are even worse. The killings make no more sense today than they did thirty years ago.

I hope you will take a moment to reflect upon one of the saddest days in Johnson County history, pray for the many survivors whose lives were touched by the people we lost that day, and pray that we can do better as a state and country.

*Interesting Economic Development Results

I participated in an interesting economic development event in my role representing Johnson County on the East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG).

The Zoom event gathered a wide range of people from throughout the 6-County ECICOG Region (Linn, Johnson, Benton, Iowa, Jones, and Washington Counties); I believe there were right around a hundred participants. This included elected officials, business leaders, economic development folks, nonprofit leaders, and many more. These groups are never as diverse as organizers would like, but I thought it was more diverse than most.

In the session, they asked us to look at a variety of possible outcomes for our region. Then they asked us to predict how likely those outcomes were. This was the part that blew my mind.

There was an almost universal desire to improve our environmental outcomes. People were all in on wind and solar, electric vehicles, and recycling. They wanted major improvements in water quality. The wanted sensitive areas protected. Again, the support here was nearly unanimous.

There was an almost universal desire to see the lives of workers improved. Universal health care scored high. Improved pay and benefits to workers up and down the line. Paid time off. Affordable and accessible childcare. Investments in amenities such as parks and trails. Well-funded schools. Again, the support was remarkably high.

Then we got to the likelihood of these outcomes becoming reality. Almost everyone, myself included, agreed that these outcomes were unlikely.

So why the disconnect? With all these movers and shakers in the room wanting the same things, why can’t popular ideas win the day?

The answer, I’m afraid, is simple. The answer is that the Republican Party opposes all these things at a State and Federal level. Economic development people can’t say it – they would undoubtedly lose their jobs. But GOP policies are killing our region.

The most obvious proof of this is that Republican elected officials say the right things, then do something else. Kim Reynolds says she wants to work with Iowa’s farmers for a cleaner environment. But in actuality, she busts her butt daily to ensure that no farmer has to follow any environmental standards whatsoever.

It is the same story when it comes to improving the lives of workers. Kim Reynolds saysshe wants to work with Iowa’s businesses to improve the lives of workers. But in actuality, she busts her butt daily to ensure that no business has to follow any labor laws whatsoever.

It is called *LYING*. And the GOP constantly lies to the people at the State and Federal levels. And they HAVE to lie. Because the majority of the people do not like what they are delivering.

So they do two things: First, they lie. They talk about positive outcomes, but then work to ensure those outcomes never happen. Secondly, they distract: Beau Biden! Black people committing crimes! Latinos committing crimes! LGBTQ people! Squirrel!

The people who participated in this exercise should be able to see the disconnect between what they want and what they are getting. But it is not going to improve until they quit electing Republicans to office.

*Medical Examiner Annual Report

We recently got our annual report from the Medical Examiner’s Office, and as usual, it was full of interesting information.

In case you didn’t realize, the Johnson County Medical Examiner’s Office is responsible for investigating all the deaths in the county, and determining whether or not a death is “in the public interest.” If a death is determined to be “in the public interest,” they open a case. There were 2066 deaths last year in Johnson County – 1051 of those were determined to be in the public interest and became ME cases.

Here are several random bits of information, all gleaned from the annual report:

*Most deaths are natural causes, followed by accidents.

*Those deaths also included 38 suicides and 8 homicides, as well as 11 undetermined. (Sometimes – in the case of an overdose, for example – it can be very difficult to determine if the death was an accident or a suicide.)

*The biggest cause of accidental deaths BY FAR is falls.

*A surprising number of these are falls from standing height.

*The second most common type of accidental death is illicit drug use, but falls are 7 times as frequent.

*Methamphetamine was far ahead of all other drug-related deaths. *Most suicides are committed using a handgun.

*30 of 38 suicides were males.

*6 out of 8 homicide victims were women.

If you are interested in more information on the Medical Examiner’s Office or the data in this report, visit the website at: https://www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/department-of-medical-examiner.

*DID YOU KNOW? Over 6,000 Iowans have died due to gun violence since November 1, 1991.

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 rodsullivan29@gmail.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

October 21, 2021

Halloween is Sunday the 31^st. I have been amazed in recent years by the amount of effort (and money) that goes into decorating homes for the season. When I was young, few homes displayed anything other than carved pumpkins. Now, there are huge blow-up characters, lights, and much more.

Regardless of how you view Halloween, we need to remember a few key things: First, be careful! One thing that has not changed is an abundance of young children in dark costumes excitedly crossing streets. Secondly, you may want to temporarily take down your campaign yard signs. Despite annual accusations to the contrary, I still think most signs that disappear are teen pranks. Finally, have fun! Halloween offers all of us an opportunity to be young again.

I was saddened to hear of the death of Tim Terry of Iowa City. Tim was the founder of two very successful businesses, Terry Lockridge and Dunn and World Trend Financial.

We met as members of the original Board of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. Tim was an incredibly interesting fellow, and he and I had many long conversations about business, politics, education, and the like. It was really a joy to get to know him. Tim was opinionated, quirky, and in many ways, a series of contradictions. But he certainly won me over!

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Ross Wilburn has been getting the typical attacks that come with that office. Same old song, right? But this time one of his critics decided to add that Wilburn (a black man) should be lynched.

This is obviously unacceptable. But what is driving me crazy is the rush from Republican elected officials to condemn this single comment. The GOP created the environment in which we live, and they continue to fuel it. Look at the way Trump “eulogized” another black man, the late Colin Powell. No elected Republican will dare say a thing about that. None of our federal or statewide elected Republicans will even admit Trump lost! So pardon me if their statements fall flat.

Wilburn’s black ancestors – Iowans - fought for the Union Army in the Civil War. If the Republicans in the Iowa Legislature had to vote today to take the side of the Union or the Confederacy, which side would they choose? I think the answer is they would wait and see what Trump did.

As you probably saw, workers at John Deere have gone on strike. This affects plants in Davenport, Waterloo, Dubuque, Ottumwa, and Ankeny. I strongly support my union brothers and sisters, the striking workers.

My granddaughter Zuri was sick the other day. Not COVID; just a brief GI thing. No big deal. I stayed home with her the day she was ill. Again, no big deal.

Except it IS a big deal! Do you know how many people in our society have nowhere to turn when a child is sick? The lack of support America has for parents in this situation is shameful.

Every day in the US parents (mostly women) are faced with a series of bad decisions: Stay home and lose out on a day’s pay? Stay home and potentially lose my job? Take my child to my workplace? Leave my child unattended? Send my sick child to school? Again, all of the above are bad decisions. But what is a parent without sick leave to do?

We are very lucky. My daughter has sick leave. She also has Melissa and I, who have a certain amount of flexibility in our schedules. Every child in America deserve what my granddaughter has – the ability to stay home from school if you are sick.

25% of American civilian workers – 34 million people – have no sick leave. In the wealthiest country in the history of the world. It is truly shameful. We can and must do better.

What stops us from stealing, cheating on a test, or punching someone in the mouth? There are certainly times when all of those might feel pretty good. But we don’t usually do them. Why? Consequences, that’s why.

There is really only one thing that prevents bad behavior, and that is consequences. Consequences could be from the State, in the form of laws, police, and imprisonment. They could be work-related, such as firings and demotions. They could be personal, such as divorce, loss of friends, etc.

Most folks do not require these types of consequences. The THREAT of the consequences is enough. Most people stop well short of the line. But in every case, there are people who will go right up to the line, and experiencing no consequences, will cross it again and again. This behavior will pretty much never end until there are consequences.

Remember when Donald Trump claimed he could shoot a man on 5^th Avenue and get away with it? He may have been correct, especially if it was Fifth Avenue in a small town in Western Iowa. Unfortunately, that is where we are at politically in Iowa and in this country. And in politics, there is really only one consequence that matters – losing an election.

I don’t think Republicans in Iowa or the US will stop at anything unless it costs them an election. There are almost no norms that cannot be violated. There are probably still a couple things that would not be OK: murder, sexual assault of a child… that is about it. And the only reason those would not be OK is electoral consequences.

Why am I bringing this up now? Redistricting. I expect the Republicans in the Iowa Legislature to pass on the first and second maps, vote down the third, and then amend it into something they like.

But wait! Isn’t that against the intent of Iowa Law? Sure, but that only matters if there are consequences. And I do not believe there will be. I think the Iowa Supreme Court will allow a gerrymander. The US Supreme Court has already decided gerrymanders are not an issue they will consider. So essentially, Iowa’s nonpartisan redistricting process is dead. Why? Because there will be no consequences for the GOP.

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:

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.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/vacancies and in the office of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, second floor of the Johnson County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque Street, Iowa City. Questions can be directed to the Board of Supervisors Office at 319-356-6000 or applications@johnsoncountyiowa.gov.

Completed applications must be returned to the Board Office by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021.

*DID YOU KNOW? Iowa Governor Bob Ray ushered in Iowa’s nonpartisan system of redistricting in 1980. Opponents at the time included Terry Branstad and Chuck Grassley.

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 rodsullivan29@gmail.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!

October 14, 2021

I was saddened to hear about the passing of Jan Rutledge of Iowa City. Jan spent several years running the local office of Iowa Legal Aid, and was a longtime advocate for justice for low income Iowans.

I have known Jan back to the early 90s, and I always found her to be calm, thoughtful, and measured, yet never taking her focus off the idea of justice for all. She was a great person, a great advocate, and she will be missed. RIP, Jan.

A couple of years ago, Iowa changed the law to put school and city elections on the same ballot. Iowa City has 3 contested Council seats this year, while the ICCSD has 4. Bottom line - my yard cannot take any more signs!

I know where my votes are going to be cast. For Iowa City Council, I am supporting Bruce Teague and Megan Alter in the At Large race, and Shawn Harmsen in District B.

For the ICCSD Board of Directors, I am supporting JP Claussen, Ruthina Malone, and Jayne Finch for four-year terms, and MaKa Pilcher Hayek for the two-year term.

Please let me know if you want to chat about Iowa City or ICCSD candidates. And remember, every city and school district in Johnson County is holding elections!

Voters in the ICCSD will also have an opportunity to vote to extend the PPEL and SAVE monies for the District. I wholeheartedly urge you to vote YES!

First, voting “yes” does not raise your taxes. It merely maintains the existing funding.

Secondly, I will admit, I am pretty damned invested in this. I served on the Facilities Master Plan Committee that laid out the projects that have been happening for the past few years. Then I served on the committee that ran the bond campaign. I have been working on this a long time. I think we have a great plan. Much of it is already complete. Now we just need you to vote “yes” to keep it rolling!

My friend Marcela Hurtado was inducted into the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame recently. Hurtado was born in Puebla, Mexico, has lived in Iowa for 16 years and currently lives in Iowa City, where she works as a community advocate.

She is a co-founder of the Center for Workers Justice of Eastern Iowa, serving as the elected president of its board. The organization has campaigned to raise the minimum wage in Johnson County and recover stolen wages for workers.

Hurtado also campaigns and performs outreach in Latino communities, leading interfaith gatherings and speaking at government meetings about the struggles and aspirations of Latinos in the area. She also worked to connect residents with essential services during the pandemic.

If you read Salvos last week, you know that I am pretty down when it comes to the state of our political discourse. I still am. This was a terrible week. But I did have an interaction that restored my faith a little bit.

I showed up at the Iowa City Farmer’s Market on Saturday, and there was a table with a sign: “Get Rid of the MRAP.” There was a petition on the table requesting that the Sheriff, Supervisors, EMA, Iowa City Council, and ICPD get rid of the MRAP, and not replace it with a Bearcat or similar vehicle. As you may know, this has been a contentious topic. So you may end up as surprised as I was that my interaction was so positive.

The person staffing the table was Martha Hampel, a longtime local activist. Martha and I are both ACLU members, and we have been on the same side in several local discussions. We have also been on the opposite sides of some pretty contentious local issues. ACLU-minded folks tend to either lean Democratic or Libertarian; I am the former, Martha the latter.

I walked up and said hello. Martha said, “I’m glad you are here. I have a few questions.” She proceeded to ask me several really good questions about the MRAP, Bearcats, county processes, etc. We both agreed that it is important to have accurate information out there. I sincerely appreciate her determination to have her facts right.

We spoke for a long time. Martha was super cool. I explained that I really struggled with this issue. On the one hand, I feel a tremendous responsibility toward our Sheriff’s deputies. They are asked to put their lives on the line, and they deserve to be protected. The Board of Supervisors has a solemn obligation to every single County employee, and that includes our deputies.

On the other hand, I have been quite unimpressed by the way the MRAP has been used. The high water “rescue” was a joke. If the idea is to get officers right up to the front door, why is it staged 3 blocks away on Davis Street? It is certainly fair for the public to demand answers to questions over the MRAP’s use.

As you probably know, the Sheriff has said he would get rid of the MRAP if he had a Bearcat. I don’t know anyone who opposes the MRAP that would be satisfied with a Bearcat. There are a few officers who have explained to me that a Bearcat is easier to drive, easier to service, and can get into smaller areas. So there are some minor benefits to deputies. And a Bearcat might look less intimidating to the public. Even then, I have heard other officers say, “Why spend the money? The MRAP works.”

Martha understood my struggles. We share many of the same concerns. For example, when you have a hammer, does everything look like a nail? Why are these vehicles almost exclusively used in neighborhoods of color? The Sheriff stands for election; who will check the Iowa City Chief of Police? If Iowa City is going to use it all the time, why don’t they buy a Bearcat? Instead of writing letters to the Supervisors, why doesn’t the City Council insist that their own Police Chief behave differently?

The important thing to me is that Martha and I had a real conversation. We treated each other with respect. We actually listened to each other. We did not call each other names, make threats, or try to mock each other. We didn’t take a single comment out of context and try to turn it into a Twitter meme.

Martha is worried about police overreach. That does not mean she wants cops to die. I am also worried about police overreach. I am worried about the safety of police officers. That does not mean I want to terrorize black neighborhoods. Martha is also concerned that cops remain safe. We want the same things.

I am sure that some people out there will read this and say, “She is ineffective. She played by your rules.” I do not think that is true at all.

First of all, if you have ever met Martha, you know that she does not give up easily. She is a tireless advocate, who does not let people in power off the hook. Martha definitely asked me challenging questions. She simply did so respectfully. Then she listened to my responses.

If by “played by your rules” you mean she did not lie, exaggerate, or take things out of context? Then yes, perhaps you are correct. But aren’t those “rules” for all of us? If you mean she did not interrupt a public meeting and prevent others from speaking? Then yes, perhaps you are correct. If you mean she did not sue me, then demand to speak with me? Then yes, perhaps you are correct.

For what it is worth, she made me think much more than the dozens of people who have called me names over this topic. If I am going to be convinced, it will be the way Martha approached things, and not by shouting people down at a meeting.

Thank you, Martha, for being a concerned citizen. And thanks for restoring a little bit of my faith in humanity.

*DID YOU KNOW? 88% of Johnson County households have some type of broadband subscription. (Source: US Census Bureau.)

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 rodsullivan29@gmail.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!

October 7, 2021

I know the big game is THIS week, but… The week of October 10th is Homecoming Week at the University of Iowa. I am a UI alumnus, a huge Hawkeye fan, and very sentimental guy… probably too sentimental! With that in mind, you can understand why I love Homecoming!

I hope you all get an opportunity to take in some of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the big game!

The Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature is proud to offer you several days of excellent, one-of-a-kind, free, literary programming as part of the 2021 Iowa City Book Festival. Events are October 14-24 across Johnson County; see: Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature for details. Iowa City is a City of Literature for many reasons: The wonderful writing programs at the University of Iowa, our small presses and magazines, our wonderful libraries, our bookstores, and amenities like the Iowa Avenue Literary Walk.

The Iowa City Book Festival is organized by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, a nonprofit 501(c)3 that manages the Iowa City area’s designation as a UNESCO City of Literature. The City of Literature works to advance its mission of celebrating and supporting literature on a local, regional, national, and international level, connecting readers and writers through the power of story.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and I want to take this opportunity to share some statistics with you.

The Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) has been serving Johnson County since 1979. Services include emergency shelter, 24-hour crisis line, support and advocacy services, youth services, and community education.

The State of Iowa mandated some consolidations a few years ago, and DVIP now serves 8 counties for most services, and 13 counties with their 24-hour crisis line. Johnson County sources make up about 25% of DVIP’s funding, but 60% of their clients come from Johnson County. They serve about 350 individuals in the shelter each year; 80% of them are Johnson County residents. Another 60 or so people annually are served through contracts with hotels. The average shelter stay is about 45 days.

There are many events scheduled for October; to see the whole list and/or to learn more about the Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DVIP), visit dvipiowa.org.

My last couple years have been difficult. While my family and I have been lucky as far as COVID is concerned, I am on the receiving end of more vitriol than ever before. I have always received a fair amount of hate mail/email/social media from the right. That has not only continued, but increased a fair amount. That has been matched, and probably even surpassed, by hate mail from the left. It is quite a steady stream. Finally, there is actually hate from the middle. I’m not joking! There have been more than a couple pieces of hate mail basically saying I am terrible because things should remain just as they are.

The right-wing folks often refer to me as an “N-word” lover. The left-wing folks often refer to me as a racist. I just wish they could get together and decide which it is going to be. In all seriousness, this stuff takes a toll. I don’t mind disagreeing with people. My problem is that I have a tendency to try to talk things out. That has not worked very well very often. First, most of the feedback is either unsigned or done under an alias. Even when it has a real name attached, I have found those individuals pretty unwilling to consider anything I have to say. It is just in my nature to try to reach out to someone – even someone who calls me an “N-word” lover or a racist. But my approach is simply not working.

I am going to refer to two very recent examples to illustrate my past couple years.

On Tuesday, September 28, my daughter Rachel and granddaughter Zuri were in the front yard of our house when a guy started blaring on his horn, screaming, “Why doesn’t Rod Sullivan do something about this f-ing traffic?” Rachel sheepishly said, “He’s not in charge of City streets.” The guy let loose a bunch of expletives, calling me, Joe Biden, and Nancy Pelosi every name in the book. In front of my granddaughter. It was unsettling for both Rachel and Zuri. By the way – he had a teenaged child in his own car!

Here is another illustration: On Friday, October 1, I was driving down First Avenue in Iowa City when I saw a group of three boys. Two were bigger, one smaller. One of the bigger boys had the smaller boy by the wrist, and was repeatedly hitting him. The smaller boy had dodged about half the blows, but I saw him get hit 3-4 times. So I stopped my car. Traffic is backing up behind me. I yelled, “Hey! Stop that!” To my surprise, they did. And for what seemed longer, but was probably only two seconds, I made eye contact with all three boys. You know what happened next? The smaller boy – the one who was being hit – looked at me and said, “F__ you!” That is correct. I stopped a boy from being hit, and he said, “F__ you!” Cars were now honking behind me, so I got back in the car and drove away. That pretty much sums up my life as of late.

Just to be clear, I know lots of other people have it worse than me. I have heard the stories of nurses who are being berated by COVID deniers even as the nurses intubate them. I have seen a woman I grew up with – now a nurse at UIHC – mocked by guys from our hometown for trying to urge people to wear masks. I know scores of teachers, all trying to do their jobs under the most difficult of conditions. I see daycare workers exposed every day, but without health insurance. I know wait staff who get treated like dogs by employers and customers alike, working terrible hours, exposed to unvaccinated customers, only to make poverty wages. I totally understand that I have it very good compared to most folks. That said, I am still human, and when I am cut, I still bleed.

I just finished reading a great book. The Nix by Iowan Nathan Hill is long – over 600 pages – but absolutely worth your time. There was one particular sentence in the book that I found quite poignant: “Anger is the easiest emotion.” Ain’t that the truth! I have decided to work really hard to treat others with grace. It can be difficult, yes. As Hill notes, anger is easy. But I simply can’t match the anger that comes my way. The only way to move forward is to try to do so with grace.

Though my job sucks right now, I am not in need of your sympathy. If it bothers me enough, I can just walk away. Other folks are not so lucky. So don’t worry about me. But I would ask you all to join me in putting forth a bit more kindness and grace. In all your interactions. Thanks.

*DID YOU KNOW? Unfortunately, domestic violence is up during the pandemic. 1500 Johnson County residents used 6000 services in the past year. Those numbers are for Johnson County alone!

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 rodsullivan29@gmail.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!

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