SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
December 9, 2021
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/14/21
In this edition:
*Christmas Music
*Vaccine/Testing Mandate
*ARPA Part 4
*Did You Know?
*Christmas Music
I know that as many of you are driving around with Xmas music filling the airwaves, you are thinking, “Who wants this stuff from Thanksgiving to New Year’s?”
The answer? I do! I LOVE Xmas music! Carols, standards, silly songs – I love almost every one. And yes, I can listen for a whole month! So I am the guy you hate!
*Vaccine/Testing Mandate
As you are likely aware, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect unvaccinated employees of large employers (100 or more employees) from the risk of contracting COVID-19 by strongly encouraging vaccination. Covered employers must develop, implement, and enforce a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy. There is an exception for employers that instead adopt a policy requiring employees to either get vaccinated or elect to undergo regular COVID-19 testing and wear a face covering at work in lieu of vaccination. The rule was passed on November 5, and requires compliance within 60 days.
Johnson County has more than 100 employees (actually over 500) so we must comply with the OSHA directive. That is the easy part. The difficulty lies in the details.
One of the biggest questions is should the employer require vaccinations, or allow testing alternatives? There are two primary groups of people who request exceptions: 1) people requesting medical exceptions; and 2) people requesting exceptions because of “strongly held beliefs.” (Those granted exceptions would be required to test weekly.) I feel totally different about those two situations.
I believe in science. And if you believe in science, you must recognize that there are a few very rare (but very real) medical conditions that make vaccinations prohibitive. As a matter of fact, I happen to know that we have at least one employee who is medically unable to be vaccinated. There may be more. These people need to have their medical conditions respected. These conditions are not a *choice*, mind you. This is a matter of life and death. I fully support medical exceptions to the vaccination standards. Those individuals can engage in weekly testing instead. And the County should bear the cost of those tests.
I feel very differently about so-called “strongly-held beliefs.” First of all, contrary to what all the self-styled Constitutional law professors are saying, mandated vaccinations are 100% legal.
Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), was a US Supreme Court case in which the Court upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws. The Court's decision articulated the view that individual liberty is not absolute and is subject to the police power of the state. It has been upheld on at least 5 occasions since then, and cited in scores of other decisions. In other words – yes, mandated vaccines are 100% legal!
It is also legal to ignore objections based upon “strongly held beliefs.” As a matter of fact, 5 states (California, Mississippi, New York, Maine, and West Virginia) currently disallow these objections for all childhood immunizations. Again - mandated vaccines are 100% legal!
I do not think we should allow any exceptions for “strongly-held beliefs.” We have employees who think LGBTQ folks are “abominations”. They can hold that belief, but if it shows up at work? They don’t get to work at Johnson County. I know there are people whose “strongly-held beliefs” justify child abuse. As a country, we have stood up and said NO. When an employee says they don’t want to get a driver’s license, or use safety equipment? Tough. Use it, or you don’t get to work for Johnson County. When the safety of others is at stake, it is perfectly acceptable for us to say this. We don’t have many employees who handle food, but those who do must wash their hands. If they refuse? They don’t get to work for Johnson County. Working for the County is a privilege, not a right.
This also creates a real conundrum for our staff. Johnson County staff people are now in the position of having to decide whose “strongly-held beliefs” are legitimate and whose are not. If we say we are simply going to accept each employee’s word on this, there is no point in doing anything. Why not just take their word on it when they say they have an engineering degree? Why not just take their word for it when they say they have a driver’s license? Why not just take their word for it when they say they are sober, even though you smell booze?
The Pope has stated that getting the vaccine is encouraged, calling it an “act of love.” But just watch – we’ll have Catholics opting out. And what about “strongly-held beliefs” that are not a “religion” per se? What if your “strongly-held belief” is simply Qanon? Or whatever Donald Trump says? I am afraid that our staff lacks the time and resources to fight these fights. I expect Johnson County will simply cave in in every case. Which is precisely why I wanted the Board to simply ban these exceptions.
Unfortunately, I lost this argument on a 3-2 vote. I spoke about this at our December 1 work session. If you want to view the discussion, I start at 2:36:00 and end at 2:38:37. Supervisor Porter makes some of the same points quite humorously immediately afterwards. Here is the link: https://johnson-county.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=2043
The COVID pandemic has been horrible for all of us. And frankly, I am just sick and tired of the selfishness. You don’t want a vaccine? Fine. But you are actively putting others at risk. It is just like drunk driving. It is reckless and wrong. And these armchair Constitutional law professors who whine about their rights? They are both selfish and full of it.
*ARPA Part 4
Today we will discuss the process used to distribute ARPA funds.
Whenever Johnson County, Iowa City, and the ICCSD make decisions, there are accusations that:
1. There was a lack of transparency.
2. There weren’t adequate opportunities for public input.
3. The elected officials did not listen.
4. The decisions were rushed.
You will literally hear these three complaints EVERY single time ANY of these groups makes a decision. Are these accusations correct? In the case of these three governmental entities over the past few years, I would say virtually never. No one is perfect, that much is certain. I get angry with some of the people and decisions, too. But for the most part, these accusations are demonstrably false. In most cases, people simply dislike the decision, so they attack the process.
In the case of ARPA funding and the County, info has been out in several languages for over 6 months. There have been dozens of newspaper articles, tv reports, and radio bits. Info has been on the County website the whole time. Local nonprofits, libraries, community centers, churches, and others have been sent info to share. The County has been accepting feedback for several months via letter, email, website, questionnaires, phone calls, and more. There have been several public listening sessions, held in every part of the County, at different days and times.
I number of people made comments something to the effect that, “I spoke to you five times, and you still didn’t do what I asked.” Or, “I forwarded you a petition with 100 signatures.” That may well be correct. Speaking the most does not mean you win the argument. Speaking the loudest does not mean you win the argument. Even having the most people on your side does not automatically mean you win the argument.
Let’s talk briefly about the idea of “listening.” There is a tendency to conflate listening with agreement. Just because a decision-maker does not agree with you does not mean they didn’t listen. Sometimes, they just disagree.
So criticisms that the process was not transparent, rushed, and lacked opportunities for input are just plain wrong. Again, when you don’t like the outcome, you attack the process.
Was everything done perfectly? Of course not. It rarely ever is. But I firmly believe the public got our best-intentioned best efforts. And if that was unacceptable? We have elections. If the public disagrees with the way the ARPA money was handled, they will have an opportunity to express that discontent with their vote.
In the next installment, we will go over exactly what projects Johnson County will fund with ARPA dollars.
*DID YOU KNOW? Pagans sang songs on and around the winter solstice for centuries. Music associated with Christmas is thought to have its origins in 4th-century Rome. By the 13th century, under the influence of Saint Francis of Assisi, the tradition of popular Christmas songs in regional native languages developed.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 9:03 AM
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