SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 9, 2022
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/14/22
In this edition:
*Father’s Day
*Election Results
*IC Pride
*Juneteenth
*All the Candidates…
*Legislative Update
*Did You Know?
*Father’s Day
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! I know both Mother’s and Father’s Days can be very difficult for some people, for a variety of reasons. If that is you, you are in my thoughts.
Being a dad is the best thing I have ever done. It is also the most difficult. I imagine that is the case for most fathers.
It has been decades now since I have had the pleasure of enjoying a living father or grandfather. If you are lucky enough to have a father or grandfather around, please take a moment to reach out to him this weekend.
*Election Results
Iowa held Republican and Democratic Party primary elections on Tuesday June 7, and there are some interesting results to discuss. For starters, a little over 19,000 people voted in Johnson County – about 22% of the electorate. As far as primaries go, that’s not bad. In reality? More people need to vote!
Now let’s focus on the contested races.
Statewide, Iowans chose Mike Franken to be our US Senate candidate. I have to be honest; I am *REALLY* sick of the argument, “Franken is the only one who can win.” Based upon what? Abby had won an election for Federal office; Franken lost his first attempt. All that “only one who can win” stuff sounds like to me is people thinking we need an old man rather than a young woman.
In fairness, when I confronted people about it, many had other, more acceptable (to me) reasons for supporting Franken. I hope they recognize that the way in which we frame these races can be very misogynistic if we are not careful. By and large, the Democratic Party *IS* women! We will not win by dismissing women.
But, now we are through the primary and we can focus on the general. Though I voted for Finkenauer, I promise to work my tail off for Admiral Franken!
Linn County Auditor Joel Miller was selected as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State. Joel and I worked together back in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. Joel was the Linn County Democratic Party Chair, while I held a similar office here in Johnson County.
In SD45, Janice Weiner defeated John Raley by a margin of 86-14. I am proud of her! In HD89, Elinor Levin defeated Tony Currin by a 63-37 margin. In HD90, Adam Zabner defeated Andrew Dunn and Christy Wolfe by 43 to 37 to 21%, respectively.
An interesting twist: Iowa has not had a Jewish legislator since the mid-90s. Now Johnson County will send 3 Jewish legislators to Des Moines at one time!
In the Supervisor primary, incumbent Jon Green won a tight battle with V Fixmer Oraiz and Seth Zimmermann. Since the top two move on, Jon and V are the Democratic Party nominees. This was an interesting race. With incumbent Pat Heiden retiring at the end of the year, voters know there will be at least one new Supervisor.
*IC Pride
Join us for our annual FREE Pride Picnic at UPPER CITY PARK in Iowa City. This is an all ages, family friendly event with entertainment and food for all. The donated menu normally includes burgers, hot dogs, sides and water / soda. We will have a vegetarian option as well for the main course. Friday, June 17!
Join us for the 51st Iowa City Pride Festival with the return of the Pride Parade plus Vendors in the Ped Mall and along Washington & Linn Streets, a fun filled day of entertainment on the Linn Street Stage and more. Best of all the Iowa City Pride Festival is FREE to attend and an all-ages event. Saturday, June 18!
*Juneteenth
Johnson County is working with a number of community partners to present a whole week’s worth of Juneteenth activities! There are several virtual events, all listed on the webpage. In person events include “Being Black in Iowa City” a community conversation on Thursday, June 16; events in Downtown Iowa City all evening on Friday, June 17; and neighborhood events at Mercer Park in IC and Morrison Park in Coralville on Saturday, June 18.
For more info, visit the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/jciajuneteenth.
By the way, in 2021, The Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for union and non-union employees. The decision followed President Joe Biden declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday for the first time last year and many other Iowa cities doing the same.
One difference? Most cities and counties took away a different holiday in order to acknowledge Juneteenth. Many, for example, swapped it out for President’s Day. Johnson County simply added a new holiday. I am proud of that.
*All the Candidates…
The Primary Election got me thinking about all the candidates I have supported over the years, at all the different levels. I have campaigned for really good friends, and campaigned for people I really didn’t care for. And everything in between.
Out of all of those campaigns, the person I felt best about? Elizabeth Warren. She was the smartest. She was the hardest worker. She had the best solutions. She really cares. She absolutely blew me away.
Sure, Obama was gifted. And other candidates have come along in better times and places. But no one ever impressed me like Elizabeth Warren. It was a privilege to stand beside her.
I wish I had been able to do more for her. I am really proud that she won Johnson County. I just wish we could have gotten more Iowans to see what I saw.
How about you? Do you have a “best candidate”?
*Legislative Update
The 2022 Iowa Legislative session is finally over. As I have mentioned before, I have been avoiding the topic during Salvos for the most part. It is simply makes me too angry, sad, and disgusted.
Matt Sinovic of Progress Iowa wrote an excellent, succinct summary of the session for the Iowa Labor News. It appears immediately below.
- An unfair 4% flat tax that will provide massive tax breaks for corporations and the ultra wealthy, while actually raising taxes on the lowest income earners in Iowa
- Massive corporate tax cuts
- Banning transgender girls playing female sports
- Slashing hard-earned unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks
- An inadequate, under inflation 2.5% funding increase for Iowa’s public schools
- Making child care centers less safe by allowing 16-year-olds to watch children without supervision
- Making child care centers less safe by allowing adults to watch more children at one time
- Allowing law enforcement to search and seize garbage placed outside the home, going against an Iowa Supreme Court ruling
- Changes to Iowa’s judicial selection process, allowing Governor Reynolds to stack the Court as she sees fit
- Making the penalties for manufacturing, possessing, or delivering heroin the same as methamphetamine, perpetuating a racist war on drugs
- Making public schools less safe by preventing K-12 public or charter schools from performing health screenings on students without written permission from a parent or guardian.
- Changes to the state’s bottle bill that favor corporate greed, not the need to recycle
*DID YOU KNOW? The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abe Lincoln on September 22, 1862. It went into effect on January 1, 1863. However, slaves were not set free in the Confederacy until Union army was able to come in and take over. On June 18, 1865 the Union army arrived in Galveston, Texas. The next day, June 19th, General Gordon Granger announced that the slaves in Texas were free by order of the president of the United States.
The former slaves in Galveston celebrated the day that they were set free. The first Juneteenth celebration took place the very next year.
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.
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 10:23 AM
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