SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
October 5, 2022
Sullivan’s Salvos 10/4/22
In this edition:
*Wilson’s Orchard
*Domestic Violence Awareness Month
*JC Dems Fall BBQ
*Happy Retirement Jill!
*All Politics is Personal
*Did You Know?
*Wilson’s Orchard
It would not be fall without a trip to Wilson’s Orchard! Just off Highway 1 between Iowa City and Solon, this beautiful orchard offers you-pick, tractor rides, and much more! And it really is beautiful! Some of the views are breathtaking!
What’s more, when you support local farms like Wilson’s, your dollars circulate through our economy many times over!
*Domestic Violence Awareness Month
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.
*JC Dems Fall BBQ
The Johnson County Democratic Party is having its Annual Fall BBQ Sunday, October 9 from 4-7pm at the Johnson County Fairgrounds. Visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/470867084629350/?ref=newsfeed for tickets and more information.
This is an important fundraiser that will help Mike Franken, Christina Bohannan, Deirdre DeJear, and all our state and local candidates. Plus there is always great food and great conversation. Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of the party! Please join us!
*Happy Retirement Jill!
Imagine spending all day, every day, working with the neediest families and children in our community. All the joy, tragedy, and every emotion in between. People calling you to respond to emergencies in the middle of the night. Parents crying the cry you can only make when you have lost a child. Kids giving you tremendous hope, then suffering huge setbacks. Could you do that for 35 years? Could you do it really, really well for 35 years? Could you do it in such a way that everyone you have ever met has deep respect for you?
Jill Foens has done exactly that. Jill is retiring after a long career with the Iowa Department of Human Services, and she is leaving some really big shoes to fill!
I started working with Jill right after I got out of college in the 80s. I learned more from her than I could ever put on paper. She was and is a role model. In the 90s, Jill trained Melissa and I as we became foster parents. Again, she was patient, professional, and taught us a lot. Then she sent us kids! Lots of kids! And while some workers always left us grumbling, Jill always went above and beyond to make certain we had what we needed. The kids always connected with her and always respected her – including kids who really didn’t respect anyone. The woman was just damn good at a very difficult job, and I respect the hell out of her.
Congratulations, Jill, on your retirement! You earned it! Thank you for your many years of service to our most vulnerable families and children. You made a difference!
*All Politics is Personal
We tailgate before all the Iowa Football games. It is a tradition I love. The best part, of course, is talking to old friends. But we make new friends, too. A guy who has been tailgating with us the past few years comes over every Saturday from a small town in western Illinois. He knew I was a County Supervisor, but that is all he knew.
“Which political party are you, Sully?” he asked. “I’m a Democrat,” I replied. “Oh, boy,” he said. “My 401K doesn’t like you! And what about Pritzker letting all these murderers out of prison?”
To be honest, I didn’t necessarily know what he was talking about at the time. And I didn’t feel like having a political discussion. So I just sort of laughed it off and moved on. But I did take a little time the next day to look some things up. Here is the scoop:
First, the 401K. Obviously, I don’t know about his specific 401K. But I went back to 2020 to do a comparison. I decided to pick a date before the election, when there was a reasonable chance that Trump might win a second term. I chose October 1, 2020. On that date, the Dow was at 30,606. It is at 31,135 as I write this. The Nasdaq was at 12,808. As of this writing, it is at 11,919. So the bigger one is up a bit (1.7%), and the smaller one is down a bit (6.3%).
Is that small change to his 401K really what this is about? If so, did he vote twice for Clinton and twice for Obama? Because the stock markets did great under them! Did he vote against a second term for George W. Bush? Because the markets sucked when he was President. What’s more, Democrats are more likely to support getting people in unions, which often have defined benefit pension plans – far better than 401Ks. I have a feeling his 401K is not the political deal breaker he says it is.
Then I moved on to “Pritzker letting murderers out of prison.” Well, that is a pretty extreme interpretation! First of all, Illinois DID recently release a murderer from prison. It is controversial. The Governor didn’t do it – the Parole Board did. You can argue whether or not that was the right thing to do. But it happened under the CURRENT rules. Nothing Pritzker has done changes that.
What did Governor Pritzker and the Legislature do? They ended cash bail. And that is a good thing! An unbelievable number of people are held in jail – not prison, but jail – simply because they cannot afford bail. A large percentage of these people are later acquitted of the crimes with which they were charged. But the damage is already done. They lost their homes and jobs. They are now MORE likely to criminally offend! And they are innocent! We criminalize poverty!
And the law does not prohibit a judge from holding a person who has been charged without bail. If the charge is serious enough, and there is a significant likelihood that the person will hurt someone and/or flee, the judge has every right to hold them. Studies by Loyola University showed similar laws in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere did not lead to any measurable effect on violent crime. A study by the JFA Institute showed bond reforms led to a decrease in people rearrested on charges of violent offenses. The study showed only 3 percent of people released had a new allegation of criminality. These changes will save Illinois counties millions of dollars, too. This is a good, common-sense change to a law that disproportionately affects the poor.
So how did these two issues become my buddy’s talking points? I did some more research, and there is a massive online effort to spread these lies. Why? Because they work. Average Joes and Janes in Illinois read it in their Facebook feeds, then believe it.
Next time I see him, I may tell my friend he was wrong. Or I may not. While I feel a certain duty to correct him, I am also wary of being a political scold. He’s a 60-year-old upper-middle class straight, white man – probably unlikely to change his opinions. And he’s not my constituent. Next home game is coming right up! I guess we’ll see how it goes.
*DID YOU KNOW? Approximately 42 pounds of apples are found in a bushel. All those apples can make about 21 pies, 3 gallons of cider, and 20 quarts of applesauce.
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 @ 7:47 PM
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