SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
December 7, 2022
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/13/22
In this edition:
*Happy Hanukkah!
*Severson Challenge
*Railroad Strike
*Iowa Caucuses
*Items in Salvos
*Did You Know?
*Happy Hanukkah!
Happy Hanukkah to those of you who celebrate it! Chag urim sameach!
*Severson Challenge
Linda Severson of Iowa City passed away back in 2011. From her obituary: “She was a 1973 graduate of the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. Linda was the Human Services coordinator for the Metropolitan Planning Organization with the City of Iowa City, previously employed by Johnson County Social Services and Systems Unlimited. Linda served on the numerous boards and committees including the ARC and the Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She was always organizing clothing drives, food drives and other community events. Linda was a tireless advocate for people in need.”
Linda and I began working together in the late 1980s when she was a social worker at Johnson County. I got to know her pretty well, and we were friends until she passed in 2011.
Upon Linda’s death, the folks at MPO started the Severson Challenge. This pitted employees of University Heights, Tiffin, North Liberty, Coralville, Iowa City, and Johnson County against each other in a fundraising competition, with all the proceeds going to local charities. In its 11 years, the Severson Challenge has raised nearly $90,000 in donations for local charities. It has been fun and helped people in need. Linda would approve!
Unfortunately, as time has passed, interest has waned. Less and less people involved in local government actually knew Linda. Donations have fallen off. So the MPO has decided to do one final round of the Severson Challenge. This time, the challenge is to raise $9,000 to be split between the three food pantries that serve residents of Johnson County.
In addition, we will use a maximum of $500 to fund a more permanent tribute to Linda – a park bench or something similar. Then the annual fundraiser will end.
So, Salvos readers… I need your help! Salvos readers skew a bit older. It is likely that many of you knew Linda. Would you be willing to make a one-time donation in her memory? Any amount would be great.
Either get it to me at 514 N. Linn Street in Iowa City, or let me know if I can come pick it up. Or drop it by any of the City Halls of the cities mentioned earlier. Let them know it is for the Severson Challenge. In addition, Iowa City is managing the Go Fund Me and at the end of the Challenge our accounting office will cut equal checks to each food pantry.
Here is the link to the fundraising page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/2022-severson-charity-challenge. Please let me know if you have any questions.
We will be honoring a wonderful person, who dedicated her life to helping the less fortunate, gone too soon. Thanks!
*Railroad Strike
I wish Congress and the President had not intervened in the rail workers’ contract dispute. I get it; a national railroad strike right now would do great harm to the economy. There is a simple answer to that – hold the bastards who run the railroads accountable!
If the votes were not there in Congress to add seven or more sick days, then leave the issue alone. Get out on the picket line and support the strikers. Use whatever soapbox you have to explain how a bunch of millionaires were willing to crash the economy because they refused to give their employees sick days. (I’m willing to bet those millionaires have sick days!)
Seriously, the railroad owners and executives can go straight to Hell. I stand with the workers. I wish more Democrats did the same!
*Iowa Caucuses
The Iowa Caucuses always have been a terrible way to vote. Exclusive, exclusionary, difficult in almost every way – I say good riddance!
And I am the type of person who benefits most from the old caucus system! I have had personal, meaningful conversations with Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and dozens of others. I have great memories of all the caucuses, dating back to the very first one! It has been an amazing opportunity for me. I have written about it at length; I’ll repeat some of those posts soon.
But it is not about me getting selfies. What has being “first” done for the majority of Iowans? I would argue it has hurt them. The so-called economic impact is almost nil; most tv stations, radio stations, newspapers, even hotels – are owned by out-of-state corporations. Almost none of the millions that are spent flow through the Iowa economy.
Meanwhile, Democrats have spent so much time worrying about “first in the nation” that they have failed to step up and fight the real fights we have on our hands. Want an example? We raised the minimum wage in Johnson County in 2015, until the Republicans took away our local control in 2017. We never once heard from the Chair of the Iowa Democratic Party during that time. Neither did any of the 50,000 low wage workers who got a raise. She must have been too worried about “first.” Or too worried about what wealthy people thought. Or both. Whatever the case, she clearly didn’t help anybody here.
So, I say good riddance. Let’s fully commit to the principle of making it easy to vote. It is way overdue.
There is a sticking point, however. Republicans control the Iowa Senate, Iowa House, and Iowa Governorship. They want Iowa to go first. And they are not about to change Iowa law to accommodate Democrats.
Honestly, I don’t know how we reconcile this. But for God’s sake, please stop fighting for the Caucuses! It is akin to longing for the “good old days” before women’s suffrage and the Voting Rights Act. Caucuses are undemocratic, period. Let’s truly commit to universal suffrage, and abandon the caucuses once and for all.
Perhaps we run the Iowa Caucus 100% by mail. Perhaps we simply refuse to participate. Perhaps we sue the GOP under what is left of the Voting Rights Act. Whatever the case, it needs to change!
*Items in Salvos
I get occasional requests to run things in Salvos. I never realized how controversial this could get, but it seems to have caused some friction between some of my friends and I! So please allow me to explain my thoughts.
I have never created “rules” in terms of what I will/will not include. I just don’t want to get that formal, frankly. Getting this out weekly can be a bit of a chore, and I just don’t want to make it any more difficult. I don’t have any staff. No intern. Nothing. This is just me, which can get a bit daunting.
I date each edition of Salvos as a Tuesday, even though you will likely get it somewhere between Wednesday night and Friday morning. The idea of how to date each edition is stolen from the publishing industry; they want you to be able to buy magazines over a period of time knowing they will remain relevant. So Salvos is written in such a way that if you do not read it until Tuesday morning, it should still be relevant.
That affects what I will run and when. If you send me an item on Thursday the 13th for Saturday the 15th, I am extremely unlikely to run it. Because I know several folks will not see it until after the 15th. And I want each edition to be relevant.
So get me your information ASAP. Give me some time to work it in. And please do not be offended if I decided not to run your item. I am doing my best to put out a product that 500+ people will find interesting and informative each week. It is not easy!
*DID YOU KNOW? In 1993, Jeff Hoffman brought a small menorah and spun a dreidel while on a mission to restore the Hubble Space Telescope. His mini Hanukkah celebration was broadcast over satellite for people back on Earth to see.
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 @ 4:36 PM
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