SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
December 14, 2022
Sullivan’s Salvos 12/20/22
In this edition:
*RIP Willard “Sandy” Boyd
*Support for UE COGS
*Debt Ceiling
*Human Rights and Johnson County
*Salvos Salutes Next Week!
*Did You Know?
*RIP Willard “Sandy” Boyd
The community just lost a giant with the passing of Willard “Sandy” Boyd. You would be hard pressed to ever find ANYONE who contributed as much to this place and these people.
I would go out on a limb and say Sandy was the most influential Johnson County resident of the 20th century. And I would add that we are a much better place because of that!
He was one of my heroes. My prayers to his family. RIP.
*Support for UE COGS
I recently joined a couple hundred other community members at a protest sponsored by United Electrical Workers Campaign to Organize Graduate Students (UE COGS).
As is clear from the name, UE COGS is the union that represents graduate students at the UI. It was formed in 1993, and has won some significant victories over time, including winning health care coverage for grad students.
But alas, the fight is never over. Despite the fact that grad students teach over 50% of all the classes taught at the UI, they are woefully underpaid. One of the rally’s organizers told me that he began pursuing a Master’s at the UI in 2017. At that time, his academic year pay was $19,000. As he finishes his Ph.D. six years later, his salary is $20,598. That is an increase of 8% over six years. $20,000 was not livable 6 years ago, and it is certainly not livable now!
To make things even worse, the recent raises given to UI administration are embarrassingly generous. Many got 8-12% raises on top of very high salaries. Scores of UI administrators earn over $200,000, many earning twice that. What might $400,000 spread across 200 teachers mean? If you are making $20,000, that $2000 means a lot!
I am a union guy. I grew up in a union home, I am a member of AFT 716, a delegate to the Iowa City Federation of Labor, and a lifelong believer in the benefit of unions. I have known a number of COGS members over the years. As a matter of fact, Melissa was a COGS steward way back when we met, while she was pursuing a Ph.D. in Medicinal and Natural Products Chemistry. So I have a strong inclination toward my brothers and sisters in UE COGS.
All that said, this is really pretty simple. The UI has the money to pay some enormous salaries. If they can do that, they should also pay better than poverty wages to the folks who make the place run. The gap between the highest paid person at Johnson County and the lowest paid is about 4.5 to one. At the UI, the gap between the highest paid administrators (not coaches or doctors, mind you, but administrators) is about 30 to one.
As an alumnus of the UI, I am EMBARRASSED that they are paying full time teachers $20,000 per year! What would Sandy Boyd do? Do better, UI!
*Debt Ceiling
I am tremendously frustrated by Senators Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema when it comes to the debt ceiling. They could join other Democrats right now and take the issue off the table for years, if not permanently. Instead, they are going to pass up the opportunity because it is “not bipartisan.”
Fast forward to 2023, and Republicans in the House will begin holding the country hostage. The refrain will be, “Cut Social Security and Medicare or we will shut down the government.” Nothing bipartisan there!
Nothing good can happen from this. Americans will get hurt. And Manchin and Sinema could stop it. But they refuse. I guess that is all you need to know!
*Human Rights and Johnson County
The Board recently did a proclamation recognizing December as Human Rights Month, and it got me thinking about the history of human rights efforts in our county.
The people who accepted the proclamation were 4 members of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission (ICHRC), and all people I like very much. It is appropriate that members of the ICHRC be involved, as Iowa City was at the very forefront nationwide when it comes to human rights.
The Iowa City Human Rights Commission started in 1963. Redlining was a common practice at the time, as was discrimination against people of color when it comes to rental housing. Several wonderful Iowa Citians, including Gene and Carol Spaziani, were determined to make sure that discrimination stopped.
I wish someone would do some good research on this. I’d like to know who helped to make Iowa City a fairer, more just place for people of color. It does not surprise me at all that the Spazianis were involved; I wish I knew who else to thank.
As I have been told, this group of people had been advocating for change for quite some time, but it was a high-profile case of discrimination against a high profile African American man (Phil Hubbard) with an important job at the UI that finally shamed the City Council into creating the Commission. I’d like to know more about this, too.
In the 70s, the Council became one of the first in the nation to adopt protections for lesbians and gays. Carol deProsse was on the Council then, and shared the story with me once. I hope someone will take the time to interview her and save that bit of history. It is remarkable!
Johnson County got in on the act next. I competed in the June 2004 Democratic Primary. It was a crowded field – 7 people (including two incumbents) for 3 seats. I campaigned on the idea of a human rights ordinance. It was the right thing to do. And I think it made a difference in my securing one of the three nominations. I had campaigned on the issue; now I needed to follow through.
I enlisted several people to help – first and foremost, Johnson County Recorder Kim Painter, the first openly gay elected official in Iowa history. Robin Butler and Janelle Rettig did tremendous work, securing draft ordinances from around the country and organizing the LGBTQ+ community. It would never have gotten done without their work. Influential Legislators Mary Mascher and Joe Bolkcom, among others, vocally supported the ordinance.
We had a motivated team, but we kept running into roadblocks. First, I felt the easiest option would be to simply contract with Iowa City and use their existing infrastructure. But Iowa City City Manager Steve Atkins came back with a ridiculous proposal – IC would handle the County work for $100,000 plus a per case hourly fee. (Remember, that is in 2005 dollars!) I knew there was no support for that level of spending. I resisted the urge to tell him what I really thought, and said, “That’s OK. We’ll do it ourselves.”
There were several county staff who were lobbying against the ordinance. Not because they were anti-gay, but because they felt the ordinance would take time away from more important topics. As I wrote in Salvos a bit later, “People in Johnson County can be evicted because of who they love. They can be fired because of who they love. I don’t see what could be more urgent than fixing that problem!”
The Board at the time was actually very supportive of the ordinance. Supervisors Stutsman, Lehman, and Neuzil were all steadfast despite the fact that there was pushback from the community. We heard from several pastors and lots of conservative community members that this ordinance would be a boondoggle. All three of them stood strong, and deserve your thanks.
Janet Lyness, who was then an Assistant County Attorney, wrote the ordinance. It passed unanimously, 5-0, and Johnson County became the first county in Iowa to offer human rights protections. To this day, that remains perhaps my proudest day as a County Supervisor.
There were good ripple effects, too. Then-Legislators Mary Mascher and Joe Bolkcom took the topic to Des Moines. They used Johnson County as an example, pointing out that not only did nothing bad happen, but that Johnson County continued to grow and thrive.
So, a couple years later, with Democrats holding the Governor, Senate, and House, Iowa passed statewide human rights protections! I like to think that Johnson County played a key role in helping to get that done!
Another note – way back in 2005, Johnson County chose to cover trans rights in our ordinance. The state did not do so in 2007, and we are feeling the results!
Like I said, December is Human Rights Month. We have a proud history here in Johnson County – go ahead and celebrate it!
*Salvos Salutes Next Week!
We live in a GREAT county! Why? Because of the great people that live here! Unfortunately, we rarely do enough to acknowledge these wonderful people and the wonderful things they do.
That is why I really look forward to Salvos Salutes. It provides an opportunity to mention just a few of these cool people and the good things they do. I hope you look forward to it as well!
*DID YOU KNOW? Johnson County has never had a violation of its Human Rights Ordinance, although the County Attorney’s Office has had to explain the ordinance on a few occasions where it appeared a violation could be imminent. It has been a good deterrent.
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 @ 1:32 PM
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