SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
August 23, 2023
Sullivan’s Salvos 8/29/23
In this edition:
*RIP Doug Frederick
*Zuri Starts First Grade!
*Lone Tree Fall Festival
*Special Versus Regular Elections
*Dignity of Work and Scheduling
*A Few Minimum Wage Stats
*Did You Know?
*RIP Doug Frederick
Former Johnson County Engineer Doug Frederick passed away last week at his home in Joetown.
In addition to serving as the County Engineer, Doug cofounded Hart Frederick Consultants, who are a regular presence at meetings of the Board of Supervisors. Hart Frederick staff help citizens navigate the many processes that exist in planning and zoning law, and they do a great job.
RIP, Doug.
*Zuri Starts First Grade!
My granddaughter Zuri starts First Grade at Horace Mann this year, and our whole household is excited!
I love the improvements that were made at Mann! It is interesting; I was on the Facilities Master Plan (FMP) Committee that decided what the ICCSD would ask voters to approve in the huge 2017 bond issue. (I served on the bond campaign as well.) Mitch Gross (then a West High teacher, now the West High Principal) and I led the charge to ensure that as few schools as possible got closed, and that every school got improvements. The consultants would have closed Mann, Lincoln, Longfellow, Hills, and Coralville Central. We argued to not only keep those schools, but to invest heavily in them. Thankfully, our side won the day!
It is a bit ironic, because I never imagined that 6 years later, my granddaughter would be attending one of the schools we saved! But I am really glad she is!
Good luck, Zuri! Go get ‘em!
*Lone Tree Fall Festival
The Lone Tree Fall Festival is August 25 & 26 in Lone Tree. This event is a great opportunity to share some good times with the fine folks of Johnson County’s “panhandle”!
*Special Versus Regular Elections
The deadline is coming up soon for candidates who wish to run for City Council or School Board seats. I have been surprised (and frankly, disappointed) that these races have not drawn more interest. There are very few candidates in some of these races; many communities are lucky just to fill every seat.
Hey, I get it. These are often thankless positions that do not even pay! Add in all the right-wing BS that they have to deal with, and I can see why people are not exactly rushing to sign up.
There is one thing, however, that I do not understand. Why do we get so few candidates standing for election during regular elections, but so many deciding to run in special elections? Just look at the 2021 election results in Johnson County:
Iowa City: 3 candidates for 2 seats.
Coralville: 4 candidates for 3 seats.
North Liberty: 2 candidates for 2 seats.
Hills: 3 candidates for 2 seats.
Lone Tree: 2 candidates for 3 seats.
Oxford: No candidates for Mayor.
Now compare that to some recent special election history in Johnson County:
2020 Coralville (Hai Huynh elected) 4 candidates for 1 seat.
2019 North Liberty (Raquishia Harrington elected) 6 candidates for 1 seat.
2018 Iowa City (Bruce Teague elected) 5 candidates for 1 seat.
2017 North Liberty (Sarah Madsen elected) 7 candidates for 1 seat.
2016 ICCSD (Paul Roesler elected) 3 for 1 seat.
Most of these candidates did not simply fill the unexpired term, but ran for reelection. So why do candidates decide to run in special elections but not regular elections?
I have a couple theories:
1. A special election is always for an unexpired term. Perhaps people like the idea of a shorter term; a trial run, if you will. As I mentioned earlier, most of the people who fill unexpired terms seem to later run for a full term.
2. Special elections require someone to step down from elected office. That is newsworthy. So the media covers the resignation and vacancy much more thoroughly. Potential candidates for office probably don’t realize the regular election is happening until it is too late.
Meanwhile, the filing period for cities with primary provisions (Iowa City and University Heights) is August 14 - August 31, 5 PM.
The filing period for all other cities, school boards, and community college boards is August 28 - September 21, 5 PM.
If you look at the list of candidates and don’t like what you see, recruit someone! Or run yourself! The public needs good people to run for these positions.
*Dignity of Work and Scheduling
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the idea of “Dignity of Work.” I’d like to spend some time today on a topic that is often not mentioned when we discuss Dignity of Work, but remains a huge issue: scheduling.
Let’s begin with the basics: By most measures, a person who works 30+ hours per week (or 130 hours per month) is considered full time. Many employers in low-wage industries (think fast food) will not schedule employees for more than 29 hours per week. Why? This means they can avoid paying for benefits that often accrue to full-time employees.
What are some of these benefits? Health insurance, vacation, sick leave, and retirement are often cited as benefits that these low wage employers choose not to cover. Needless to say, that leaves these employees in a very vulnerable position. If you have to stay home ill, or stay home with a sick child, you are not paid.
You see a LOT of Americans working 25 hours per week at one low-wage job, and 25 hours at another. Their neighbors who work 40+ hours per week at the same job would receive 10 hours of overtime that week. This is a HUGE difference! Just look at the math. Say a worker earns $12/hour. 40 hours per week at $12 is $480. Overtime must be paid at time and a half. So 10 of those hours at $18/hour. That is an additional $60/week. Plus no additional travel time, no extra uniforms, etc.
There are other ways in which unpredictable scheduling is tough for workers. One common problem is the idea of people being “sent home” because of a lack of work. You see this frequently in service industries; wait staff, bartenders, etc. A given night is not as busy as the manager had hoped, so he sends staff home. These staff people were counting on those hours.
In addition to simply not being paid as much as you were expecting, look at all the additional problems this can cause. The worker may be paying for childcare that they no longer need and can no longer afford. They couldn’t work a different job, because they were scheduled to be at this one. The worker may have a ride scheduled for when the shift was supposed to end. Because of these types of problems, studies show that irregular work is very hard on families.
There are very few protections for workers when it comes to irregular hours. Some cities (such as San Francisco) have adopted ordinances, but Iowa law prohibits local governments from making that type of move.
Scheduling matters! Remember that as you talk to Legislators at the State and Federal levels!
*A Few Minimum Wage Myths
Our friends at Common Good Iowa recently put out some very telling stats on those among us who earn the minimum wage. So let’s take a moment and debunk some myths!
Myth: Nobody earns minimum wage except teenagers.
Fact: 56% of minimum wage workers are over age 25.
Myth: Nobody earns minimum wage who works full time.
Fact: 48% of minimum wage workers work full time.
Myth: These are not people responsible for a family.
Fact: 62% of minimum wage workers are women.
Myth: These are not people responsible for a family. (Again)
Fact: 23% of minimum wage workers have children.
The minimum wage in Iowa remains an abysmal $7.25, and has not been raised in almost 20 years. Meanwhile, the minimum wage is higher in 5 of Iowa’s 6 border states. It is time for a raise, Iowa!
*DID YOU KNOW? In the past 8 years, Johnson County has had 12 special elections to fill vacancies in elected offices.
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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As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 2:06 PM
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