SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

July 30, 2024

Sullivan’s Salvos 8/1/24

In this edition:

*Happy Anniversary!

*Thank You Auditor Weipert!

*Thank You Johnson County IT!

*Thank You ICCSD!

*I Don’t Want Your App!

*August Leases

*What Can I Do?

*Wage Theft

*Did You Know?

*Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary on August 1 to my wonderful wife, Dr. Melissa Fath. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I know I got a great deal here! Melissa is the best wife and mother a person could ever hope for!

Happy Anniversary, Honey! It has been a great ride! I hope we celebrate many more!

*Thank You Auditor Weipert!

Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert announced his resignation on July 25, effective immediately. Travis was first elected in 2012, and served almost 12 years in office. I appreciate Auditor Weipert’s public service, and I wish him well in whatever comes next.

Meanwhile, Chief Deputy Auditor Chris Edwards is the acting Auditor as of now. The Board of Supervisors will make a formal appointment as soon as possible. The person who is appointed will serve until the canvass of votes, somewhere in the neighborhood of ten days after the election.

The process for replacing Travis is pretty simple, given the timing. He has asked that his name be removed from the ballot, and that has happened. Meanwhile, Libertarians, Republicans, and Democrats have just a few weeks in which to hold a convention and pick nominees. The winners at convention appear on the November ballot, and the winner can take office following the certification of the canvass of votes in mid-November.

*Thank You Johnson County IT!

At 12 am on Friday, July 19, one of the biggest Information Technology (IT) disasters in world history struck.

CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. is an American cybersecurity technology company based in Austin, Texas. It provides cloud workload protection and endpoint security, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services. On July 19, and update crashed computers around the globe.

Johnson County was affected. Not 911 services, thankfully – but almost everything else. And our IT Department came through with flying colors!

Johnson County IT Director Bill Horning called me at 3:18 am. He was calling in staff, and they were putting all hands on deck. And sure enough, by about noon, most of Johnson County was back online.

I really appreciate the sense of duty, the hard work, and the technical skills of our IT Department. Thank you all!

*Thank You ICCSD!

Speaking of technology… The Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) is seeking input as they consider new policies on the use of cell phones, technology and AI at school.

Kudos! This will not be an easy discussion, and I can tell you right now that it will make people angry whatever they do. But it is a discussion that needs to happen. Thank you, ICCSD!

*I Don’t Want Your App!

Speaking of technology yet again… I know that sometimes my Salvos sounds a lot like Andy Rooney. But here I go again!

Can I just say that I do not want your app? I don’t care what it is for. I don’t want an app for the grocery store or gas station. I don’t want an app to read documents; just send me something in a format I can already read. I don’t want an app to track my driving or sleep or spending. I don’t want an app to send messages; I already have 5. I certainly do not want an app to buy concert tickets, plane tickets, game tickets, or any other tickets. I don’t want an app for anything. And more than any other, I do not want an app to organize my god damned apps!

Now get off of my lawn! Andy Griffith is on!

*August Leases

The August leases have begun, and people are pouring into our community. There are now lots of drivers, bikers, and pedestrians who are not completely certain where they are headed.

Please allow a little more time and a little more space. The newbies will figure things out in due time!

*What Can I Do?

Most of my conversations with Democrats over the past few weeks find people sharing deep concerns. They aren’t sure what is going to happen, and they aren’t sure what to do about it. I get it; I often feel the same way.

As for the “What can I do?” question? I actually have an answer. It may be unsatisfying, but I do know the answer. The answer? Work hard.

Let’s face it – none of us has much control over Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, or anything else. And it can make a person feel very powerless. What can we do? We control what we can. And one thing we can control is how hard we work.

Knock doors. Make phone calls. Write postcards. Write a letter to the editor. March in a parade. Make food for campaign staff and volunteers. Babysit for a person who plans on doing the aforementioned things. Donate money. Do something to help the cause.

A couple more thoughts… I have played a lot of sports in my life. Started as a little kid, and didn’t stop until I was about 40. Over that span, I played on some really good teams, and I played on a few really terrible teams. What advice would I give someone on a really good team? Work hard. Do your best. Have fun. What advice would I give someone on a really bad team? Work hard. Do your best. Have fun.

One more thought… There is an old Buddhist proverb that can also apply here. A student asked the Buddha, “What do I need to do to reach enlightenment?” The Buddha answered, “Chop wood and carry water.” The student then asked the Buddha, “What does one do once you reach enlightenment?” The Buddha answered, “Chop wood and carry water.”

What does this mean? There is really only one answer to the question, “What can I do?” And it never changes. Just work hard, do your best, and try to stay positive.

*Wage Theft

Americans are quite divided as of late, but one thing most of us seem to agree upon is that people who commit the same crime ought to get a similar punishment. Seems fair, right? Unfortunately, that does not happen in Iowa when we are talking about wage theft.

Everyone can imagine a situation where an employee steals from their employer. If they get caught, they get fired, they have to pay back the money, they get charged with a crime, and they have a record. It is serious, and it gets treated seriously.

But what happens when the employer steals from the employee? What happens when they simply refuse to pay? The answer? Usually nothing. Even if they “get caught,” they are never charged with a crime. Nothing goes on their record. There are no fines. And they rarely pay up.

What happens when a boss steals from an employee and the employee calls the cops? They show up, listen patiently, and tell the employee – the victim – they have to leave or be charged with trespassing. Literally nothing happens to the thief.

That is correct – if the employee steals from the boss, our system jumps in to make it right. If the boss steals from the employee, we look the other way.

Common Good Iowa did a great job of laying all this out in their October 2022 report entitled A Heist in Plain Sight: Wage Theft in Iowa. According to Common Good Iowa, over $900 MILLION dollars is stolen from Iowa’s employees every year. Let me say that again - over $900 MILLION dollars is stolen from Iowa’s employees every year. This affects 250,000 Iowans, or about 1 in 7 Iowa workers.

This affects you even if you are not personally a victim. Wage theft in Iowa costs over $190 Million in lost revenue to federal, state, and local governments. Yet Governor Reynolds and Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are making it even harder for victims to get justice.

Already, only $2 of every $1000 gets collected. Why? The State of Iowa only employs two wage claim investigators in a state with one million workers. And those two work for a Governor who wants them to do nothing. Wage theft is so prevalent in Iowa that it is equal to ten times all other thefts combined!

As you might imagine, wage theft is most common in our lowest-paid occupations. Food service, hospitality, personal care, childcare, and some construction jobs are all big areas of theft. The theft is also more common from immigrants, people with language barriers, and people with disabilities.

Wage theft is a huge problem in Iowa. So what can you do? Several things!

First, you can support the Center for Worker Justice (CWJ), who often advocates in these cases locally. The CWJ needs money and volunteers.

Secondly, let your State Representative, State Senator, and Governor know that you expect them to do something about wage theft in Iowa! Write letters to local papers, and put things on social media.

Finally, give your time, money, and votes to people who are working to improve the system. Local officials have some ability to move the needle here. Hold them accountable!

*DID YOU KNOW? The total wage theft in the US is greater than $50 billion per year in the US.

Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-

www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov.

"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.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan29@gmail.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!

---Rod

July 23, 2024

I was sad to hear of the passing of Rick Dvorak of rural Shueyville. Rick was the Cedar County Environmentalist and Zoning Administrator for 17 years before becoming the Johnson County Planning and Zoning Administrator for 26 years. Rick retired in 2016.

In a pretty unique move, Rick ran for Supervisor (against two of his bosses!) in the 2004 Democratic primary. I was not an incumbent then, but I won that election. To his credit, Rick never held that against me. In fact, we became very friendly.

I really, really liked Rick Dvorak. He was a fun person who taught me a lot. RIP, Rick!

A tip of the hat to President Joe Biden. In 50 years, historians are going to rank the Biden Presidency among the top ten of all time. Biden got us out of the pandemic, staved off economic collapse, lowered prescription drug prices, fought for unions, and made the biggest investments in local governments since FDR.

Now, Biden has made the ultimate political sacrifice – stepping aside for his Vice President. It is truly a heroic move, putting the country ahead of himself. Thanks, Joe!

What a week! The dust is settling, and it appears that Vice President Kamala Harris is going to be the Democratic nominee for President. Me? I’m all in! Go Kamala!

It was fun hearing that people enjoyed the PATV story in last week’s Salvos. I heard from a few people who were directly involved, which was fun. I also heard from a couple folks who pointed out that PATV started their child on a career in television and film! We really are blessed with a colorful, interesting, and poignant history!

I have been out of town, and have not had time to write. So you are getting content that has been presented previously in Salvos. I hope you find it interesting!

One thing that is extremely cool in my individual circumstance is that I can track the history of the seat I hold on the Board of Supervisors. This cannot always be done exactly, because sometimes multiple Supervisors choose to retire at the same time. For example, in 2000, both Charlie Duffy and Johnathon Jordahl chose not to run for reelection. Both Pat Harney and Terrence Neuzil were elected to open seats. So you cannot really say who replaced whom.

*In 2004, I was elected to replace Carol Thompson, who chose not to seek reelection.

*In 1998, Carol Thompson was elected to replace Joe Bolkcom, who had been elected to the Iowa Senate.

*In 1992, Joe Bolkcom was elected to replace Dick Myers, who chose not to seek reelection.

*In 1982, Dick Myers was elected to replace Mike Cilek, who chose not to seek election.

*In 1982, Mike Cilek was appointed to fill the last 4 months of his mother’s term after she passed away.

*In 1972, Lorada Cilek was elected to replace Ralph Prybil, who chose not to seek reelection. (It gets a little hinky here, because the Board changed the terms of Supervisors. Cilek was not seated until ’74.)

*In 1968, Ralph Prybil was elected to replace Emil Novy, who chose not to seek reelection.

*In 1958, Emil Novy was elected to replace Robert Mahoney, who chose not to seek reelection. Mahoney was first elected in 1947.

Robert Mahoney goes WAY back – he was born near Oxford in 1876! He served as a Supervisor until almost 80, lived until age 88, and still has a lot of family in the Oxford area. A relative of his (Clayton Mahoney) served on the Board in the late ‘60s.

Emil Novy was born in 1904 and lived until 1998. He farmed near North Liberty, and later lived near Shueyville. A Google search did lead me to a story about the large walnut cross at the North Liberty Methodist Church, which he crafted. He owned land near the area where Penn Street turns into North Liberty Road. While I don’t know much about him, I’m sure he would be amazed to see that area now!

Prybil passed away in 2004. He had farmed near Lone Tree, and volunteered on many boards and commissions, including the Lone Tree School Board, Johnson County Board of Health, Johnson County Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Board of the Mental Health Center. He came into office with one heck of a resume! In a small world twist, I always buy sweet corn from his stepson, Marv Hotz!

Lorada Cilek was the first woman elected to countywide office. What an honor to sit in her seat! And interestingly, Lorada Cilek was an important person in my young life!

You see, I grew up near Sutliff. In the 1970s, the state required Johnson County to close the old one lane bridge. There was a great debate over whether to build a new structure. Without a bridge, people in my area would have to drive into Lisbon, over to Mt. Vernon, and down Highway 1 to Solon. It turned a 5-mile drive into a 17-mile drive. This was terrible for area commuters, and would have been tragic for area farmers. It only affected a few hundred county residents, but it really affected them a lot!

Cilek came to Sutliff and listened, and became the biggest supporter of building a new bridge. The modern concrete structure that now crosses the Cedar River north of the old bridge even bears her name: The Lorada Cilek Memorial Bridge.

Mike Cilek was appointed to the Board in mid-June following his mother’s death. Mike served until the results of the 1982 election were certified in mid-November. To keep the small world stuff going, Mike was the Hawkeye quarterback in the late 1960s – and I am a Hawkeye fanatic. Even closer to home, I worked with Mike’s daughter Carrie when I served as the Executive Director of The Arc. Mike also later became my realtor! He and his wife Judy are absolutely wonderful people that I respect deeply.

Dick Myers is a local legend. From running the Hawk-I Truck Stop, to serving as Mayor of Coralville, to the Board of Supervisors, to the Democratic Leader in the Iowa House of Representatives – everyone knows Dick, and most people have a Myers story. I can tell you that Dick was a great help to me when I ran for the Chair of the Johnson County Democratic Party, and has been there for me ever since. I am very lucky to have enjoyed a relationship with this incredible leader.

Joe Bolkcom: In a way, I feel like I have been following Joe around his whole career. I remember back in 1989, when our mutual friend Dave Leshtz told me I needed to get involved in local politics. He suggested that I start with supporting a candidate for Iowa City Council named Joe Bolkcom. I was impressed by Joe, and pitched in on the campaign. Luckily, Joe lost that race. Luckily, because two and a half years later he was elected to the Board of Supervisors!

Joe Bolkcom was almost certainly the most transformative Supervisor in the modern history of the Board. Before Joe, technology and transparency were afterthoughts. Joe took environmental concerns to the next level. Joe supported people with disabilities living in the community. Before Joe, the Board was generally run by a very conservative group of Democrats. Joe led the way for a different type of Democrat to serve. Joe also recognized that Johnson County had become urban, and many urban residents were going unserved.

Joe has been a fantastic State Senator for a long time now, and over the years we have become good friends. I cannot express how honored I am to sit in Joe’s seat!

Carol Thompson had a long career in human services prior to being elected to the Board. She came to Iowa City from Chicago in the 60s, and ran the local Iowa Department of Human Services Office for many years. As a young social worker, I worked at an agency that contracted with DHS. Carol often referred families and individuals to our agency, and often helped me to understand the people I was serving. From there Carol went to the local Juvenile Court Office, before replacing Bolkcom in a Special Election.

In addition to helping me as a young professional, Carol showed me that my background was a good one for a County Supervisor. A lot of time was (and is) spent on human services related matters. When Carol decided not to seek reelection, I figured I had a shot.

I am so privileged to be in this group of people. They are an amazing group of Supervisors, and it is an honor to appear in a list with them. And it was fun researching the history!

*Janet Shipton (D), 1979-1980 (Elected to 2 year term. Did not seek re-election.)

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.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan29@gmail.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!

July 16, 2024

Jack Ryan of Cedar Rapids died recently at 71. Jack spent over 30 years with Laborer’s Local 43 in Cedar Rapids, including 18 years as Secretary of the local.

Jack worked side by side with my Dad for over two decades. Very few people have a friend and coworker as loyal and supportive as Jack Ryan. He loved and supported my Dad and our family, and I loved him back.

I do not need to tell you how broken the American system of government is. Things are not working. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor recently summed up my feelings when she said, “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”

Then, on July 13, 2024, a gunman shot at former President Trump. This type of political violence is never acceptable. This type of gun violence is never acceptable. We simply must do better as Americans.

I am going to do everything I can do to defeat Donald Trump in November. Everything legal, that is. And that is the key. The only way we survive as a country is with a basic agreement to follow the rule of law.

While the vast majority of my fellow Democrats were horrified by the assassination attempt, a few joked about it. Nothing that happened Saturday was funny. If you found yourself joking about it, I think you should be ashamed of yourself. Please do better.

Meanwhile, we need to somehow, someway, find a way to move forward. Agreeing that political violence has no place in America would be a good start.

The 53rd annual Solon Beef Days runs Friday and Saturday July 19 & 20 in Solon. Steaks, rides, entertainment, a parade, and the now-legendary hay bale toss are just a few of the items on tap.

I say this every year, and it is because it comes from a place of pride: I can honestly say that I have been to roughly 47 of the 53 Beef Days. I wear it like a badge of honor! Make this the year to start your own streak!

For all the details, including a full schedule of events, see: http://beefdays.com/

The Johnson County Fair runs from Saturday, July 20 through Wednesday, July 24. This is a great opportunity for the whole family to take a step back toward our agricultural roots!

I enjoy the fair. Yes, it is typically hot out there. But that is why they sell ice cream! So, please stop out and enjoy the Fair. You’ll be glad you did!

For the full daily lineup of events, see: http://www.johnsoncofair.com/entertainment.html

I was chatting with my friend Gary Sanders the other day, and we started laughing about the incident with the macrame owl on PATV. As we were laughing, I realized that this had happened in 1995. 30 years ago! Very few people in Johnson County today were here then and remember the incident. So kids, sit back and listen to the story of the macrame owl!

First, allow me to explain PATV. It stands for “Public Access Television,” and was created as part of the deal between Iowa City and the predecessor of Mediacom. That deal brought cable to Iowa City in 1979.

The original cable lineup had a few levels. “Basic cable” – which was necessary to get reception in pretty much every apartment building - was under $10/month and featured ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Fox (which was brand new), the new “superstation” TNT from maverick billionaire Ted Turner, WGN (which carried the Cubs), and the PATV channels. “Expanded basic” cost a bit more and got you MTV, ESPN, CNN, and the like. On top of that, a customer could pay for additional movie channels like HBO.

Remember – this is the early 80s! There was no internet, no cell phones, no social media, and home video games were in their infancy. Television was *THE* thing, and television options had just increased dramatically. People had their tvs on, and they were flipping through the channels. A lot of them landed on the Public Access channels.

What was (is) local public access? Have you ever seen Wayne’s World? Two guys in a basement on Aurora, Illinois public access? Well, we had the same thing here. My late friend Bob Welsh was the Chair of the first Telecommunications Committee in Iowa City, and they fought hard for as many local public access channels as they could get.

The Iowa City Telecommunications Committee led by Welsh argued for and got several local access channels. Iowa City cable subscribers had City Channel 4, the Library Channel, the Kirkwood Channel, and PATV. I may even be forgetting one or two. These channels carried the meetings of local government bodies, the Friday Night Concert Series, readings at Prairie Lights, special events, and the like. Except PATV. It was experimental.

The most prolific PATV “star” was a fellow named Ken Wessels. I never quite figured out the point of anything Mr. Wessels was trying to do. It was a strange, bumbling effort that almost accidentally came off as Avant Garde. Several of my friends played drinking games with the episodes! But I can tell you this much – people watched! More people knew Ken Wessels than knew who their City Councilors were!

My friend Gary Sanders hosted a couple of political talk shows, a game show, and numerous political forums. A surprisingly large number of people watched. A woman I knew named Ava Su Ganwei had a show that could have been described as Bob Ross without the painting. My friend Andy Small did all sorts of rude and obnoxious shows, looking to get a rise out of folks. Tom Nothnagle had a music show where he played his guitar. My late friends Terry Cunningham and Keith Ruff did a disability show called Access Iowa City. It was all delightfully weird, and all delightfully Iowa City.

But the PATV thing that caused the biggest stir was called “Exile on Stupo Street.” This show was created by a fellow named Ralph Barton, a 24-year-old theatre student at the University of Iowa. It consisted of a soundtrack of birds and rodents squawking. Onscreen, there appeared a Playboy centerfold with certain parts pixilated. And then there was a macrame owl on a popsicle stick. That’s it. That was the show.

Iowa City Mayor Susan Horowitz was not happy. She wanted it pulled. A City Councilor named Mike O’Donnell wanted PATV shut down. He had a large group of angry residents behind him, too. Barton claimed freedom of speech. Next thing you know, Johnson County Attorney J. Patrick White was being asked to decide if “Exile on Stupo Street” was protected by the First Amendment, or if it met the definition of “obscenity.” We had our own “R. Mutt” situation right here in River City! This was big news – as I recall, it became a national story.

PATV was in crisis mode, fearing for its existence. Doug Allaire, who had been my instructor at the UI, was Chair of PATV at that time. Doug did a great job navigating the stormy seas.

After much deliberation, White declined to press charges against both PATV and Barton. White wrote, ”The photograph is not appreciably different than many which are widely available in other formats.”

It is truly amazing how many of these folks have since passed. Welsh, Allaire, Horowitz, Ganwei, Wessels, Small, Cunningham, and Ruff are all no longer with us. I don’t know what ever happened to Ralph Barton.

J. Patrick White served another decade as County Attorney. He also reads Salvos and will probably let me know if I got any of this wrong!

I also know what happened to City Councilor Mike O’Donnell; I beat him by a mere 127 votes to secure the third and final Democratic nomination for Supervisor in the June 2004 primary election. Ironically, my victory was in part due to a disastrous performance from O’Donnell on one of Sanders’ PATV forums!

*DID YOU KNOW? The gasoline-powered tractor was invented by John Froelich in 1892 in the Iowa village of Clayton.

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.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan29@gmail.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!

July 9, 2024

General Mills just paid a $300 million dividend to investors. Then they bought back $150 million worth of stock, enriching top management and their largest investors. They pay their CEO $16 million per year. General Mills earned $2.1 BILLION in profits last year.

Now they are raising the price of cereal 20%, blaming “inflation.” It’s bullshit! Joe Biden has nothing to do with this – greedy corporations do!

John Deere recently announced that they are cutting 610 jobs at 3 Iowa locations and moving production to Mexico. In 2023, Iowa gave it’s largest-ever Research Activities Credit to John Deere - $14.5 million. That is a flat out subsidy from the State of Iowa.

So, Kim Reynolds – are we going to ask for that money back? That is not hypothetical – we deserve our money back!

I was extremely angry over a recent decision of our Mental Health Regional Governing Board.

Last Saturday I went to an open house at Healing Prairie Farm just southeast of Iowa City. It is a beautiful setting, and I am excited about all the good things that can happen there. Healing Prairie Farm will be a basic youth shelter, and also provide child crisis observation services.

First, some background… for decades, Iowa City was home to a youth shelter. It was run first by Youth Homes, and after a merger, by Four Oaks. Youth shelters are an important piece of the continuum of care. There is currently some very limited counseling for kids who need it. There is juvenile court for kids who get in trouble with the law, and juvenile detention for kids who get in very serious trouble with the law.

But what about the children who really need to get away from home, but have not committed a crime? There are scores of kids in Johnson County who just need a place to go for a little while. The youth shelter used to fill this need. Unfortunately, Four Oaks was no longer able to make the youth shelter work financially, and it closed in July.

There is also a void when it comes to children’s mental health services. Ask any parent who has had to deal with a child’s brain health issues – there is very little out there. The State of Iowa has been talking about children’s mental health for over 30 years, but has never really done anything. Recently, the East Central Mental Health Region (ECR) (of which Johnson County is a part) made some money available for children’s mental health. As a member of the ECR Board, I was extremely proud to make this funding available.

So kids with shelter and/or mental health needs in Johnson County were going to be even more desperate. CommUnity Crisis Services and United Action for Youth decided to step into this void. They decided to open a facility to serve both general shelter and crisis observation mental health needs for local youth. And as luck would have it, they were able to purchase the former Kinderfarm property just southeast of Iowa City. Kinderfarm was a longtime area daycare that featured a pond and a bunch of farm animals. The animals even came with the property as part of the deal!

They got $1 million from the ECR for the purchase, which was great. But refurbishing the old house, adding sprinklers, etc. was more than anticipated. If they wanted to get it done, they would need another million. The ECR said no, it was not in the budget. So Johnson County stepped forward with the $1 million, and asked the ECR to consider paying us back if there is money left at the end of the year.

I hope Johnson County gets the $1 million back. But even if we do not, Healing Prairie Farm is going to be worth the investment. This is badly needed. Now the plans are to begin taking referrals in March! Thanks to CommUnity and UAY for their vision and leadership!

Again, I wrote that in February. Fast forward to now. The renovations did not cost quite as much as CommUnity and UAY expected. Rather than spending $1 million to finish the project, they spent $707,000. Great!

A couple of months ago, the RGB, seeing that there would in fact be unspent fund balance, repaid Johnson County $500,000 of that $707,000. Again, great!

I have been asking the Director of our MH Region to put the topic of a complete repayment on the June RGB agenda for months now. June is the end of the fiscal year, and is the last opportunity to make that commitment. She did put it on the agenda, but the language was vague. This led a couple of Board Members to ask if they could even take action, and she never answered them! I think this was an abdication duty. The question was asked, and it deserved to be answered. And it should have been answered with a clear “yes”!

Basically, the item died for a lack of a vote. There was no vote taken. There was zero support. This, despite the fact that the RGB had *JUST* been told that they were going to end the year with $1 million unspent.

And it will be more than $1 million. In the *ENTIRE HISTORY* of the Region, it has NEVER ended the year with less money than projected. Never! Not one time! And it will end up greater than $1 million once the books are closed on FY24 – mark my words!

What’s more, even if the fund balance projections were off by 50% the “wrong” direction, the RGB would still have plenty of money to repay Johnson County. 50%!

On top of that, there is no penalty for overspending your budget. None. The State simply says, “Don’t do it again.” I want to emphasize – they are *NOT* going to overspend, even with this $207,000. They will *NOT* go over. I just add this to reinforce how bad the decisions is.

One final thing that chaps my ass: one of the Supervisors from another county who sits on the Board said, “We already have a lot invested in this; what are they contributing?” You mean CommUnity? You mean the nonprofit that feeds the hungry? You mean UAY? You mean the nonprofit that helps needy children? Where in God’s name are they getting something to “contribute”?

This drives me crazy! This isn’t everyone pitching in to split a damn pizza! CommUnity and UAY are doing ALL the work! How are they supposed to pay for it? Seriously? Where are they supposed to get their “contribution”?

I guess he thinks it is fine for needy children to sit on wait lists while nonprofits do bake sales and raffles. Frankly, I think that is bullshit! They are providing a service to the public. The public (government) should pay for it. It is the responsibility of the Region to pay what is necessary to make these services available. It was not and is not Johnson County’s job. Johnson County stepped up when asked. The Mental Health Region whiffed when given the same opportunity.

Why does the MH Region exist? To pay for mental health services. So provide them! Don’t force nonprofits to rely on bake sales and raffles to serve folks with mental illness. Pay what it takes!

I am hugely disappointed in the MH Region. They are going to send these $207,000 in tax dollars back to the State of Iowa, where they will be used for tax cuts for the wealthy. Johnson County would have spent the $207,000 helping needy people.

*DID YOU KNOW? Johnson County may be moved to a different mental health catchment area starting in July of 2025. We are supposed to find out in just over two weeks.

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.

These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.

If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan29@gmail.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.

As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan29@gmail.com. I look forward to serving you!

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