SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
October 8, 2024
Sullivan’s Salvos 10/10/24
In this edition:
*RIP Joe Coulter
*Burn Ban
*Iowa City Book Festival
*Support Teamsters 238!
*Harvest Heads Up
*Johnson County Satellite Voting Locations
*Trust
*National Issues
*Did You Know?
*RIP Joe Coulter
I was sad to hear of the passing of Joe Coulter of Iowa City. Joe was a professor and Chair of the UI Anatomy Department, and also in Public Health, but I primarily knew him through his wife Virginia, who worked for Congressman Loebsack, and his daughter Danielle, who was a local journalist. All wonderful folks. Joe served as a member of the Iowa City Human Rights Commission for many years. Joe was a member of the Potawatomi Nation, and established multiple programs to increase access to higher education among Native Americans. RIP, Joe.
*Burn Ban
From Friday, October 4: All fire chiefs in Johnson County unanimously voted to enact a burn ban effective today at 5:00 pm. This was supported by EMA and the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. With no rain expected in the next nine days, along with above normal temperatures and normal Iowa winds, they all felt this was a prudent and safe direction. Area fire departments have been experiencing increasing field fires and grass fires over the past few weeks due to these conditions as well as an early harvest.
*Iowa City Book Festival
Mark your calendars for the Iowa City Book Festival, October 14-20. We are proud to offer a week of excellent, one-of-a-kind, free, literary programming as part of the 2024 Festival.
Visit iowacitybookfestival.org for the full schedule.
*Support Teamsters 238
I hope you will join me in supporting Teamsters Local 238 in their strike against Cargill in Cedar Rapids. These Teamsters are our friends and neighbors. Cargill, meanwhile, in terms of profits, is the largest privately held company in the United States!
You heard that correctly – in terms of profits, Cargill is the largest privately held company in the US! So guess what? It is time to share some of those profits with the people who do the work!
You hear people complain about the price of groceries – it is not the government who controls that. It is greedy companies like Cargill who are price gouging the American people! It is time they shared some of these profits with the workers!
*Harvest Heads Up
Harvest is upon us, and farmers are in the fields. Please be aware as you are driving or biking – farm implements are very large and slow moving. Please take your time and be careful – there are avoidable accidents every year. Take a little extra time and enjoy the scenery – Iowa is beautiful this time of year!
*Johnson County Satellite Voting Locations
Early voting will be offered at the Johnson County Administration Building, located at 913 S Dubuque St., Iowa City, and drive-thru voting in the Health and Human Services Building parking ramp, located at 855 S Dubuque St., Iowa City.
Early voting also will be offered at select satellite voting locations. All Johnson County voters are eligible to vote at any early voting site.
Satellite voting locations and times:
- Coralville Public Library, 1401 Fifth St., Coralville: Saturday, Oct. 19, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 20, noon-4 p.m.
- Iowa Memorial Union, 125 N. Madison St., Iowa City: Monday, Oct. 21-Wednesday, Oct. 23, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
- University of Iowa Health Care (UIHC) Medical Center, 200 Hawkins Dr., Iowa City: Monday, Oct. 21-Wednesday, Oct. 23, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- UIHC — Iowa River Landing, East Lobby, 920 E. Second Ave., Coralville: Thursday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- UIHC — Health Care Support Services Building, 3281 Ridgeway Dr., Coralville: Friday, Oct. 25, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St., Iowa City: Saturday, Oct. 26, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 27, 12-5 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 28-30, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
- North Liberty Library, 520 W. Cherry St., North Liberty: Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
*Trust
I was at a community event a while ago, and I was approached by a woman I have known for quite a while. She came up to me and said, “You have served us very well for a long time. If you decide to vote a certain way on a given issue, I have complete faith that you are doing what’s best for our county.”
I almost cried. That might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. And as I thought about it, I realized that what she was describing was trust. Over the years, I have earned her trust.
That is my goal. I hope that each of you reaches a point where you trust me. It really is not a matter of whether or not we agree on everything – we will not. But do you trust me to do what I feel is best? That is what I hope to achieve.
*National Issues
A few months ago, a small local group approached Johnson County about doing a resolution in support of the Palestinian people, while condemning the actions of the Israeli government. We changed the language a bit to condemn violence on both sides, and we voted to do so unanimously.
But later, I heard from a group member who was dissatisfied with our efforts. He felt we should have pledged a boycott of all companies that do business with Israel. When he told me this, I simply responded that doing so would require a lot of time and money, and it felt as though we had spent enough time on the matter. He was quite displeased with me, and said that when he “ran for City Council” human rights would be at the forefront of his platform.
Where to start? First, we are not the City Council. Second, as I stated, we do not disagree with him. We made a public statement to that effect. Third, as I told him, we simply do not have unlimited time and money to spend on the topic.
I actually thought we did pretty well in this instance. It is not unusual for local folks to turn to local elected officials for help. I think it is great when our constituents do this. They just need to understand what limitations we have when it comes to state and federal policy.
The Boards upon which I have served have been bold, and willing to step in when the opportunity presented itself. Some examples include increasing the minimum wage, passing the Conservation Bond, passing a Human Rights Ordinance, passing a Sensitive Areas Ordinance, passing a Stormwater Ordinance, passing the Community ID, and changing the County eponym to Lulu Merle Johnson, just to name a few. But sometimes, we are asked to take on national issues in ways we simply cannot.
Immigration, reproductive rights, inflation, health care, gun laws, war in the Middle East… all are INCREDIBLY important issues! They are also issues where Johnson County has very little ability to move the needle. That does not mean we do not care. We just need to be realistic as to what we can actually do. Sometimes, the best you can do is to make a statement.
I’ve been around local politics a long time. I have seen numerous instances where Boards/Councils have simply refused to discuss certain federal/state issues, noting that it is not part of their purview. I have seen numerous instances where Boards/Councils did discuss certain federal/state issues, and ended up overpromising and under-delivering. I have always tried to take a different route.
If enough constituents really want to discuss a given federal/state topic, I say give them some opportunity to do so. It doesn’t hurt anything. And if there is an action you can actually take that is within your power and within your budget? By all means, consider it. But you also need to be honest with constituents as to what your legislative, time, and budgetary limitations actually are.
It will not kill you to discuss a national issue. But time is money. It is your job as an elected official to strike the appropriate balance and to explain your decision to the public.
*DID YOU KNOW? Iowa City applied in 2007, and in 2008, was named a UNESCO City of Literature, part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Iowa City became a part of what is known as the Creative Cities Network. I was on the Board of the original UNESCO City of Literature from about 2007-2012.
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 @ 3:30 PM
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