SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
October 1, 2024
Sullivan’s Salvos 10/3/24
In this edition:
*JC Dems BBQ
*Domestic Violence Awareness Month
*Lone Tree Fire Fundraiser
*Happy 100th Jimmy Carter!
*Ambulance Stats
*Conservation Bond
*RIP Pete Rose
*Did You Know?
*JC Dems BBQ
The Johnson County Democratic Party Fall BBQ is Sunday, October 6, from 4:00pm - 7:00pm at the Johnson County Fairgrounds. Please join us for fun and inspiration! Tickets are $35 single, $65 for a couple, and $85 for a family, but no one is ever denied admission because of an inability to pay.
*Domestic Violence Awareness Month
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and I want to take this opportunity to share some statistics with you.
The Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP) has been serving Johnson County since 1979. Services include emergency shelter, 24-hour crisis line, support and advocacy services, youth services, and community education.
The State of Iowa mandated some consolidations a few years ago, and DVIP now serves 8 counties for most services, and 13 counties with their 24-hour crisis line. Johnson County sources make up about 25% of DVIP’s funding, but 60% of their clients come from Johnson County. They serve about 350 individuals in the shelter each year; 80% of them are Johnson County residents. Another 60 or so people annually are served through contracts with hotels. The average shelter stay is about 45 days.
There are many events scheduled for October; to see the whole list and/or to learn more about the Domestic Violence Intervention Project (DVIP), visit dvipiowa.org.
*Lone Tree Fire Fundraiser
The Lone Tree Fire and Rescue is holding a broasted chicken dinner fundraiser Wednesday, October 9 from 5-7 pm at the Lone Tree American Legion.
A two-piece meal is $14, a three-piece meal is $15, and all funds go toward supporting the Lone Tree Volunteer Fire Department.
*Happy 100th Jimmy Carter!
Happy Birthday to former President Jimmy Carter, who turned 100 on Tuesday. I must admit, I was not a huge fan of Carter’s politics. I wish he had been more labor friendly and less enamored of fiscal austerity. He should have never appointed Paul Volcker as the Fed Chair. And with a Democratic trifecta in place, he blew up Ted Kennedy’s Universal Healthcare proposal. On the other hand, he achieved peace in the Middle East, pushed through the SALT 2 Treaty, and made energy conservation a thing.
More importantly, Jimmy Carter is perhaps the most decent human being ever to hold the Office of the Presidency. Even if you did not care for his policy choices, you cannot argue with his intelligence, honesty, integrity, kindness, and compassion. It would be great to see more of that in the White House. And Carter must have had the best post-Presidency of the past 90 years or so, serving as an inspiration to many with all his good works.
Happy 100th birthday, Mr. President!
*Ambulance Stats
We recently got an annual report from Johnson County Ambulance Director Fiona Johnson. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing Fiona is, nor how amazing the Ambulance service is. We are unbelievably lucky to live where we do.
I grabbed a few statistics from her report that I thought were interesting – I hope you feel the same way!
*Johnson County has 6 fully staffed ambulances on call 16 hours per day, 7 days per week. The other 8 hours of each day there are 5 fully staffed ambulances on call.
*Johnson County Ambulance saw a 6% increase in calls in FY23. The call volume is up 25% since FY20, and up 70% since FY14!
*Johnson County Ambulance took 15,539 calls in FY23. The busiest day is Saturday, followed closely by Sunday. The busiest month is October, and the busiest time of day is 4 pm.
*The average response time is 7 minutes in the urban areas, 16 minutes in the rural. Both are much better than national standards and averages.
Again, we are *SO* blessed to have the Ambulance service we do here in Johnson County!
*Conservation Bond
One of my proudest moments as a County Supervisor came on November 4, 2008. On that date, almost 40,000 Johnson County residents voted to approve the $20 million Conservation Bond to protect water, air, and soil quality, to protect animal habitat, and to purchase land for parks and trails.
This was the first such effort in the State of Iowa, and looking back over the past 16 years, it was even more successful than we could have hoped! The 2008 bond has been utilized, successfully, for 16 different projects. It has leveraged an additional $17 million in grants, donations and revenues; acquired 1,177 acres of land, and built 9.2 miles of hard surface trails throughout the County. This has all contributed tremendously to the quality of life in Johnson County.
These include the Clear Creek, Solon to Ely (aka Hoover), and Mehaffey Bridge trails; Ciha Fen and Cedar River Crossing near Sutliff; Pechman Creek Delta near River Junction; Cangleska Waukon and Two Horse Farm near the Reservoir; Melinda Reiff Reilly Prairie near Solon; and improvements to the lake at Kent Park near Oxford.
Despite all this good work, there is more work left to do. We still have air, water, and soil quality issues. We still need to protect animal habitat. And we still need more parks and trails. That is why we want to do it again!
The Board of Supervisors has voted to put a $30 million Conservation Bond on the ballot this November. I fully expect it to be just as successful as the last bond in contributing to the quality of life in Johnson County.
I hope you will support this effort. Please feel free to contact me with questions, or visit https://www.ourlandwaterfuture.org for more information. It is not a done deal! There will be moneyed interests fighting against this effort! We can only win if you help to spread the word!
*RIP Pete Rose
Pete Rose just died at age 83. As many of you know, I am a huge baseball fan. And growing up, Pete Rose was my favorite player. I mean, my *all-time* favorite player. And it is easy to understand why. Rose was not blessed with tremendous physical ability. He wasn’t big, or strong, or fast. But he was unbelievably successful.
Rose was a leader of the Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s – the Big Red Machine. They were some of the greatest teams in the history of baseball. And Rose was all about winning. He would do absolutely anything to win. His nickname, “Charlie Hustle” reflected how hard he played the game.
But Rose was also brilliant. Nobody knew more than Rose. He had a photographic memory, and was always a step ahead of the competition. Nobody out-worked him, and nobody out-thought him.
Not only were Rose’s. teams great, but so was his performance. No one in the history of the sport of baseball ever played in more games, and no player ever got more hits. Rose was also unique in several ways. He was a switch hitter, able to bat right or left-handed. He was an All Star at Second Base, Left Field, Third Base, and First Base – 17 times in all. He was even a player/manager for a while!
But…
With Pete Rose, there was always the “but.”
Pete Rose was not a good human being. He was convicted of tax evasion. He was accused of rape more than once. He burned every bridge he could. And he gambled on baseball while managing a team. For this, he was banned from baseball for life.
Some of my friends are adamant that Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. I disagree. He broke perhaps the most important rule of all. We need to know that our sporting events are legitimate competitions. Gambling by competitors jeopardizes that. Suddenly, it is no longer sport, but a spectacle like pro wrestling. The integrity of the game is at stake. So as much as it pains me, I do not believe Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Pete Rose was my idol. He taught me a lot. Play hard. Play smart. And most importantly, don’t look to sports or entertainment for role models.
*DID YOU KNOW? Jimmy Carter was the first US President to be born in a hospital.
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.
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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 @ 11:01 AM
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