SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

March 25, 2025

Sullivan’s Salvos 3/27/25

In this edition:

*Opening Day!

*Trans Day of Visibility

*Dems Hall of Fame Event

*Betty Sass

*Medicaid

*Did You Know?

*Opening Day!

The Cubs and Dodgers already played two games in Japan, but for everyone else, March 27 is Opening Day! Even if one is not a baseball fan, there is a wonderful rebirth that happens every year with Opening Day. Like so many things we associate with spring, a new baseball season is a fresh start. Every team is 0-0, with an opportunity to do great things. Once again, there is hope. And we all need that!

I hope your team (however you wish to define it!) has a “dream season” this summer!

*Trans Day of Visibility

There is a rally to note Trans Day of Visibility on Monday, March 31 from 4:00 - 8:00 PM at College Green Park. There will be music, speakers, and other activities. This is a great opportunity to show your support!

*Dems Hall of Fame Event

The Johnson County Democratic Party is holding our Annual Hall of Fame Awards on Saturday, May 10 at 7pm at the Radisson in Coralville. 2025 marks the 15^th consecutive year that the Johnson County Democratic Party has held a separate Hall of Fame event.

Please join us for coffee, desserts, and plenty of old war stories! A cash bar will be available.

The Hall of Fame inductees for 2025 are: Roger Mills, Peter Hansen, Paul Deaton, and Bill Gerhard. We hope you can join us in recognizing this remarkable group!

Tickets are available for a $35 suggested donation. People who cannot afford that amount should still feel welcome. Sponsorships are available.

*Betty Sass

You may occasionally see notices of public events or meetings that are described as being in the “Betty Sass Room” at the County Administration Building. And every time I see that, I smile. Because I was a big fan of Betty Sass!

Here is some background: Betty Sass went to work for Johnson County as a 19-year-old in 1952. She was hired to work in the Treasurer’s Office due to her very legible handwriting. Betty retired as a Deputy Treasurer in 2013 -61 years later!

The Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) looked, and they were not able to find a record of anyone EVER working longer for ANY county!

To add some perspective – Johnson County has had some employees retire while in their late 50s. Those retirees could have been born, grown up, gone to work, and retired all during Betty’s tenure with the County!

While Betty’s years of service boggle the mind, honoring her by naming a room after her was not just about quantity. It was even more about quality. Betty Sass was always a model employee and an outstanding boss. Despite working in an office that receives many complaints, Betty’s attitude and outlook were the best I’ve ever seen! Betty was not just our longest serving employee – she was probably our finest employee.

Betty once told me the best improvements over her tenure were: 1.) Typewriters; 2.) Air conditioning; 3.) The indoor smoking ban. Longevity offers very interesting perspectives!

I like the idea of naming things for people. I recognize that there are occasions where this turns out badly. In those cases, I say just rename the thing. There are many really good people out there who deserve similar honors. I am not afraid of acting accordingly.

Meanwhile, I hope you all learned a little bit about a great person!

*Medicaid

I searched the word “Medicaid” in my archive of Salvos. (Salvos started in late 2004, but I’m not sure I still have anything before 2009.) I was shocked to find how much I have written on the topic - tens of thousands of words over the years.

Why have I written so much about Medicaid? For one, you write what you know. I used to work in the Iowa Medicaid program. Even though that was several years ago, I know Iowa Medicaid quite well. That is why the Republican schemes to cut the program upsets me so much.

The bigger reason is that people who use Medicaid are the very reason I ran for office in the first place. It was literally what made me choose this career. I wanted to – and still want to – help the poorest among us.

Before I go any further, let’s give a quick primer on Medicaid. Medicaid (often referred to as Title 19) is the federal program that provides government health insurance to our poorest residents. Medicaid was passed in 1965 as an addition to the Social Security Act, a key component in President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty”.

Medicaid is about to celebrate its’ 60^th birthday. Medicaid and Medicare were among the greatest achievements in the history of our great nation. Health care for the poor… we have been called to provide this at least since Jesus walked the earth. The US finally got around to it in 1965.

While the vast majority of the funding for Medicaid is federal, each state pays a portion based upon the relative wealth of that state. Connecticut pays the most, Mississippi the least. Iowa is in the middle when it comes to relative wealth; in fact, our state match just went up because of the recent good years enjoyed by the ag industry. Iowa pays a 37% match for regular Medicaid, and a 10% match on the Medicaid expansion that began in 2013 under President Obama.

Over time, states have argued for and received greater flexibility in designing state Medicaid programs. This is where the managed care concept began, and how it is spreading to states with Republican governors. Unfortunately, most of these state “experiments” with Medicaid do not improve outcomes. In fairness, over the years, Medicaid has become a bigger and bigger piece of each state’s budget.

While many conservatives will try to tell you Medicaid has “not worked,” the reality is a very different story. In fact, 80 million Americans received some type of Medicaid service last year, almost 1 in 4. These services were provided at an average cost lower than private insurance, and at an average administrative cost MUCH lower than private insurance.

It is important to understand who is on Medicaid. Medicaid serves the most vulnerable members of our society. First, you must be incredibly poor. Then you need to fit a second category of need. For example, most Medicaid recipients are children. The next biggest group is people living in nursing homes. The third largest group is people with significant disabilities. These are people whose health can easily be negatively affected.

The state has steadily made Medicaid worse for Iowans, especially Governor Reynolds’ foray into managed care. Managed care companies rarely root out waste or fraud. They take an easier route. They simply cap services, and let the rest of the healthcare system sort it out. The managed care companies make their millions, and patients and providers fight over what is left. In my opinion, managed care is nothing more than a transfer of public tax dollars to private companies who are GUARANTEED to hurt the poor. Rather than being encouraged, managed care by private companies should be illegal. But that is not the environment in which we live.

Has managed care improved things? No, it has not. Unless you own one of the firms that has sucked millions of our tax dollars from our poorest residents. If you own one of those, you did fine.

This “experiment” is not working, just as experts warned. The Republicans in the Legislature not only put money ahead of people – they do that several times every day. But this time, they chose to pick on the weakest, poorest, least able to fight back. It is simply deplorable.

Medicaid really, truly serves our most vulnerable citizens. Without this help, these people die. That is not made up. It is real.

President Trump and Republicans in the US Legislature have voted to give millions of our tax dollars away in tax cuts for the wealthy while poor Iowans get sicker and die. You may call that hyperbole, but I disagree. The fact is, when Medicaid is cut, poor people get sicker and die more quickly. It is proven. Any ignorance here is willful ignorance. They voted to hurt poor people. Period. What they voted for was evil.

Evil is a strong word. But what word would you use to describe someone who took away nursing home care from a sick elderly woman? What word would you use to describe someone who kept a sick baby from getting tubes in her ears? What word would you use to describe someone who left a poor man with an IQ of 40 on the street to eat from the trashcans? If you knowingly voted to make this happen? I call it evil.

Republicans may not get their just desserts electorally. They may go on to win many more elections. But I am convinced that someday they will be judged harshly. And I imagine it will be harsher than anything handed down by voters.

*DID YOU KNOW? Iowa City native Tom Cech won the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the catalytic properties of RNA.

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

March 18, 2025

The Board of Supervisors has relocated our offices to the 3^rd floor of the Health and Human Services Building, 855 South Dubuque Street in Iowa City. The Boardroom will be moving as well, but that will be about another month.

As you may recall, the County Administration Building at 913 Soth Dubuque Street recently underwent some renovations. In order to create additional space for those offices, the Board moved to a new spot on the 3^rd floor of HHS. So please stop by and check out our new digs!

The Agape Café is celebrating their 32^nd birthday with a breakfast fundraiser! Iowa City’s only free breakfast diner serves a hot, made-to-order breakfast to whoever wants it once per week. Last year, they served a record 5,315 meals!

To support their efforts, join them for breakfast on Saturday, Match 29 between 8-11 am at Old Brick. For more info, email: agapebreakfast@gmail.com.

It takes 47 million barrels of oil to produce the 4 billion pounds of plastic water bottles used each year. 47 million barrels of oil is enough to fuel 1 million cars for a year. (Source: Physicians for Social Responsibility.)

It is easy to default to bottled water. I am sometimes guilty of it, too. But please try to avoid wasting all that plastic. We all need to do our part.

There are a lot of people with opinions as to what we ought to be doing right now. I get asked that a lot by people; I wrote about eleven things individuals could consider doing back in the February 20^th edition of Salvos.

So we know there are things we can do as individuals. But what should the national Democratic Party be doing right now? This is also a hot topic. Let’s discuss it.

Let’s start with the State of the Union. Some Democrats considered not going at all. I think that would have been a mistake; Democrats hold damn near half the seats. I think it is important that they showed up.

Democrats did all kinds of things; some worked better than others. There were reports that “all” the Democrats were going to wear a certain color. But near as I can tell, that did not happen. Saying it was going to happen, and then failing to make it happen? Not a great look. Better to have lined everyone up first, then announced it.

Democrats declined to join the escort into the chamber. In terms of impact, I’d say that had next to zero. But if they were doing it not for impact but simply to say, “I refuse to walk in with that guy?” I can see it. I don’t think it is a problem – I just hope they didn’t think it “got people talking,” because it did not.

Some Democrats brought small signs and held them aloft at certain times. Was that effective? I don’t know. It was different, that is for sure. And I do believe that Trump has created a different era where many of the old “norms” no longer apply. So yeah, try something different, right?

Then you have Congressman Al Green, who stood, shouted, waved his cane, and was finally removed by the Sergeant at Arms. Was this effective? Well, in my humble opinion, it might have been the most effective stunt of the night. But would it have worked for all Democrats to get thrown out? No, I have no doubt that would have been too much.

But then you have ten Democrats joining the GOP in censuring Green! WTF? This is *by far* the worst thing I have seen out of any Democrats yet. Those ten people should be ashamed! They chose antiquated rules of decorum – which the other side does not follow – over what is happening to Medicaid. Shame!

Senator Elissa Slotkin gave the Democratic response. While it was absolutely fine in terms of substance, I think Dems could have considered doing something different. She noted that she was giving the speech from a small town in Michigan. Why not show that town? Why not involve locals in the response? Why just stand in front of a US flag in Michigan? She could have been anywhere.

Should Dems in the US Senate have offered votes to keep the government open? If there was a “clean” continuing resolution – in other words, simply kicking the can down the road – then sure, keep the government open. But what Speaker Mike Johnson has called a “clean” continuing resolution is *NOT* that! Democrats should never have voted to support this agenda. Never. Chuck Schumer blew this one big time! Not necessarily because of his vote – he explains it quite compellingly in a NY Times op-ed – but because Democrats were not united. The House feels as though they were sold out. Not good!

Town halls in Congressional Districts represented by Republicans? You’d better believe it! Great idea! Keep that happening!

But here is the bottom line: We are in uncharted territory. Do the work locally. Help your federal elected officials out. Show them some grace. Tell them what matters to you. Support the things they do well, and tell them if you disagree with others. We can and will turn this around. And you need to help!

The Republicans in the Iowa Legislature never seem to care about the hypocrisy in their words and actions. Here are just a few examples:

*After going on and on about “merit,” they have ignored the experts and suggested that the UI College of Medicine should be 80% Iowans. That will cost the UI millions of dollars and lots of great students. Meanwhile, they tell us that the UI must do away with all things DEI; the UI believes in “merit” alone. Huh?

*The party of “local control” says 96 counties get to choose how they are represented by County Supervisors. Three do not. Even if you made the argument that students do not count (the US Supreme Court has already ruled that they do), there are 140,000 non-students in Johnson County. That is the population of Iowa’s smallest 20 counties combined. So 140,000 people in those 20 counties have a right that is denied to the people of Johnson County. How does that make sense?

*The party of “parental rights” does not extend those rights to the parents of LGBTQ+ kids. It is *critical* that parents make all the decisions for their kids. Except those parents? Say what?

*The GOP is very worried about what kids might read. They do not want the exposed to stories about slavery, gory murders, adultery, and other topics. Yet they approved teaching of the Bible – full of those topics! Makes no sense.

*Public schools have to be very careful as to how they spend their money. And they should be! A bill that passed the funnel would require budget lines, expenditures and goods and services totaling $50,000 at all State Universities to be required to be posted online, as well as written contracts, salary reports, and more. Yet private k-12 schools can take millions in public money and do anything they want. And the GOP has specifically blocked everyone from looking at these records. And they talk about transparency?

*GOP Legislators are awash in cash from lobbyists and big businesses. But they want to stop libraries and local governments from lobbying. I guess lobbying is only good sometimes?

*GOP lawmakers want to create a “Civil Government” course at Iowa universities. Yet this group will end up having more laws challenged as unconstitutional than any previous Legislature. Who should take that class again?

*Finally, and perhaps most hypocritical of all, the GOP wants to raise the Governor’s salary by $100,000, noting it has not been raised in 18 years. You know what else has not been raised in 18 years? The minimum wage. No hypocrisy there!

We simply have to beat these folks. They are destroying our state, and upending all ideas of what is fair and decent. Who’s with me?

*DID YOU KNOW? The last time the Board of Supervisors Office permanently moved was 1986, when it went from the Courthouse to the newly opened Admin Building.

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!

March 11, 2025

I was sad to learn of the passing of my friend Randy Brown of Iowa City. Mr. Brown was a longtime educator at City High, and was recently inducted into the City High Hall of Fame. Randy was an avid history buff, Scrabble player, Hawkeye fan, and all-around good guy. RIP, Randy.

Attorney Phil Reisetter of Iowa City passed away recently. I knew Phil through his dedicated work with MECCA/Prelude, the precursor to CFR, our current substance abuse provider. Phil was a funny guy who was very committed to helping others with their problems. He will be missed. RIP, Phil.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day on March 17! St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite days of the year. While not an “official” holiday, this day has long been considered a holiday by my Irish family.

March 17 is a Sunday this year, but we should still be able to celebrate correctly!  Meanwhile, I hope each and every one of you is touched by a little luck o’ the Irish!

*With 23 percent of the population of Celtic ancestry, Massachusetts has a higher proportion of residents of Irish descent than any other state, edging out New Hampshire (20 percent) and Rhode Island (18 percent). The remaining New England states -- Connecticut, Vermont and Maine -- also rank among the top 10 in this category, as do Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Montana.

*New York City has more residents of Irish descent than any city in the world, including Dublin! Boston, however, has the largest percentage of Irish residents of any large American city.

*22 - Gallons of beer consumed per capita by Americans annually. (The equivalent of 176 pints per year.) I used to bring that average way up. Now I bring it way down!

*13 million - In 2017, it was estimated that 13 million pints of Guinness would be consumed worldwide on St. Patrick's Day. And in 2020, it was estimated that in America, overall beer sales would be up 174 percent. In fact, it's the biggest day for bars in the country. And in general, in 2020, it was expected that Americans would spend over $6 billion celebrating the holiday.

*9 - Number of places in the US which share the name of Dublin, Ireland's capital. Dublin, OH was the most populous, at 31,392, followed closely by Dublin, CA at 29,973.

*There are many more Americans of Irish origin than there are Irish in Ireland. (36 million Americans claimed Irish ancestry in 2008; the population of Ireland was 4.4 million at the time.)

*You can't attend a St. Patrick’s Day event without hearing a cry of "Erin go Bragh." What's the phrase mean? It's a corruption of the Irish Éirinn go Brách, which means roughly "Ireland Forever."

March 17 holds a special place in my heart that goes beyond St. Patrick’s Day. That was also the birthday of my late father, Bob Sullivan.

Dad was a proud union man, Hawkeye fan, and Irishman. We were father and son, but also best friends. I can honestly say he was probably the most fun person I have ever known.

Unfortunately, he left this world much too soon, and never got the chance to meet any of his nine grandchildren. I miss him every single day, but especially on St. Paddy’s Day.

So, if you are looking for an extra toast on St. Patrick’s Day, allow me to suggest that you raise a glass to Bob Sullivan.

Congratulations to Oliver Weilein on his win in the special election to fill a vacancy in Iowa City Council District C. I look forward to working with him!

I recently returned from a visit with my daughter Jordan in Memphis, Tennessee. Jordan has been down there 9 years now, so needless to say, I have made the drive many times. And each time I have been intrigued by a sign that says, “Johnny Cash Boyhood Home” about an hour north of Memphis.

I love Johnny Cash! But until now, I had just never taken the time to stop. This time I stopped, and I am glad I did! (About half of what you will read next comes from Wikipedia, and half is from me.)

The place I stopped is Dyess, Arkansas, formerly known as the Dyess Colony, and it has an amazing backstory. The area is all Mississippi River floodplain, and it is wet most of the year. There were very few people who could eke out a living in the area due to the vicissitudes of the Mississippi. Those who did live there were among the poorest people in the US.

Dyess Colony was established in Mississippi County in 1934 as part of the FDR’s New Deal efforts to provide economic relief to destitute workers during the Great Depression. The experiment was the largest community-building effort established by the federal government.

The project was established by Mississippi politician and cotton planter William R. Dyess, director of the Arkansas Emergency Relief Administration, who initially sought to get something out of unused Mississippi Delta farmland. Director Dyess established the plans, which were submitted to chief of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Harry Hopkins early in 1934, and approved by Hopkins in March 1934.

16,000 acres of land were purchased by Dyess for the colonization project at the cost of $9.05 per acre. (16,000 acres is about the size of a township in Iowa.) The site contained 500 family parcels, with the participants to be recruited from poor people throughout Arkansas. Applicants were carefully screened, and eligibility requirements included being an experienced farmer and being an Arkansas resident "of good moral background" in good health, under the age of 50, and white. (FDR, at Eleanor’s insistence, created a similar, smaller project for African American residents elsewhere in Arkansas.)

The main purpose of the town's administration was to give poor white families a chance to start over with land that they could work toward owning. The original township included 500 individually owned and operated farms which were 20 or 40 acres each.

Barracks were built, and 1500 poor men from across Arkansas were sent there to work. Levees were built, roads were raised and graveled, ditches were built, power poles were installed, and suddenly the area could be farmed for cotton and rice. (It was mostly cotton then, and mostly rice now.) Prior to that, the few mud roads were impassable most of the year.

The Cash family was one of the families selected. They got 40 acres, a mule, and a tiny two-bedroom house. It was electrified, and had indoor plumbing. In that house slept 7 members of the Cash family; Mom, Dad, and two girls in two double beds in one bedroom, and 5 boys in two double beds in the other bedroom. The house also came with a radio, and young Johnny listened to Memphis stations as he became interested in music.

They grew cotton on their 40 acres, milked a couple cows, had a couple hogs, and raised some chickens. Mrs. Cash had a vegetable garden, and the family was able to eke out a living. Flooding was still an issue, however – Johnny Cash’s classic song, “Five Feet High and Rising” was written in remembrance of one of the big floods.

The Cash family made it. The New Deal had saved them and millions like them. Johnny graduated high school in 1950, did a stint in the Army, and upon returning to Memphis, became a popular musician. The rest of the family moved to Memphis shortly thereafter, leaving Dyess behind.

Multiple attempts were made in the Arkansas legislature to undermine and disestablish the Dyess colony. In 1950, the Dyess Colony officially disbanded, though families continued to live and work there. Unfortunately, without the favorable terms the Feds had set, many families felt forced to sell their little bit of land. Many descendants of these families remain in the area.

What is it like now? Frankly, it is one of the most desperately poor places I have ever seen. There are a few big farmers who do very well. Otherwise, I saw some of the most horribly dilapidated housing stock I have ever seen in my life. It is tragic. The people of Dyess, Arkansas need another New Deal. The people of America need another New Deal!

*DID YOU KNOW? Saint Patrick was born Maewyn Succat to a Romanized family in Britain (not Ireland.) He took the name ‘Patricius’ in his writings.

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!

March 4, 2025

Iowa Republicans in the Senate, House, and Governor’s Office hit a new low last week when they made Iowa the first state to ever roll back civil rights protections for a group of people. Transgender Iowans are Iowans, deserving of every right and privilege extended to anyone else. Shameful!

Shelter House's 2025 Book Sale will take place on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9! Every bargain-hunting bibliophile's favorite two-day event will take place from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM both days at 860 Quarry Road in Coralville.

Each year, Shelter House fills the Old Antique Car Museum with stories of adventure, mystery, and curiosity during our annual Book Sale. Tens of thousands of used books are generously donated by members of the community and sold for just a few dollars each, with all proceeds supporting Shelter House's work to prevent and end homelessness in our community. Year after year, we are amazed by the community's support; many of you step up to donate books, volunteer your time, become an event sponsor, and shop at the sale.

And the best part? Admission is FREE! To get a head start on the fantastic selection, you can grab an Early Entry pass for just $10. This gives you access to the sale 30 minutes before general admission on Saturday, March 8. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to find some new reads while supporting our mission.

A friend set me straight on the ICCSD wind chill policy. I am really glad to hear this response! She wrote:

The school delay policy has to do with the temps needing to be better than “frostbite possible in 30 min or less” (which is -18 or colder with windchill) and the predicted windchill at various times in the morning. It seems random at first, but if you dig into it, there’s a very clear rubric— it’s not random at all! Here’s the link:

https://www.iowacityschools.org/post-details/~board/district-news/post/inclement-weather-guidelines

I just returned from a trip to Memphis, Tennessee, where I visited my daughter Jordan. Jordan graduated from City High in 2012, Western Illinois University in 2016, and has been living and working in Memphis since. Jordan, who like all my children, is African American, has found a home in Memphis.

Jordan works at a place called Youth Villages, which is very similar to Four Oaks, just a lot larger. YV has state contracts to do foster care, foster care transition, adoption, children’s mental health, residential services, in-home therapy, crisis services, gun violence intervention, youth leadership, mentoring, and much more. It is a huge organization, and Jordan is what I would call “upper-middle management.” She does pretty well financially, and bought her own home a few years ago. I am incredibly proud of her.

While Jordan no longer works directly with the kids, I know that she feels good about being able to give back. Jordan and her brothers and sisters spent time in foster care – not all of it good – before 4 of them were adopted. She has shared with me that there have been a couple occasions where she has seen a little girl sobbing in the office. She went up and each time just whispered to the girl, “This happened to me when I was your age. You will be OK.” Makes me tear up just writing it! Like I said, I am very proud!

Jordan also coaches youth sports in Memphis. She was an outstanding athlete at City High, and ran Division 1 track in college. So she knows what she is doing. She has coached track and basketball at the youth and junior high levels, and helped out with other sports as well. This gives her yet another insight into life in Memphis.

While it is just great to see one of your kids, I also wanted to take the opportunity to get a sense of how Memphis was feeling during Black History Month 2025. Memphis is the second-blackest major city in the US, right behind Detroit and ahead of Atlanta. Music, food, literature…black culture of both the past and present are on display in Memphis. It is home to the National Civil Rights Museum, and much of the black history in the US traces back to the Memphis area. So does Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate General and the first Grand Wizard of the KKK. So the racial tension is always present.

So what is the sense of things? For starters, Tennessee politics are just as bad as Iowa politics. Memphis is one of just a couple “blue dots” in a very red state. Just like here, lives are very affected by bad government at two different levels. So sometimes, as in Iowa, the conversation is more about state politics rather than federal.

Some folks there – especially women – are still bitter over the way Kamala Harris was treated (and continues to be treated). I think that is more than fair. I also heard a lot of the following sentiments: “At least they are saying it out loud now.” African Americans have always felt the racism. For 30-50 years, at least it was in bad taste for whites to be overtly racist. So racism was more discreet. Still incredibly problematic, but at least it was frowned upon in polite company. Not anymore. The right is simply owning the racism now.

I made another visit to the National Civil Rights Museum – I think this is my 5^th visit, and I will be back! Staff at the museum seemed to be ready for the challenge. “They are trying to erase black history,” one staff person told me. “We are not going to let that happen. But they are going to make it very hard on us. We will need to be thoughtful as to how we proceed.” She does not expect any federal or state dollars to flow their way.

She also made an important point – “All you hear now is DEI. I think Republicans love that acronym, because it lets them say, “No black person should have this job,” without actually saying it. And now our schools are more concerned with the fragility of white kids than telling the true stories of Ruby Bridges or the Little Rock Nine. They are making white people the victims.”

Unfortunately, I also heard the exact same thing in Memphis that I have heard in Iowa City. Locally, I have had a handful of African American folks tell me that they feel “completely unseen” at this moment. Demonized by the right, ignored by the middle, not currently a cause the left cares about. I understand why they feel that way. And it is really sad. I promise to continue to work to bring African Americans into the conversation locally.

The County Budget for FY26 is pretty close to finished, and it was a somewhat difficult process. We are incredibly blessed with an excellent Finance Department, including Finance Director Dana Aschenbrenner. They do a great job of finding the money to turn our policy positions into reality!

The vast majority of our increases are due to capital projects – way too much money ($3.3 million) to help stabilize our failing jail, $2.3 million to finish improvements at the courthouse, spending the last $1.5 million of the ’08 Conservation Bond, and a $1.3 million expansion of our fleet shop.

The courthouse and fleet investments should actually translate into long term savings for the county. The $1.5 in the Conservation Bond was approved by the voters, and will be appreciated for generations. It is the money we need to spend on the jail that really makes me angry.

We have needed a new jail for decades now. Unfortunately, now we have to spend this money on repairs *regardless* of whether or not voters will approve a new facility. It is such a waste of taxpayer money. Especially when so many people in our community have so many needs.

*DID YOU KNOW? Roads trivia: Johnson County has 913 miles of road. Approximately 40 miles is dirt; ~ 567 is gravel; ~ 130 is chip sealed; ~ 127 is asphalt; and ~ 46 is Portland concrete cement.

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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