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SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 17, 2025
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/19/25 In this edition: *Pride Parade *Aquifer Study *Striking Workers at CWJ *Base Names *Financial Data *Sickening Stats *Did You Know? *Pride Parade As usual, I am looking forward to the annual Pride Parade this Saturday. You know, it is interesting – there are now many, many groups of which I am a part that march in the parade. And that is great! And every year, multiple groups ask me to march with them. Also great! But every year, I continue to march with the Johnson County Democrats. There is a big reason for that. Despite my affection for all these other groups, the Johnson County Democrats were the group that marched when the others were too scared, or too uncomfortable, or too divided, or too unsure. Understand - we had lots of debates at JC Dems meetings. It took some convincing. But Pride won out. Long ago. And I am really proud of that! So see you at the parade! I’ll be marching with the JC Dems! *Aquifer Study Johnson County recently contracted with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to study the quantity of water available in our local aquifer. The preliminary results are in, and worthy of discussion. First, some background. Way back in 2005, my friend Jim Walters was expressing concern about the amount of water available to us here in Johnson County. We had been experiencing tremendous growth for almost two decades at that point, and it was a reasonable question to ask. The problem was, no one had an answer. I went to our Planning and Zoning staff, and as luck would have it, the USGS was actually looking for a project in the area. I managed to find advocates on the Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, and Solon Councils, and they shared in the cost. The report came out in 2006, and actually said we were doing OK. There was some depletion of the aquifer, but it was minimal. Fast forward to 2022. I had been asking our Planning, Development, and Sustainability (PDS) Department Director Josh Busard about updating the study. (We now call what used to be “Planning and Zoning” “Planning, Development, and Sustainability.”) We got lucky once again with the USGS. Josh connected with the USGS back in 2022, and they had federal money available for a study; we just needed to come up with a match. Johnson County picked up most of the tab, with several cities in the area pitching in to help with the cost - Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin, Solon, West Branch, Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Lisbon, Swisher, Shueyville, Riverside and Atkins. So, since 2022, a contracted team of hydrogeologists has collected data and studied the Silurian aquifer in the target area, an area spanning over 1500 square miles and reaching eight counties: Johnson, Linn, Benton, Iowa, Washington, Louisa, Muscatine, and Cedar. The Board got to see a draft of the report just a couple weeks ago. What is the news? Well, I need to offer some caveats. This is a scientific study, and it requires scientific interpretation. I tried to push for some specifics, but the USGS staff just weren’t willing to go there, given that it is a draft report. And I respect that. (Once the final report is sent to us, it will be available on the PDS page of the County website.) In my very rudimentary understanding? The aquifer is simply not recharging like it did two decades ago. Our climate has gotten drier over that period, and our temperatures are hotter. When we do get rain, it comes harder, and runs off more quickly. Meaning it leaves the area more quickly, and does less to recharge the aquifer. All seem to be a long-term trends. So less water is entering the aquifer. On the other side of the equation, we are using more water. Not only is the population up a lot, but so is per capita water usage. Homes are using more water. Industries are using more water. Agriculture is using more water. Data centers are a huge water user. So we have less water coming in, and more water going out. Both trends have accelerated over the past 20 years. The models do not show that changing. So we need to do something different. I think it is pretty obvious - we need to slow down our water usage. We cannot create more water. So we need to start taking water conservation seriously. There are lots of innovations out there, from the American southwest to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and other locales. There are things we can begin to do now that might keep us from being as desperate as those places. Some of these are easy and obvious: fix leaky faucets, toilets, hoses, etc. Take shorter showers. Don’t let the water run while you shave, brush your teeth, or do dishes. Do full loads in the washing machine and dish washer. There are many additional actions we can take, including low-flow toilets, plants that require less water, and a myriad of technological fixes. The big question will be: What actions do we take? I’m sure many people will voluntarily take steps to make things better. Others will not. Will we begin looking at changes to city and county ordinances? Will we use incentives, penalties, or both? What are we going to do? This is not a reason to panic. But I hope it is enough incentive to act. I look forward to the official report, and I look forward to your ideas. *Striking Workers at CWJ I took some time this week to meet with the striking workers from the Center for Worker Justice (CWJ). Unfortunately, these workers feel that working conditions have deteriorated to the point that they needed to walk off the job. This saddens me, as I have been involved with the CWJ since its inception. I hope the CWJ Board will come to the table and listen to the staff. I have heard some people around the community claim that these workers are being manipulated. What a racist, arrogant, pompous, condescending thing to say! Because they are immigrants they don’t know when they are being treated badly? Bullshit! I spoke to the workers in question. They know full well what they are doing. They are calling the shots. And they deserve to be respected, not just by the CWJ Board but by the community at large. The CWJ workers may not get everything they demand. Workers rarely do. They deserve a fair process, and I hope CWJ will offer that. But to hear people minimize their personal agency and self-determination is quite frustrating. *Base Names President Trump recently announced that he would be renaming several US Military bases – some after men who were traitors! That is correct; men who took up arms against the US Government will have US Military bases named for them. Here is how stupid this is: The attack on Pearl Harbor killed 2500 Americans. Did we name a Naval base after Emperor Hirohito? The 9/11 attacks killed 3000 Americans. Did we name an Air Force Base after Osama bin Laden? America lost 410,000 in WWII. Did we name a military base after Adolph Hitler? Robert E. Lee was a traitor. He turned against his country, and is responsible for the deaths of 360,000 American soldiers. He should have been hung for treason, but General Grant felt a parole agreement would help the country to heal. Lee was shown much more mercy than he ever showed others. My daughter Rachel served at Fort Lee. I was always amazed at the name, and I was glad President Biden changed it. This makes me sick. It should make everyone who cares about our military sick. *Financial Data Johnson County has over $22 billion in assessed valuation. Remember, that does not include any property owned by the UI, Johnson County, any cities, or any school districts, as they are tax exempt! Yes, Johnson County is thriving! Our borrowing capacity is now at over $1 billion, though we only have about $13 million borrowed. I am (and have always been) proud of the way we handle our finances in Johnson County! *Sickening Stats The GOP – including Marianette Miller Meeks and Joni Ernst - decided to stand by and watch as Donald Trump and Elon Musk destroyed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). That decision has cost over 300,000 people their lives around the world. According to Dr. Brooke Nichols of Boston University, who mathematically models infectious diseases, the destruction of USAID is killing about 103 people an hour, most of them very poor children. In addition, about 1500 babies a day are born with HIV because Republican cuts stopped their mother’s medications. So Miller Meeks and Ernst have decided that in order to make billionaires richer, poor kids must die. It is sickening. *DID YOU KNOW? The Silurian Period was a geologic period spanning from approximately 443 to 419 million years ago. It is known for significant changes in Earth's environment and the evolution of life, including the rise of coral reefs and the diversification of fishes. The Silurian also saw the beginning of land colonization by both plants and animals. 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
June 10, 2025
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/12/25 In this edition: *LA ICE Protests *Father’s Day *Juneteenth *Pride Flag *Antisemitism *Medicaid Crisis *Did You Know? *LA ICE Protests Praying for everyone involved in the ICE riots in LA. We have a truly evil President – the next three years are going to be very hard. I just hope protesters will stay nonviolent. Again, praying for all of us! And do not forget – as serious as things are in LA, it is all a distraction. Donald Trump wants you to forget about Medicaid cuts. Do not let that happen! *Father’s Day Father’s Day is June 15. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! I know both Mother’s and Father’s Days can be very difficult for some people, for a variety of reasons. If that is you, you are in my thoughts. Being a dad is the best thing I have ever done. It is also the most difficult. I imagine that is the case for most fathers. And sometimes, we are not birth fathers; we are just folks trying to help the best we know how. It has been decades now since I have had the pleasure of enjoying a living father or grandfather. If you are lucky enough to have a father or grandfather around, please take a moment to reach out to him this weekend. *Juneteenth Johnson County is working with a number of community partners to present Juneteenth activities! There are several events, all listed on the webpage. For more info, visit the Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/jciajuneteenth. By the way, in 2021, The Johnson County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for union and non-union employees. The decision followed President Joe Biden declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday for the first time a few years ago and many other Iowa cities doing the same. One difference? Most cities and counties took away a different holiday in order to acknowledge Juneteenth. Many, for example, swapped it out for President’s Day. Johnson County simply added a new holiday. I am proud of that. *Pride Flag Johnson County is once again flying our Pride Flag outside the Admin Building. I have found it interesting to see that there is some online buzz around this – after all, we have been flying that flag every June for 16 years! But I’m glad folks are paying attention, and I’m glad it is serving as a rallying point. Happy Pride! *Antisemitism The number of attacks on Jews in America has skyrocketed recently. We have seen huge throngs chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” Antisemitism is on the rise, and it must stop! This sickening situation is made even worse by two things: 1. Some blame attacks on US Jews as retaliation against the Israeli government. First, violence is never an appropriate response. Second, the horrible Likud government in Israel has nothing to do with attacks on American Jews. Most Jews (especially in the US) do not support Likud.
2. The Trump Administration uses the idea of antisemitism to attack science, higher ed, and more while actually being the most antisemitic US administration since James Buchanan. To do so disingenuously in the name of Jews only adds insult to injury. To my Jewish friends: I see you. I’m sorry. I have your back. *Medicaid Crisis (This ran in Salvos one year ago. Unfortunately, it is still very timely.) You may get tired of me mentioning another crisis, but I wanted to update everyone on yet another huge problem in Iowa – low Medicaid rates. I used to work with the Iowa Medicaid program when I worked for DHS. I learned a lot about who gets Medicaid and why. More importantly, I learned how many things could be improved. Some background: Medicaid is a program of the Great Society efforts the Johnson Administration passed in the 1960s. This was absolutely groundbreaking legislation! Prior to FDR in the 1930s, the US had a system of County poor farms. That was it. Many Americans starved to death, and few lived to old age. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes had a famous quote that fit the situation perfectly. He argued in his book Leviathan that, without government, life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbes was right. And FDR did a lot to help improve that situation. FDR addressed this primarily through ending child labor and the creation of Social Security. FDR had proposed a system of national healthcare several times, but it never had the votes. Meanwhile, the poor in America, while certainly much better off than before, were dying from easily treatable medical conditions. Finally, in 1965, Medicaid and Medicare passed the US Congress. But it was never easy. Conservatives opposed their creation, and have fought to weaken, undermine, and diminish these programs since the day they passed. Medicaid provides health insurance coverage to poor people across the US. These poor people include many disparate groups. Most are senior citizens living in care facilities. Medicaid is the top payor of this service. Others covered include poor children, foster children, people with disabilities, and in many states, the working poor. Medicaid eligibility is always income dependent, so recipients must meet income and resource guidelines. Medicaid is primarily a federal program, but with a smaller state match. Over the years, states have been given greater and greater flexibility in terms of designing and administering Medicaid. This has led to several good innovations, but has more often led to conservative states diminishing this benefit for their poorest residents. In Iowa today over 1 in 4 residents receives Medicaid. One in four! But Iowa has a created a HUGE problem with its Medicaid program – unsustainably low rates. What does that mean? Medicaid has set rates for every available service. If you need an appendectomy, there is a set rate. If you need nursing home care, there is a set rate. If you need a ride in an ambulance, there is a set rate. These rates rarely cover the cost of the service provided; that is a problem nationwide. But in Iowa, the problem is at a crisis level, and getting worse. Rates in Iowa are SO low that services are at risk. For example, Iowa underfunds fund group home settings for folks with intellectual disabilities. (Locally you may be familiar with Systems Unlimited or Reach for Your Potential; there are others.) These organizations do incredible work caring for our most vulnerable residents. And Iowa is making it impossible. Medicaid rates are so low that these agencies cannot even figure out how to pay minimum wage. It is a crisis. Another example: Iowa is almost devoid of substance misuse providers. (Locally you may remember MECCA, later known as Prelude, then acquired by CFR.) There are only a few counties in Iowa where you can get treatment for substance misuse. Agencies have simply closed, and more are closing. Medicaid rates are so low that these agencies cannot keep the doors open. It is a crisis. One more example: I recently sat in on a meeting of folks trying to get dental appointments for poor kids. Almost ZERO dentists in Iowa accept Medicaid. Literally almost ZERO! It is a money loser, and dentists are not required to take it. So they don’t. Meanwhile, thousands of children from all 99 of Iowa’s counties flock to the UI to be treated at the College of Dentistry. Waiting lists are so long that the associated health problems become serious. The kids are seen in emergency rooms. They suffer lifelong serious consequences because they couldn’t see a dentist as a kid. Meanwhile, the dentists you know make a lot of money. It is a crisis. Those are just three examples. There are likely 3000. The government of the State of Iowa is quite simply underinvesting in the Medicaid program. Which means we are failing our most vulnerable residents. What can be done? It’s really quite simple – Iowa could raise the Medicaid rates for these and other services. We have the money – Iowa is sitting on a lot of money! Iowa ended Fiscal Year 2023 with a $1.83 billion surplus in the general fund, in addition to $2.74 billion in the state's Taxpayer Relief Fund and $902 million in reserve funds, according to the March Revenue Estimating Conference. (Note: Iowa received about $6 billion from the federal government as part of various federal relief programs.) So yes, we have the ability to greatly improve these situations. We can do it, we should do it, and I believe we must do it. But don’t hold your breath! This Governor has sat idly by and watched poor Iowans die on a number of occasions – Medicaid Managed Care, COVID, etc. She will do it again. Our poorest residents are dying. She refuses to help. She’s got to go. *DID YOU KNOW? State Medicaid matches are based upon each state’s relative wealth. Connecticut (1) has the highest state match, while Mississippi (50) has the lowest. Iowa’s match is 35% - ranking us 31st. Not at the bottom, but poor. (When I worked there in the 90s, Iowa was 24th. We have fallen.) 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
June 3, 2025
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/5/25 In this edition: *IC Pride *Visiting Octavious *Police *Did You Know? *IC Pride Pride is this month in Iowa City, and there are numerous events throughout June. For a list, please see: https://www.iowacitypride.org/year-round-events. The Pride Parade and Festival are two of my favorite events each year. I hope you can get out and show your support, particularly in light of all the bullshit Kim Reynolds and crew are pulling. Please allow me to call particular attention to the annual Pride Parade at noon on Saturday, June 21, followed by the annual Pride Festival on the Ped Mall. Happy Pride, all! *Visiting Octavious Melissa and I made a quick trip to visit our son Octavious (BJ) at his new home in Morristown, New Jersey. He works for Hyatt, and recently got a promotion to Morristown from Orlando, where he had lived for 5 years. Morristown is an interesting place. Alexander Hamilton lived there at one time, and George Washington wintered there in 1777. So the nearby area is home to a lot of history. Morris County is home to half a million people, but all the cities are relatively small. Morristown is like many of the cities there - about 25,000 people, so roughly the size of Coralville. Because the city is very old (1730s) the downtown and square makes it appear smaller than Coralville. But Morristown and all the other cities are very close together, maybe 2-3 miles. The area between the cities, while heavily wooded, is full of expensive suburban homes. It is only a 35-minute train ride to Penn Station in Manhattan. Many Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Morris County, including AT&T, Novartis, BASF, Honeywell, Colgate-Palmolive, Pfizer, and Johnson and Johnson. Because of this, Morris County has the third highest median household income in the US. We have definitely seen what the wealth of the place does to housing costs! Unlike most of New Jersey, Morris County leans slightly Republican. We took the train to New York – God I love the public transit available in the eastern US! We squeezed a lot into a single day in NYC - visiting Greenwich Village, the Stonewall National Monument, the World Trade Center 9/11 Monument, and Times Square. We rode around on the subway, ate at a classic deli, and walked around the Knicks watch party at Madison Square Garden. Needless to say, the best part of the trip was seeing our son. I am so proud of him, and love him more than words can say! *Police (This ran in a previous edition of Salvos.) It seems that one of the big debates in and around Iowa City is whether we should reduce spending on law enforcement in favor of more funding for health and human services initiatives. It reminds me of a trip I took. Melissa and I spent some eye-opening time in Haiti. At the time, it was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and 5th poorest country on planet Earth. If I had to guess, I’d wager they are worse off now than when we visited. We spent a tiny bit of time in Port-Au-Prince, whose approximately 2.6 million people is comparable to Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, or Sacramento. We spent most of our time in a city of about 80,000, which is pretty similar to Iowa City. We also visited villages close in size to Solon and Lone Tree. In all these places, I only saw police twice – entering and leaving the country at the airport. Has an almost complete lack of police led to a better society? No, in fact, it is much the opposite. In the absence of police, the bigger, stronger, or armed person always wins. Women and children are the big losers. Physical prowess, weapons, and/or money, rather than laws, settle most disputes. I know, I know… Haiti fails to invest in everything, not just police. Better public health, education, etc. would also improve lives. So let’s compare the countries across the world with the highest and lowest rates of police. Of 146 reporting counties, the US ranks number 44 at 243 officers per 100,000 people. Among the countries with the lowest policing rates are Mali, Haiti, and Somalia. Not great company. Finland comes in at #16, but is followed immediately by bad actors like China and Myanmar. Right after that? Canada, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden. The point is, even the most progressive social democracies have police. Yes, the rate is lower. But we are talking 185-195 police per 100,000 people in the social democracies, compared to 243 in the US. The number is lower, but not substantially lower. What does this tell us? Even with birth to death free healthcare, great schools, free childcare, guaranteed pensions, less income inequality, strict gun laws, and the like, societies need police. We will NEVER – and I mean NEVER – approach the level of social investments made by these European countries. We’ll never get close. Regardless of how much we invest upstream, downstream, you are still going to need some police. As human beings became farmers rather than hunter/gatherers, they began living in larger and larger groups. Every single society since then has maintained some system of settling disputes. In some societies, this is done with armies. In more democratic societies, this is done with police. It has never worked any other way. There must be some way to maintain social order. Using police seems to be the best method anyone has ever come up with. So what are we to do here? Again, we are asked whether we should reduce spending on law enforcement in favor of more funding for health and human services initiatives. I think it is obvious that this is a false choice. Again, we will NEVER – and I mean NEVER – approach the level of social investments made by these European countries. We’ll never get close. Especially when we are only talking local dollars. Those social democracies have billions to spend; by comparison, we have a pittance. Regardless of how much we invest upstream, downstream, you are still going to need some police. So why pit funding for police versus funding for social services? We should acknowledge that both are important. Both deserve to be heartily funded. And both should be subject to the same budgetary scrutiny as every other program or service governments provide. I think some of the anti-police attitude comes from high profile cases. We all saw what happened to George Floyd. We know what police did to Brionna Taylor. I could name another hundred examples of bad police doing bad things to African Americans. In addition, many of us locally saw bad behavior by past cops in Iowa City. Everyone had a story of two. Add in greater distrust of institutions in general, and it is easy to see why some folks might think more police is a bad deal. I just don’t happen to agree. I have had a close look at local law enforcement for over 30 years now. And I can tell you that local police did a better job in 2003 than 1993, did better in 2013 than 2003, and do better in 2023 than in 2013. The improvement is significant. There is better training. They have adopted most national best practices. Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) is not optional. Cops who did not buy in have retired; new cops are hired into a very different culture. We (voters) deserve credit, because we have demanded higher standards, and our police have stepped up. This does not mean things are perfect. We can always improve. We need to remain diligent as citizens. We need to demand the very best policing available. And yes, we are not immune from a disastrous event. Police are people; it could happen. We need to do everything we can to make certain it doesn’t happen, but there are no guarantees. I think there are several things to consider here: 1. I do not want to “defund” the police, but I expect police to be accountable. 2. I do not want to “defund” the police, but I expect police to always strive to be better. 3. I do not want to “defund” the police, but I expect police to always use best practices. 4. No one is more upset by a bad cop than all the good cops. 5. Contrary to what is often stated, minorities strongly oppose “defunding” the police. A 2021 report from the Vera Institute of Justice noted that for the first time, arrest rates in the suburbs were higher than in major cities. And while arrest rates for African Americans in urban areas have been going down, they are increasing in suburbs. Over the past 20 years, the United States has seen a 20% decrease in the overall arrest rate, lower rates of racial disparities in arrests, and lower youth arrest rates. Despite very high-profile examples to the contrary, police just may be doing better nationwide. There are racist incidents on busses. We don’t call for the abolition of bus drivers. There are racist incidents in schools. We don’t call for the abolition of teachers. There are racist incidents in hospitals. We don’t call for the abolition of doctors. I don’t see this as much different. I am all for police accountability. As a matter of fact, I demand it. But “defunding”? No thank you! If I need a cop, I want to call 911 and get a cop! *DID YOU KNOW? The Pride Festival in Iowa City is over 50 years old, making it one of the oldest in the country! 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
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