SULLIVAN'S SALVOS

July 14, 2025

Sullivan’s Salvos 7/17/25

In this edition:

*No Salvos the Next Two Weeks!

*Johnson County Fair

*Solon Beef Days

*Farewell Center for Worker Justice

*Laborer’s Local 43

*Winning Statewide in Iowa

*Go Ahead and Hate Your Neighbor

*Impeachable Offenses

*Did You Know?

*No Salvos the Next Two Weeks!

I hope you enjoy a summer break, and I hope you will continue reading with the next edition.

The next Salvos you will see will be dated August 7, and should arrive in your inbox on August 5. Happy summer!

*Johnson County Fair

The Johnson County Fair runs from Saturday, July 19 until the livestock auction on Thursday, July 24. As usual, there will be fun for the whole family!

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!

Check out each day’s schedule at: https://thejohnsoncountyfair.com/county-fair/schedule-2025/

*Solon Beef Days

The 54th annual Solon Beef Days runs Friday and Saturday July 18 & 19 in Solon. Steak sandwiches, rides, entertainment, a parade, and the now-legendary hay bale toss are just a few of the items on tap.

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

*Farewell Center for Worker Justice

I was saddened to learn of the closing of the Center for Worker Justice (CWJ) in Iowa City. I was around the CWJ from the very beginning, and I feel as though there were a lot of good things that happened during that time.

I spent literally hundreds of hours working with the CWJ on various issues – it has been a big part of my life. I do find it interesting to see some of the folks howling about the loss of the CWJ who never volunteered or donated.

It is particularly frustrating to see a worker’s justice center close while employees were on strike. It makes this all even more sad. I really wish the CWJ Board had resolved their labor issues.

Meanwhile, we will need to refer our friends and neighbors to other services in the community. The work does not end. There are more challenges than ever. Thanks to all the staff and volunteers. RIP, CWJ!

*Laborer’s Local 43

You may recall that about a month ago, I wrote about the fact that the American Federation of Teachers Local 716 (AFT 716) - my union of 30 years – was folding. I was afraid that I would not have a union home.

That may not mean much to others, but it means everything to me. So I am very pleased and proud to report that I am now a member of Laborer’s Local 43, part of the Laborer’s International Union of North America (LiUNA).

Laborer’s Local 43 is where my late father worked from 1966-1998. He served about 11 years as Secretary of the local and 18 years as the Business Agent. His proudest moment was adding the Laborer’s pension plan in the late 1960s, which helped a lot of blue-collar families live lives of dignity as they got older. It is not unusual for older men to come up to me and thank my Dad for their pension! It almost always tears me up!

I walked the picket line with Laborer’s 43. Way back when I was 5 or 6 years old. It was a life-changing experience, and something I will never forget. Striking workers are very brave! Don’t ever forget that!

I will not be on the roster of eligible workers for Local 43 – not that anybody would want me! But I will be paying dues in support of the union. It is the least I can do – Local 43 put food on my table when I was growing up. I want to keep the union strong.

Thanks to Laborer’s Local 43 for giving me this opportunity!

*Winning Statewide in Iowa

Democrats in Iowa badly need a couple statewide wins. How do we do that? I think the path is clear. Any Democratic candidate who wins statewide is going to need to do the following things:

1. Register a bunch of new voters.

2. Get the vote of 95% of Democrats.

3. Get the vote of 55-65% of Independents.

4. Get the vote of 5-15% of Republicans.

Are there other paths? Maybe, but I’m not certain any are very viable. So how does a candidate achieve these targets?

You have to energize Ds, but not to the extent of alienating Is. You have to reach out to Rs, but not to the extent of alienating Ds. This is not any easy needle to thread!

I think the single most important thing is being genuine. You need to have some strongly held beliefs, and be able to speak passionately about them. If you can do that, and do so sincerely, every group of voters will cut you some slack.

What do Democrats need to do as voters? Fight like hell for the policies you want between now and the primary. Vote your values. Then fall in line. If you don’t, we may not hit that 95%.

*Go Ahead and Hate Your Neighbor

Due to State intervention, our Mental Health and Disabilities Services (MH/DS) Department has closed, and our Mental Health Region has ceased to exist. I was around in the beginning of the Region – before that, actually – and I am quite proud of my role in getting it started. It is undoubtedly the best political work I have ever done, in terms of getting a diverse group to agree on things.

I bring that up because we had our last meeting recently, and when it was over, there were a lot of hugs and handshakes. A group of mostly Republicans and I just stood around and talked.

The interesting thing? They find it much easier to deal with the Dems on that Board than their fellow conservatives back home. And I hate to say it, but I would have to agree, but in the opposite. I find them easier to deal with than my fellow liberals.

Why is that? Why are we so mean to each other? So hard on each other? So unwilling to listen all the way through a complex issue? So unwilling to show grace? So unwilling to compromise?

I do not know the answers to these questions. If I did, I would just fix it! But I do know that it would behoove us to figure it out!

*Impeachable Offenses

I think it is easy for younger people to dismiss much of what comes out of the mouths of us older people. Once we start on a “Back in my day,” it is a cue to tune out.

That phenomenon has actually really hurt the current state of politics. I came up during Watergate. The President at the time broke several laws, and though there were massive efforts at a cover-up, he ultimately felt he had no choice but to leave office. Many people still feel that Nixon got off easy. But to a great degree, our system of government stood up and met the moment.

That is just not the case now. I would argue that Donald Trump commits an average of two impeachable offenses every week. I’m not exaggerating. The scope and scale of the corruption and grift is unlike anything in American history. Ever. EVER.

Crimes of the sort that brought down Richard Nixon happen so frequently in this Administration that we cannot even hope to keep up. I am not the only person who feels this way. Representative Dan Goldman, a Democrat from New York who led House Democrats' impeachment trial against President Trump in 2019, said the president committed "dozens of impeachable offenses" in his first 30 days in office.

The grift alone should make us all sick. Trump continues to use the government to enrich himself and his family every single day. These are obvious violations. Yet nothing happens.

Same thing with “weaponizing” the government. Lots of laws were passed post-Nixon; Trump has broken them all. Yet nothing happens.

So why does this lawlessness continue? Because the Republicans who control the House and Senate refuse to hold him accountable. All of these people are accessories to crimes. Every single one should lose their job in 2026. This includes Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and every Iowa member of Congress, especially Marianette Miller Meeks!

*DID YOU KNOW? Solon Beef Days has decided to move from steak dinners to steak sandwiches starting with the 2025 event.

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.

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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

July 8, 2025

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the dispute over whether the Board should contract for 3 or 4 juvenile detention beds. Last week, I wrote that I thought V and I were in agreement. Obviously, I was wrong. We are not in agreement.

I suppose our Social Services Director, the head of the Juvenile Court, the Juvenile Advocate, and the Juvenile Attorney could be wrong. I suppose our Social Services Director, the head of the Juvenile Court, the Juvenile Advocate, and the Juvenile Attorney could be evil. I just simply do not believe either of those things is true. I think the Board should heed these experts.

I still believe this is a bad move by the Board, and will be harmful to kids who deserve better. Particularly African American kids. They will be shipped away and get worse services. But I have already made that case to my readers.

I’d urge folks who are interested to simply watch the meeting for themselves. Go to the Johnson County website. Near the top of the page is a gray bar. It says, “Board of Supervisors Meetings and Agendas.” Click there.

You see a list of upcoming events. Scroll down to “archived events.” Click on “Board of Supervisors.” Then click on the Wednesday, July 2 work session. Click on Video, and you can simply watch the meeting. The whole thing goes from about 9:06 am until 10:06 am.

Lauren Whited is a member of the Solon City Council. Recently, she had been hearing complaints from some of her constituents that Solon was becoming too expensive. So Lauren did an admittedly non-scientific survey to see what folks in Solon thought about the issue of housing.

As you might imagine, there were a range of responses, but Lauren felt there was quite a bit of pushback against building more apartments in town. It just so happens that Lauren is the only member of the Council who rents, and the only one who lives in an apartment. So she wrote a piece about being a renter in Solon. I thought it was lovely, and I wanted to share it here. The piece follows in its entirety.

“80 people replied to my informal housing survey. I have a lot to share and I will over the coming weeks. But I need to address something up front.

One bummer that came through in this survey is that there are folks in this community who are against affordable rentals because of the “demographic” it would bring in to town. These words were used more than once.

It really hurt my heart to see that because there’s only one way to interpret it… people who aren’t wealthy aren’t welcome. People who struggle should leave or better yet, never come in the first place. They’re bad neighbors. So we shouldn’t make space for them.

Well my friends, I am this “demographic.” I’m a single mom on a teacher’s salary living in one of Solon’s last affordable rental apartments. And I think that I and my neighbors are great.

I’ve been in this building for 3 years and most of my neighbors have been the same since I moved in. My neighbors are different ages and work all kinds of jobs, some are disabled, some are retired. One has been living here for over 10 years and we’re also getting brand new neighbors this summer. The kids who’ve grown up here can walk to school or the SRNA. We take care of each other’s pets and packages, Ioan each other things like pumpkin carving kits and vacuums, and smile and wave at each other. Our landlord mows and maintains the buildings. We’re *great* people to have in Solon.

If you’re afraid of “low income” people who rent apartments, I suggest you come meet some of us who already live here so you can realize that being good neighbors has nothing to do with our paychecks. We’re really nice.

If you like *us* as lower income neighbors because we’re already here, but not *others* because they’re lower income outsiders, I encourage you to ask yourself why. My sincere hope is that it comes from a place of fear over change (understandable, and which can be overcome through experience and information) and not a place of close mindedness to having neighbors of different backgrounds, incomes, and lifestyles. I can’t guarantee that every new resident will be a great neighbor—but that’s true whether they rent *or* buy, rich OR poor.

I *can* guarantee that, without rental “s and housing available at lower price points, we will drive good people *away* from our community. What about our fresh college grads or newlyweds who want to come back home to start their families? What about grandma who doesn’t need a 4 bedroom house anymore? Are they suddenly bad neighbors because of their different needs? We want Solon to keep its multigenerational small town feel but are driving out our youngest and oldest residents (who tend to make the least money).

When we base our housing policy out of fear of outsiders, we overlook the damage we may cause to our community and the folks already here. When we shut out folks because of their income we miss out on amazing neighbors, amazing leaders, and amazing contributors to our community.”

I LOVE the Iowa City Ambassadors! In case you are unfamiliar, I took the following from their website:

“Launched in 2024, the Downtown Iowa City Ambassador Program is a collaborative effort between the City of Iowa City and the Iowa City Downtown District. The goal is to make downtown a vibrant, safe, and inviting place for everyone to shop, dine, play, and conduct business. To support enhanced experiences, a significant portion of the ICDD budget with support from the City of Iowa City parking and transportation services is dedicated to keeping the area clean, safe, and welcoming all year round.

Our team of 18 ambassadors work daily from 6:00 AM to evening, providing essential services such as trash removal, sidewalk cleaning, and pressure washing. In addition to keeping our streets clean, the ambassadors serve as helpful resources for both locals and visitors, offering information, assistance, vehicle help, and safety escorts, while reporting issues that need attention.

Not only does Iowa City look much better, the few Ambassadors with whom I have interacted have been exactly that – Ambassadors for Iowa City! I am really impressed with the results of this program!

I just finished reading a book called “Nuclear War: A Scenario” by Annie Jacobsen. It was absolutely terrifying. But you probably need to read it, anyway. Unfortunately, it has just gotten much more relevant. Available at your local public library.

The US is currently at an inflection point. We really have not seen anything like this since the Great Depression. Are we going to be a country of robber barons, lording over a poor, sick, hungry country? Or are we going to be a country that lives up to the goals laid out in the Declaration of Independence?

The poor and middle class are under attack from the Republican Party, whose sole purpose is to take money from the poor and middle class and hand it to the rich. The GOP is not even pretending anymore. They are trying to recreate the America of the 1880s, where life was short and brutal for most, while a few lived in castles.

No one else is going to stop this. You and I are going to have to do more than ever before. You and I are going to have to step outside of our comfort zones. It is up to us.

I leave you with a part of a speech from FDR. He knew America could do better, and he taxed the rich to make it happen. We need to do so once again.

“There are two ways of viewing the government's duty in matters affecting economic and social life,” FDR said in his speech accepting the 1932 Democratic nomination for president. “The first sees to it that a favored few are helped and hopes that some of their prosperity will leak through, sift through, to labor, to the farmer, to the small business man.” The other “is based upon the simple moral principle: the welfare and the soundness of a Nation depend first upon what the great mass of the people wish and need; and second, whether or not they are getting it.”

*DID YOU KNOW? When Jonathon Jordahl won election as a Supervisor in 1996, he had the second-highest vote total behind incumbent Joe Bolkcom. Jordahl outpolled two incumbent Supervisors – Charlie Duffy and Don Sehr. There were three seats available, so Bolkcom, Jordahl, and Duffy formed the next Board with Sally Stutsman and Steve Lacina. 1996 is a unique election - it is very difficult to beat one incumbent, let alone two!