SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
August 12, 2025
Sullivan’s Salvos 8/14/25
In this edition:
*Happy Birthday Melissa!
*Happy Birthday BJ!
*Latino Fest
*Cosgrove Pork Day
*Correction
*Emergency Powers = Congressional Surrender
*Terrence Neuzil
*Gaza
*Did You Know?
*Happy Birthday Melissa!
My wonderful wife Melissa Fath celebrates her birthday on August 17th. I have got to tell you – Melissa Fath is AMAZING! Her ability to balance cancer research with her roles as a wife, mother, and community member – I have no words to do it justice! I guess I’ll just stick to: Happy Birthday, Honey! I love you!
*Happy Birthday BJ!
My son Octavious (BJ) turns 29 on August 22. He has already had several adventures, and there are no doubt more to come. BJ lives in northern New Jersey where he is pursuing his dreams.
BJ is funny compassionate, kind, and all around wonderful! I am very proud of him! Happy Birthday, BJ! I love you!
*Latino Fest
For more than a decade, the Iowa City Latino Fest has been a vibrant, Iowa City tradition—and in 2025, we’re keeping it stronger than ever with the theme "Nuestro Festival." This is a celebration of life, culture, and community that brings us all together—Latinos and the entire Iowa City community—to share the rhythms, flavors, and colors that make Iowa shine.
Join us on Saturday, August 16, from Noon to 9 PM in downtown Iowa City for a day packed with live music, DJs, folkloric dances, salsa lessons, and delicious food from Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, and Colombia.
Whether you’ve been part of this tradition from the beginning or are joining us for the first time, you are welcome here—and you’ll leave proud, inspired, and full of joy.
No matter what, we keep this tradition alive—because this is Nuestro Festival. This is Iowa.
Don’t miss it!
*Cosgrove Pork Day
Sunday, August 19 marks the annual St. Peter’s Catholic Church Pork Day in Cosgrove. There is a Polka Mass at 11; pork dinners served 11-2; events for kids, bingo, a beer tent, raffles, and much more!
*Correction
I made a mistake on the dates re: the Iowa City chicken ordinance. The Council actually fixed the ordinance in 2023. My apologies.
*Emergency Powers = Congressional Surrender
The public focus on Donald Trump – far and away the worst President in US history – ignores a really important point. All of the damage Trump is doing to our country is supported by Republicans in the US House and Senate. They could stop (or at least moderate) most of what is happening. Instead, they have bent over backwards to give Trump more power than any President in US history. How? Through the use of emergency powers.
Trump has used emergency powers to do his damage on tariffs, immigration, energy deregulation, and to combat protests. These are powers the President is *only* supposed to use in a legitimate emergency. But the US House and Senate have looked the other way and allowed Trump to do whatever he wants, no matter how flimsy the justification.
Elizabeth Goitein writing for the Brennan Center for Justice: “Emergency powers are designed to let a president respond swiftly to sudden, unforeseen crises that Congress cannot act quickly or flexibly enough to address. Presidents can rely on these powers to create temporary fixes until the crisis passes or Congress has time to act. Emergency powers are not meant to solve long-standing problems, no matter how serious those problems may be. Nor are they intended to give a president the ability to bypass Congress and act as an all-powerful policymaker.”
“This is not the first time a president has used emergency declarations to push policy goals despite the lack of a sudden crisis. In his first term, Trump issued an emergency declaration over migration at the U.S.–Mexico border at a time when unlawful border crossings were hovering near a 40-year low. He used the declaration to secure funds for the border wall after Congress had repeatedly refused his funding requests. President Joe Biden, during the Covid-19 pandemic, tried to use emergency powers to forgive student debt — a serious problem for many decades — in the face of congressional inaction.”
“The Brennan Center has proposed a number of reforms to emergency powers. One key proposal is to amend the National Emergencies Act to require emergency declarations to expire after 30 days unless approved by Congress. This would shore up Congress’s role as a check against presidential overreach. The Brennan Center has also proposed reforming the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to curb its potential for abuse — including by prohibiting its use for tariffs.”
Voters – remember that Republicans in the US House and Senate could have stopped all of this, and they decided to cheerlead instead. Every single one of them needs to lose their job. Frankly, every single one of them needs to be ashamed.
*Terrence Neuzil
I ran into my old friend and colleague Terrence Neuzil at the Iowa State Fair. It was great to see him – although we have communicated online a few times, this is only the second time I have seen him in person since he moved in early 2016.
Terrence and I met doing local politics in the mid-90s. Terrence was a legacy – his father Ralph was known by everyone, and served as the County Attorney for a few years in the early 1960s. It seemed as though a quarter the county was related to Ralph. But Terrence’s mom Arlene might have been even more connected! She was a Stika by birth, and if a quarter of the county was related to Ralph, a third must have been related to Arlene. Back in the days before the internet, Arlene really knew how to work a call list! Ralph was charming and funny and got most of the credit, but Arlene put a lot of Democrats in office over the years with her phone calling.
Terrence was elected to the Board in 2000 at the tender age of 30 – the youngest person ever to hold the office of Supervisor. I was elected in 2004, and started serving in 2005. So we served together for ten years.
That was a very productive ten-year period! We accomplished a lot of good things during that time. Terrence and I had our differences, as all Supervisors do, but we always got along really well, and as I noted, it was a very good ten years for the people of Johnson County!
I see Neuzil brothers Wayne and John around town quite a bit, and they always give me updates on Terry. The State Fair, however, is brother John’s turn to shine! John was the Grand Champion last year in the miniatures category, and this year, he placed third. I am extremely impressed by John’s attention to detail! His works are really cool!
John Neuzil was just one of many, many Johnson County residents who displayed their talents and hard work at the Iowa State Fair. I am incredibly proud of all of them!
*Gaza
Let’s talk about Gaza a bit. It is horrific. Joe Biden, stuck in the 1970s, could not get it through his head that the Israeli government was committing genocide. They were, and they are.
So to say that the very top of the Democratic Party has not handled the situation well is an understatement. It would also be an understatement to say that Republicans have been worse. Because they were, and they are. Donal Trump is evil, and 99% of the rest of the Republican Party enables the evil.
Democratic candidates are gearing up to run for office in 2026. I hope that all of them will see the horror in Gaza for what it is, and demand an end to US aid to Israel. I hope they even go a step further, and tell the Israeli leadership that the US will deliver aid to Gaza, even if it requires our military to do so at the barrel of a gun.
*DID YOU KNOW? The Social Security Act, signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 14, 1935, marked a pivotal moment in American history by creating a federal safety net for elderly, unemployed, and disadvantaged citizens. It addressed the widespread economic insecurity exacerbated by the Great Depression, establishing a system of old-age benefits for workers, unemployment insurance, and aid for vulnerable groups such as dependent mothers and children, people who are blind, and those with disabilities.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 7:54 AM
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