SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
June 7, 2026
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/11/26
In this edition:
*No Salvos Next Week!
*IC Pride
*Father’s Day
*Juneteenth
*Election Results
*Thank you!
*My Statement
*Playing “Gotcha!”
*Did You Know?
*No Salvos Next Week!
There will be no Salvos next week. Expect your next edition (dated June 25) in your inbox on or around Sunday, June 21. Enjoy your week off!
*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. Huge thanks to Joe Reilly for all his great work, and the work of the many volunteers who make it happen!
Please allow me to call particular attention to the annual Pride Parade at noon on Saturday, June 20, followed by the annual Pride Festival on the Ped Mall. Happy Pride, all!
*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.
*Election Results
Tuesday, June 2 was Election Day in Johnson County. Let’s get to the results.
On the GOP side, voters chose Zach Lahn over Randy Feenstra to be their candidate for Governor. I am looking forward to this race in the fall!
On the Democratic ticket, there was a contested primary for US Senate between State Senator Zach Wahls of Coralville and State Representative Josh Turek of Council Bluffs. Representative Turek prevailed there, and will be our candidate versus Ashley Hinson.
In the race for US Congress First District, Christina Bohannon won, setting up a rematch with Marianette Miller Meeks.
Johnson County Supervisor was contested in four of the five Districts.
In District 1, Lisa Green Douglass defeated David Woodruff.
In District 2, Jon Green defeated Jessica Andino and Janet Godwin.
In District 3, Sue Dvorsky was unopposed and moves on to face Republican Jennie Wunderlich in November.
In District 4, V Fixmer Orais defeated yours truly.
In District 5, Mandi Remington defeated Joe Riley.
I sincerely hope Democrats are ready to put June behind them and go to work this fall! There is SO much riding on it!
Thank You!
There is a lot going on in our world right now. Honestly, local politics is low on the list of important topics. But I would be remiss if I did not say some thanks after Tuesday.
I have several people to thank:
1. My wife, Melissa Fath. It is not easy to be the spouse of an elected official. I am SO blessed to have Melissa as my partner! She even stepped in as my Treasurer when the fates took my previous Treasurer away.
2. The voters. I have worked really hard. I think we’ve accomplished some great things. I did not garner enough votes to win, but I feel the love!
3. My late Treasurer, Gary Smith. Keeping track of the money and filing the official reports is tedious, thankless work. I could never have done this without Gary’s dedicated behind-the-scenes service! Gary passed away late in 2025, but I felt his presence.
4. The Iowa City Federation of Labor and all the local labor unions who supported me. The endorsements mean a lot, deep in my heart. I am so proud to be a part of Iowa City Fed!
There are plenty of other people I could thank, but readers would grow weary of the whole list. Please allow me to just offer a big THANK YOU! to everyone who helped with this election. I love you all!
*My Statement
I put the following out late Tuesday night on Facebook. It appears below in case you are not a part of that platform.
Congratulations to V on their victory tonight. Thanks to everyone who gave their time, talent, and treasure to my campaign - I love you all!
Honestly, I feel a lot of things right now, but primarily excitement. I do not know what the future holds, but there are so many opportunities to do positive things. I look forward to exploring my options.
In addition, there is a lot of work to do in the remainder of my term. The next few months are going to pass quickly, and I have many things to finish up.
I have had a lot of folks offer condolences, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I realize that I am extremely blessed. I will be just fine.
Thanks again for all your kindness. Take about 24 hours to lick your wounds, and get ready for November!
*Playing “Gotcha!”
I see a disturbing trend in local politics that I would like to see stop. A number of folks engage in what I refer to as “Gotcha!” politics. And it is not healthy.
What do I mean by “Gotcha!”? Here are a couple real examples:
A woman goes on Facebook and asks an inflammatory question about an action taken by the Board of Supervisors. There is a very reasonable response to her question, which she gets in short order from a Supervisor.
Here is the irony – this woman knows at least 4 Supervisors personally. She is literally the campaign treasurer for one of the Supervisors! She could have called, texted, emailed, or Facebook messaged at least 4 of us. But instead, she took to Facebook to play “Gotcha!”
Here is another: A local podcaster claims that “the departmental details of the Johnson County budget are not online, and a member of the Board of Supervisors says she never even saw them!” This is all bullshit.
I called the podcaster. I noted that every departmental budget was online (and had been) since the day each was discussed. I told her where to find them. And the idea that a Board Member claimed she did not see them? That is absurd! We all saw the same info that was online.
The podcaster argued that it was hard to know where to look for these departmental budgets, and I had to agree. So I said, “I’ll tell you what. I will get those posted in a more public place on our website within the next 48 hours.” It was done in under 36 hours.
The thing is, had she just called me upfront, I could have explained it all, and gotten the info posted in an additional place, and she would not have needed to roast the Board on her podcast. But that would be beside the point, wouldn’t it? She never wanted a real answer. She wanted an issue.
Because these are not legitimate questions. These are attempts to play “Gotcha!” These folks pretend to be innocent, claiming they are just asking questions. In reality, they want drama.
What can you do? When you see a social media post that says, “Why did the ICCSD do x?” or “Why did Coralville not do y?” Respond like this:
“I don’t know. Did you ask them?”
And hey, if the answer is, “I tried, but they never got back to me”? OK. Post away. That is fair game. But at least attempt to ask your question first.
That is one way we can all help to keep this trolling to a minimum.
*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-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 12:15 PM
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