SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
March 4, 2025
Sullivan’s Salvos 3/6/25
In this edition:
*New Low for Iowa Republicans
*Shelter House Book Sale
*ICCSD Cold Weather Policy - More
*Black History Month – Memphis Edition
*Budget Update
*Did You Know?
*New Low for Iowa Republicans
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 Book Sale
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.
To learn more, visit shelterhouseiowa.org/book-sale/.
*ICCSD Cold Weather Policy - More
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
*Black History Month – Memphis Edition
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 5th 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.
*Budget Update
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.
The budget will be finalized with a vote of the Board in mid-March.
*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!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 8:13 AM
0 Comments
