SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
May 30, 2026
Sullivan’s Salvos 6/4/26
In this edition:
*RIP Ruth Crow
*RIP Bill Leefers
*Congratulations Doctor Wallace!
*Salvos Timing
*Iowa Arts Fest
*Heather Cox Richardson
*Lyz Lenz
*County Finances
*Did You Know?
*RIP Ruth Crow
Ruth Crow, 97, of Iowa City passed away recently. I had the distinct pleasure of living next door to Ruth and her late husband Lynn for just short of 25 years. Ruth was one of the most kind, gentle, decent people I have ever met, and I was truly blessed to know her.
The kids were young when we moved into our house on East Court Street. We always had at least 3 kids in the house, and sometimes as many as 5. Through it all, Ruth was almost like another grandparent. She gave the kids birthday cards, discussed things with them, and let us know if something worried her. All the while being kind and caring. You really cannot ask for a better neighbor.
It should be noted – Ruth was a diehard Republican. She knew our house was full of Democrats. That never stopped us from talking, and it never stopped her from being kind.
As you probably know, I am involved in a Democratic Primary. While Ruth has put up my sign over the years, I did not want to ask her this time. It was a Democratic Primary, after all. But one day in April I ran into her son at Hy Vee. He said, “Where is Mom’s sign?” I explained my thinking, and he just chuckled – “She wants a sign. She absolutely loves you.” It made me cry.
Ruth – the feeling is mutual. I love you, too. RIP, neighbor!
*RIP Bill Leefers
I was sad to hear of the passing of Bill Leefers of Solon. Bill was a very interesting fellow – quite a Renaissance man.
He left a successful banking career to work for me at The Arc. It was the dawn of the internet age, and Bill and I learned a lot of things together. He understood running a business, but not human services. I understood human services, but not running a business. Together, I think we did a pretty good job. In addition, Bill later worked with our dear friends at the Arc of East Central Iowa in Cedar Rapids.
On the side, Bill got his nickname – “Buffalo Bill” – because of the bison he raised on his acreage off Jordan Creek Road southwest of Solon. (By the way – I learned that fencing Bison is an expensive endeavor. The fence he had to build resembled the fence in Jurassic Park!)
Once I got on the Board of Supervisors, I recruited Bill to serve on our Zoning Board of Adjustment. He served long and well, and brought a lot to the group. Bill also served on the Board of the Solon Retirement Village.
Every time I ran into Bill, we went right back to our same old roles – he would give me crap about his road, and I would ask if it was too late to fire his ass. We’d laugh and laugh. He was truly a joy.
Bill was smart, funny, caring, kind, generous, and mischievous. My life was better because I knew him. RIP, Bill.
*Congratulations Doctor Wallace!
Congratulations to my pal and Johnson County Board of Health member Peter Wallace (69MD, 74R) on being honored with the University of Iowa Eight Over 80 Award.
A longtime pediatrician and community health leader, Wallace has dedicated his career to improving the lives of children and families in Iowa and beyond. From founding Pediatric Associates of Iowa City to supporting child safety, public health, and school-based health care initiatives, his impact continues to be felt across the community.
*Salvos Timing
For those of you that are longtime readers, you know that I have struggled over the years with the timing of Salvos. As it stands now, I typically send it on Sundays, with it dated the following Thursday.
Hopefully, anything that occurs between Sunday and Thursday was mentioned in the previous week’s edition. That is what I try to do, anyway. But certain “breaking news” items simply do not lend themselves well to a once-per-week email.
Nowhere is this more glaring than elections. Obviously, most of you will have read this Salvos – dated June 4 – on May 31 or June 1. But the election results (available June 2) cannot appear until next week’s edition – dated June 11.
I wish I had a whole news bureau, and we could get you breaking news as it happened. But I am one person – a poor typist at that – doing the best that I can.
You know, I am proud of Salvos. Every week (with very rare exceptions) you get 1500-2000 words, touching on what I feel is important. Other people do it for a month tops, and then only when up for election. I do it every week. I’m proud of that.
*Iowa Arts Fest
The Iowa Arts Festival runs Friday, June 5 through Sunday, June 7 in downtown Iowa City. Arts Fest is an award-winning, weekend-long community celebration and Iowa City tradition that started in 1983.
The event features over 100 local, regional and national visual artists in the Art Fair, and on Saturday and Sunday, we feature youth artists ages 16-25 in the Emerging Artist Area.
But that’s not all: there are music performances, food vendors serving regional and ethnic dishes, and creative, educational activities and entertainment for children. It’s the most anticipated art event of the summer! For the whole schedule of events, please see: https://summerofthearts.org/sota-events/iowa-arts-festival/
One more thing: my family and I are longtime donors to Summer of the Arts, the organization that puts on this and so many other great events. Please join us in contributing! The organization needs your help!
*Heather Cox Richardson
Have you ever heard of Heather Cox Richardson? I am just going to steal from Wikipedia here:
“Heather Cox Richardson is an American historian who works as a professor of history at Boston College. Richardson has authored seven books on history and politics. In 2019, she started publishing Letters from an American, a nightly newsletter that chronicles current events in the larger context of American history. Richardson focuses on the health of American democracy. As of July 2025, the newsletter had over 2.6 million subscribers, making it one of the most popular Substack publications.”
Sign up for Letters from an American. It is simply wonderful!
*Lyz Lenz
While I am making newsletter recommendations, try “Men Yell at Me” by Lyz Lenz. While also political, this newsletter is some funny stuff! It is worth the small amount it costs and then some!
*County Finances
There is a lot of discussion in the community about the ICCSD finances. While I have no special knowledge of the ICCSD, I can speak about Johnson County finances. So let’s dive in.
Johnson County has a Finance Department, and has since 2012. Prior to that, budgets were a mishmash of work between Board Office staff, the Treasurer’s Office, and the Auditor’s Office. It did not work well, to be honest. Former Treasurer Tom Kriz, former Supervisor Janelle Rettig, and myself began looking for a better way to do business. We ended up taking a large group of folks from all three offices to Linn County, who had successfully used a Finance Department model for a couple decades at the time. We came away impressed, and set about creating a similar structure.
Treasurer Kriz led the way in terms of designing the flow of business. We developed a reserve policy that is still in use. All three offices agreed to give up a full-time employee, allowing us to staff a three-person Finance Department for minimal extra cost. Dana Aschenbrenner, who had been a Deputy in the Auditor’s Office and was then serving as a Deputy in the Treasurer’s Office, became the Department Director. (Dana is still in that role.)
Since that time, Johnson County has received several awards from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) the gold standard for public finance. We won awards for our Annual Financial Report from 2014-2021 (8 consecutive years) and our Annual Budget Report for FY2016 – FY2025 (10 consecutive years) after which we discontinued the practice of submitting them. Unfortunately, a change in our Eide Bailly audit schedule didn’t allow us to meet the GFOA submission deadlines. One of our long-term goals is to resume participation in these programs.
We have been dealing with a backlog in audits. You may recall that a couple of years ago, Johnson County requested the State Auditor to investigate some mishandled funds/assets in our Conservation Department. The State Audit report took over a year to finish; because of that, Eide Bailly paused our audit process. Now that those issues have been resolved from an accounting perspective, Eide Bailly is finishing up that audit. Hopefully they can move directly into the next one. But we are definitely behind.
Overall, I think Johnson County’s finances are in very good shape. We have a healthy set of fund balances. We have very low debt. We have good public buildings with the notable exception of the jail. Our fleet is in good shape. More financial policies are forthcoming. All in all, I am quite proud of where we sit.
Johnson County recently took on a huge challenge, moving all our financial and HR processes to Workday. While we are excited about the possibilities, this is an enormous change. We are already seeing plenty of examples of less duplication, less steps, less paper, etc. There is massive potential to impact how we do our work. There are definitely some struggles behind the scenes. But I am confident that in the end, we will have an even better financial system.
*DID YOU KNOW? The earliest known property tax records, dating from approximately six thousand years B.C., are in the form of clay tablets found in the ancient city-state of Lagash in modern day Iraq, just northwest of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
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 @ 8:50 PM
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