Coralville Courier

Ringing in 2009

Happy New Year from the Coralville Courier

Representative Kraig Paulsen comments on Governor Culver's hypocrisy

DES MOINES, IA. -- House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) issued the following statement today in response to Gov. Culver’s plan to create a Misclassification Unit to enforce the hiring of independent contractors:

“Two weeks ago the governor was forced to implement across the board budget cuts. Then last week his own department heads asked to increase their budgets by 5.7 percent. Now the governor wants to spend almost $1 million on a task force. During this time of economic uncertainty, the governor should be looking for ways to save taxpayer dollars, not spend more of them.

"I am amazed that the governor doesn't think the 2,600 new state employees he authorized in the last 2 years are enough. Further, these additions the governor proposes are being made to address an issue that I have yet to receive a single constituent contact on."

Editor's Note:  Don't you just love how Democrats invent problems?  The Governor wants to spend big bucks in creating a new government unit - bigger government, more bureaucracy - for which there is no real problem, GEE, what a surprise......  In a quick review of the Iowa Workforce Development website there are just two complaints on this issue.  TWO.  Where is this supposed widespread problem?  Two formal complaints and that warrants a new $1 million government unit? And that will be just the-turn-a-snowball-into-a-snowman start of it....  Elected officials aren't receiving misclassification complaints, there aren't any stories about abuses/arrests in the media, we don't hear about how the government can't handle the overload of misclassification cases.... This smells like yet another liberal excuse to grow government and raise taxes......  Send Governor Culver your displeasure 

A friend of mine has long contended that the m/o for certain democrats was what he calls, "Looking for Pool Tables."  Find a phony problem which needs to be solved by throwing money at it.  You nailed it Bill!

Transit service re: New Year's Eve and New Year's Day

IOWA CITY, IA. -- On Wednesday, Dec. 31st Iowa City Transit buses will operate on the regular weekday and weeknight schedule. On Thursday, Jan. 1st there will be no bus service; regular bus service will resume on Friday, Jan. 2nd, 2009.

Republican Party of Iowa: RPI chair, co-chair candidate forum rescheduled

The Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee has rescheduled the chair, co-chair candidate forum for Saturday, January 3, 2009.

The forum will be held from 10 a.m. to Noon at Republican Party of Iowa headquarters, 621 E 9th St, Des Moines. The public and media are invited to attend.

The forum was originally scheduled for Saturday, December 27th but had to be postponed due to poor weather conditions. The State Central Committee will hold elections for chair and co-chair at their next regular meeting on Saturday, December 10, 2009.

For more information, please contact Nathan Treloar at 515-282-8105 or nathan@iowagop.org.

ROBBERY ARREST

IOWA CITY, IA. -- On Sunday December 28, 2008 at about 9:09PM the Iowa City Police Department responded to the CVS Pharmacy located at 2425 Muscatine Ave. for a robbery.

Employees reported that a subject came into the store demanding money and a bottle of alcohol. The suspect had his hand in his coat jacket to make it appear as if he had a weapon.

A description of the suspect was put out to responding Officers. A short time later Officers came across a subject matching the description of the suspect. Investigation into the incident led to the arrest of this subject for robbery 2nd.

Charged with 2nd degree robbery is 28 year old Genarus Smith of Iowa City.

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Election 2008: A Crossroads?

MOUNT PLEASANT, IA. -- The Initiative & Referendum Institute based at the University of Southern California reported that voters in thirty-six states voted on 153 state ballot questions on November 4, 2008.  The major ballot questions which dealt with cultural issues, most notably marriage and abortion, and the economy became fundamental issues of the election.

It appears that voters continued to show strong support for upholding and constitutionally protecting traditional marriage, defined as between one man and one woman.  Arizona, California, and Florida all passed bans on same-sex marriage.  This trend continues to demonstrate that a majority of Americans oppose same-sex marriage and support constitutional protection of traditional marriage.

Although voters supported traditional marriage, voters rejected efforts to ban abortions.  California, South Dakota, and Colorado all had ballot questions dealing with abortion and all three failed.  “Both abortion and marriage still remain front and center in the cultural war and both will most likely remain front and center in 2009,” said John Hendrickson, a Research Analyst with Public Interest Institute in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

In addition to cultural issues voters also faced tax and bond questions on their respective ballots. The National Conference of State Legislatures reported on three significant tax issues: In Massachusetts voters rejected a measure to eliminate personal income tax; in North Dakota voters rejected a measure to “cut personal income tax rates by 50% and corporate rates by 15%;” and Oregon voted down a measure that “removes the cap of $5,600 on the amount of federal income taxes paid that may be deducted on state income taxes.”

The election results paint an uncertain future for both limited government and protecting marriage and life.  Perhaps with many state budgets in crisis, including Iowa’s budget, and the fiscal health of the nation in jeopardy, Americans will realize that economic solutions do not rest in tax increases or government-run solutions, but allowing constitutional government and the free enterprise system to work.  Whether the issue is limited government, tax reform, protecting marriage, or defending the unborn, or to put it simply, Ronald Reagan’s coalition, we must not give up in fighting this cultural war against liberals and progressives.

“Election 2008: A Crossroads?” from Public Interest Institute’s LIMITS, is available at www.limitedgovernment.org.

For an interview or more information on this issue, contact John Hendrickson, Public Interest Institute Research Analyst.

Fire Marshal Obtains Peace Officer Certification

IOWA CITY, IA. -- On Friday, December 5, 2008, Fire Marshal John Grier, of the Iowa City Fire Department, successfully completed law enforcement officer certification by completing a 13 week course of study at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. The academy was created in 1967 to serve the training needs of all who are responsible for the prevention, detection, and enforcement of the criminal laws of this state and who, by the nature of their duties, may be required to perform the duties of a peace officer.

The course, or courses, of instruction for peace officers includes instruction in the following subjects:

1) Criminal law
2) Rules of criminal evidence
3) Methods of criminal investigation
4) Identification of criminals and fingerprinting
5) Presentation of cases in court
6) Making of complaints and securing of criminal warrants
7) Securing and use of search warrants
8) Small arms instruction
9) Physical training
10) Report writing
11) Regulation of traffic

Local code grants the Fire Chief and members of the Fire Prevention Bureau the powers of a police officer in performing their duties, including full powers of arrest to effectuate their duty of enforcing city ordinances and state statutes.

Fire Marshal Grier manages the Fire Prevention Bureau, which is responsible for fire/arson investigations, fire code enforcement, and public safety education. He has been a member of the department since 1992.

Winter/Spring Recreation Registration

IOWA CITY, IA. -- The Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department has announced the release of the Winter/Spring Activity Guide and registration dates.  The guide will be available for pick up at several City facilities effective Monday, December 29th. Those facilities include the following locations:

1. Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center, 220 S. Gilbert St.
2. Mercer Park/Scanlon Gymnasium, 2701 Bradford Drive
3. Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center, 28 S. Linn St.
4. Iowa City City Hall, 410 E. Washington St.
5. Tower Place/Parking, 335 E. Iowa Ave.
6. Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St.
7. At our website www.icgov.org/pr

The activity guides are also going to be distributed to all Iowa City Elementary Schools beginning Monday, January 5th.

Registration begins on Wednesday, January 7th at 8:00 a.m. at the Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center for all classes except Private Swim Lessons. *Private Swim Lesson registration will begin on Friday, January 9th at 8:00 a.m. at the Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center.
*You will only be able to register for 1 private class/session per day.

Remember, that you may register for classes on-line at
www.iowa-city.org/registrationmain.sdi

Note: Private swimming lesson registration is not available on-line.
If you are a first-time user of our on-line registration system please visit our website before December 30th to set up your new account. You will need this account set up to be able to register on-line on Wednesday, January 7th. If you are a returning customer, please visit our website on January 7, 2009 beginning at 8:00 a.m. to enroll in winter/spring classes.

In Person Registration Hours:

Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center
Monday - Thursday, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Mercer Park Aquatic Center/Scanlon Gymnasium
Monday - Thursday 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Registration staff is NOT available at Mercer on Fridays.

Please Note:  
You may purchase 10-punch swim cards, 30 day or annual swim passes and 15 punch fitness cards at Mercer Park Aquatic Center/Scanlon Gym at the front desk anytime.

If you have any further questions, please contact the Recreation Center office at 356-5100.

Personal income down in November

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) has issued the following news release:  

Personal income decreased $20.7 billion, or 0.2 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) decreased $11.8 billion, or 0.1 percent, in November, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The full text of the release on BEA's Web site can be found at
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/2008/pi1108.htm

Rod Sullivan and his legacy

Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan thinks that right after his turn at playing Chairman concludes at year's end, history will show that he did great things and made the right decisions when he was in the chairman's seat.  He is quick to point out for example that for the first time ever, the Johnson County Chair was granted the power to enact curfews. For the first time ever, the Chair was granted the power to do mandatory evacuations. 

Wow, what a legacy huh?

The outgoing Chairman (thank goodness!) also provided *leadership* causing a 13.52% increase over the previous year with the fiscal 2009 budget of approximately $75 million.  Sorry Sullivan, but dramatically jumping from around $64+ million to $75 million from one year to the next is not a good thing.  And as if saddling taxpayers with a $10 million jump isn't enough, Chairman Sullivan led the charge with taxing Johnson County residents with an ADDITIONAL $20 million in the form of unspecified government land buys for unspecified uses.  Not the stuff of a good legacy.  Sullivan has acted like a pig at the taxpayer trough.

Sullivan is wrong in assuming that history will show his actions were justified and correct.  Voters should be further frustrated by the fact that the Sullivan led Supervisors failed to budget properly and now face up to an $870,000 budget shortfall according to reports.  Supervisors completely failed to anticipate declining interest *revenue* a.k.a. your tax dollars dwindling as a result of a declining economy.  An $870,000 budget shortfall is a HUGE problem!  We paid Sullivan NOT to make a boneheaded mistake like this.  OINK!

"We know revenues are going to be really flat, which is why we are working hard to keep expenses down," Sullivan said in a Press-Citizen report. 

Keep expenses down? Hell, why aren't we talking about deep cuts? Johnson County families are making deep cuts and making sacrifices, what cuts and sacrifices are county officials making? So far, we've heard little to none.

The Sullivan led supervisors failed to save for a rainy day.  They didn't put any money in reserve, none, nada, zip.  That's not leadership, that's callously spending every penny of taxpayer money.  Result?  Sullivan comes around asking for more money via higher taxes. 

Sullivan's line of thought:  We exceeded the budget?  Who cares, raise taxes!  After all, taxpayer money grows on trees right?  Oh, and we need to increase the budget for some pet projects, we'll need to raise taxes for that too.

Sullivan obviously hasn't cared to lead and properly plan a budget or prudently put some money into a reserve.  He thinks you are obligated to give him more money upon request.  That's apparent with the evidence of ballooning budgets, a growing list of pet projects, a huge budget deficit glaring us in the eyes and no reserve to fall back on.

Note that no program cut considerations have even been mentioned by Sullivan or any of his cohorts.  All we're getting is a generic, "We're trying to keep expenses down."

This is highly unacceptable leadership by Chairman Sullivan.  His tenure was expensive, expensive in unwarranted, needless fashion.  His legacy is one of dramatically higher taxes with little to show for it.

Let them eat cake!

Give him your opinion at: rsullivan@co.johnson.ia.us