By Mike Thayer
Hopefully you have read, watched, or heard of the flap over the special tax levy for the Johnson County Emergency Communications Center (JECC).
At issue: The budget for the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC) and the special levy funding the center. According to supervisor and policy board minutes the established levy was 77 cents per $1,000 of valuation. When the policy board requested what they thought was a reduction to 75 cents for fiscal 2011, Supervisors cried foul and now claim the levy was set at 68 cents.
The supervisor crying foul the loudest is Rodney "F___ You" Sullivan. Documentation clearly shows that Sullivan was OK with a 77 cent levy. This was the amount discussed in 2008 and throughout 2009. It's been documented, chronicled and reported on.
From the Meeting Minutes, JECC Policy Board, Friday, November 7, 2008: "Present for the Johnson County Board of Supervisors were Chairperson Rod Sullivan, Terrence Neuzil, Larry Meyer, and Pat Harney. Harney is also a member of the JECC Board. Sullivan stated that the principal concern to the Board of Supervisors was public reaction to the overall county tax increase. Sullivan stated that the Board of Supervisors was looking for a commitment to have the special tax levy remain at .77 per $1,000.
So why was 77 cents OK with Sullivan throughout 2009, and suddenly not OK as of last week?
What changed? Sullivan is now claiming that the budget for the JECC is "out of control." He all of a sudden went public with a list of "egregious" items on his blog he claims the JECC policy board is guilty of overspending taxpayer money on. Sullivan has inside-baseball knowledge with these *infractions*, long-term knowledge of events - but he's just NOW alerting the public to it? That's a red flag. If these matters are so "egregious" then why did Sullivan wait until just a few days ago to sound the alarm? What kind of leadership is that? Or is it something else?
Sullivan writes on his own blog that his idea for running the JECC means putting the county sheriff in charge of operations. After much research and review of successful JECC programs by the policy board and others, that's not the model the JECC was developed on, meaning Sullivan's idea for how things should be was rejected. Further, according to Coralville Courier sources, Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek didn't care for the Sheriff-running-operations concept either. That Sullivan's concept was rejected stuck in his craw.
Then according to Sullivan himself, he went with a "Plan B." From his blog: "I then went to a fallback position… if having the Sheriff run the JECC was unacceptable to Iowa City, then let the ICPD run the thing. This, too, was shut down."
Again, not the model the JECC was developed on and apparently, Sullivan is the only one who had issues with it. The guy has absolutely no practical experience with this kind of thing, and he thinks he knows best? That's laughable. Ignorant arrogance.
Given Sullivan's history of throwing hissyfits when he doesn't get his way, he sounds bitter that he was rejected. Could this explain his sudden desire to be fiscally conservative and complain about the JECC budget? Ironic isn't it? The Johnson County budget went up 56% over a four-year period with Sullivan as chair for a large part of that time frame, and now he's all-of-a-sudden mindful of taxpayer dollars?
Who does he think he's fooling?
Crux of the matter: The template for the JECC budget was indeed based on a 77 cent special levy. Rodney Sullivan has gotten the supervisors all worked up over what he claims is supposed to be a 68 cent levy. He's on record for maintaining 77 cents, but just the other day cries foul over a policy board proposed 75 cents.
What is Sullivan not telling us? And what kind of leadership is that? There's something else going on here and it stinks, it stinks like a dead skunk in the middle of the road.....
Story developing....
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