Letters

By Tom Carsner, Iowa City Supervisors V Fixmer-Oraiz and Jon Green stood up for worker’s rights, fairness, and justice when they opposed Supervisor Rod Sullivan’s unprecedented and arbitrary firing of Board Executive Director Guillermo Morales in September 2024. Sullivan arbitrarily ignored County employee policies about “for cause” termination, progressive discipline, and basic employee rights. Sullivan […]

By Finch VanDyk, Iowa City I’m standing at the ballot box and staring down the future of Johnson County. Like it or not, there it stretches in front of me: 50, maybe 60 years lived in these 613 square miles. What kind of future will it be?  Two names stare back at me from the […]

By Kelcey Patrick-Ferree, Iowa City, District 5 On June 2, we will hold a primary election that includes Johnson County Supervisors. Because Republicans have decided that 3 counties in Iowa are no longer permitted to decide whether or not to use districts for Supervisors, we have had our 2024 local election undone. Mandi Remington, who […]

By Tom Rocklin, Iowa City I’ve known Zach Wahls since he was a boy. He is committed to fighting for all of Iowa’s families, whatever they look like, and he’s got the smarts, the drive, and the energy to do it. Zach has a deep understanding of Iowa’s and the nation’s challenges and the policy […]

By David Sterling, Iowa City I met Rod Sullivan shortly after helping start the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter. At the time, we were a small organization with limited reach and little institutional power. Rod did not have to pay attention to us, but he did. He showed up to events. He encouraged younger […]

By Candida Maurer, Iowa City There are two good candidates in Johnson County vying for one seat. This is an unfortunate result of the Iowa Legislature’s new law that forces our county to use a district approach to voting rather than an at large approach. This has put Rod Sullivan opposing V Fixmer-Oraiz in the […]

By John Boller, Iowa City I’ll admit I’ve grown disillusioned with politics. Too often, it feels like ego, posturing, and point-scoring matter more than actually serving the community. That’s why supporting V Fixmer-Oraiz for Johnson County Supervisor feels different. V leads with something that seems rare in public service these days: genuine care for people. […]

By Jim and Chris Walters, Iowa City For over 20 years, Rod Sullivan has served as a Johnson County supervisor. He has set a high standard. A supervisor needs to have a deep affection for the community and awareness of all its needs and problems. A supervisor must listen regularly and attentively to the various […]

By Joel E. Wells, Iowa City If you want to understand Iowa’s immigration problem, don’t start at the border — start at the paycheck. Illegal immigration is, at its core, a labor issue. It is driven by corporations seeking cheap, exploitable labor while working Americans struggle to earn fair wages and compete under equal rules. […]