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 organizers. A couple years ago, when we hosted a small supervisor candidate forum at the public library with then-candidate Mandi Remington, Rod attended that too.
That matters to me. I genuinely believe Rod wants to serve the community. I believe he cares about labor issues and takes the job seriously. His attendance, his visibility in Solon, and his long-standing engagement with community organizations all make that clear.
Rod has often taken public positions in support of marginalized people and against reactionary politics. He has been accessible in ways many elected officials are not. Frankly, I do not think so many people would be angry with him today if they did not first believe he was capable of better. But intentions are not enough, and eventually a public record becomes impossible to ignore.
Over two decades in office, Rod has repeatedly used county resources and public platforms to insult community members, including documented incidents involving profanity, personal insults, and public outbursts toward critics. Many people in Johnson County have their own stories, screenshots, or experiences of being lashed out at for disagreeing with him, sometimes mildly. Even when people agree with Rod politically, they often describe interactions that left them humiliated, dismissed, or attacked.
More troubling is the gap between Rod’s rhetoric and his judgment. When workers with uncertain immigration status were abused by employers, Rod responded not by centering the exploitation itself, but by questioning how those workers had obtained those jobs in the first place. He has continued to align himself politically with organizations and candidates whose actions undermine the labor movement he claims to champion.
The Iowa City Federation of Labor consistently endorses business-owner candidates who employ non-union labor and offer little support for expanding union power. The organization is often criticized for prioritizing institutional loyalty and dues collection over meaningfully elevating worker power. One of the few times Rod has gone against their endorsements was for an Iowa City Council candidate that had publicly advocated cooperation with the Trump and Reynolds administrations, including cooperation with ICE.
Then there is the Morales lawsuit. Rod helped lead the abrupt firing of former County Executive Director Guillermo Morales in a manner that exposed Johnson County to significant legal and financial risk. The dismissal was only justified with broad character accusations rather than a transparent demonstration of misconduct. Regardless of where the lawsuit ultimately lands, the situation reflected a willingness to abandon procedural standards when politically convenient.
That contradiction was visible again just weeks ago, when Rod derailed the meeting process to loudly call a proposal to raise non-union employee pay “bullshit.” His justification: because it arrived at a nontraditional point in the budget process, and the county needs to hold onto any money it can. It would have taken anyone else five minutes to politely explain that reasoning behind voting no. Instead it took him nearly half an hour of repeating himself, speaking over others when it was not his turn, and disregarding the meeting process.
None of this is easy to say about someone I once admired. I still haven’t managed to unfriend Rod on Facebook. Some part of me, perhaps the more-privileged side who’s only faced some of his temper, sees a path to him turning things around. Finally dropping his defenses, taking in the feedback from his community, and looking at ways he has failed his own standards for conduct. But I can no longer see him doing that while in office. Nor do I think the county and its residents can afford it fiscally or ethically.
I hope he seeks to make amends and find redemption soon. There are many others he needs to repair things with first, well before he’d get to me, but still. One day, I want to forgive Rod Sullivan.
