Vote Friese, Lewis

Kurt Friese and Jason Lewis get two of my votes for Johnson County supervisor in the June 7 Democratic primary. Friese and Lewis are the only two candidates who have committed to stopping urban sprawl by shrinking or eliminating the North Corridor Development Area for residential growth north of Iowa City. Urban sprawl has many environmental costs, such as taking farms out of production, increasing carbon emissions, and eating up natural areas.

Friese and Lewis also want to support local food production on small farms. Increasing access to mental-health services, juvenile-justice services, and child-welfare concerns are important to both. A housing Bill of Rights and other initiatives to increase affordable housing and fair housing have been proposed by both candidates. They were both Bernie Sanders precinct captains.

Look at KurtFriese.com and LewisForSupervisor.com for more details on their campaigns. Join me in voting early for them at the County Administration Building, 913 S. Dubuque St., or on June 7.

Tom Carsner

Vote Heiden, Lewis, Green-Douglas

Sneaking up on us in a few weeks (June 7) is the primary election for three seats on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. We have the choice among six candidates who have studied the issues.

Many facets of our lives are touched by issues that the supervisors decide: transportation, air and water quality, parks, public health, law enforcement and jail, civil defense, voter registration and elections to name a few. Do you want someone who is ill-prepared to assume oversight over these areas?

I don’t. I want new and refreshing candidates to represent me. I’ve decided that Lisa Green-Douglas, Pat Heiden, and Jason Lewis have all studied the concerns of the county and have shown they can do the homework and research to serve us best. Please join me in casting your votes on these three qualified, dedicated, and committed candidates.

Harry Olmstead

Helping those in need in Johnson County

We should thank people like Benjamin Marks for his work to start an IMU food panty (DI May 11). One of every four students has been classified as food insecure. Many cannot afford enough healthy food. Many turn to the overburdened county food bank for help.

Campus food needs are likely to continue to increase.

It was unfair for highly paid university administrators to veto the Johnson County minimum wage for their employees. Thousands were denied their 95 cent raise on May 1. One justification was that all but 32 were students. The controversial new university president seems to have come out of hiding long enough to make our students second-class citizens. Boy, do we need our unions now.

Dan Daly