There are some deep cultural divides that have grown up between the rural and urban parts of this country. Unfortunately, these divides seem to be growing deeper. Also unfortunately, Johnson County is not immune to this phenomenon. My colleague Lisa Green Douglass had a frustrating encounter at the Johnson County Fair that is illustrative of this.

A woman confronted Lisa and said, “The problem with you Supervisors is that you are all from Iowa City!” Even if we were all from Iowa City, I would argue that such an outcome isn’t necessarily a problem and must reflect the will of the voters. But this woman’s statement is absolutely incorrect.

Lisa lives north of North Liberty in an old farmhouse, and has for over 35 years. Jon Green lives in Lone Tree. Pat Heiden lives in rural Newport Township. Royceann Porter and I are the only two Supervisors that live in Iowa City. And as I have mentioned ten thousand time, I grew up on a farm. So did Pat. Jon spent part of his childhood on a farm. The woman’s facts are simply incorrect.

After Lisa corrected the woman’s misstatement, the woman stammered. Lost for what to say next, she proceeded to complain somewhat incoherently that: A) Her taxes are too high, and B) Not enough money is spent on roads.

Let me begin by stating the obvious — roads cost a lot of money. Taxes pay for roads. It is difficult to imagine big tax cuts that do not result in worse roads. What’s more, over the past several years, Johnson County has taxed the maximum allowed by law on our roads. We literally cannot tax more in that area. For the most part, the public seems satisfied by this approach. So, in short — B is dead wrong, and A&B do not go together.

As her stammering implied, taxes and roads are not her real concerns. We all know what this woman is really trying to say: “I see lots of people who look and act differently from me, and it worries me. I feel a loss of control, and I am scared. Meanwhile, I feel as though you are telling me I am stupid.” No one wants to admit that, let alone say it out loud at the Fair.

So how do we address this situation? I think getting the facts out there is important. Perhaps the facts will lead this woman to focus on what really has her upset. We can let your false statement stand, or you believe “we treat you like you are stupid.” How are we to navigate that?

As my fellow Supervisor Jon Green wisely noted, “If fixing this was easy, someone would have done it by now.” Jon is correct. We will keep trying, but this is not easy.

Rod Sullivan has served on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors since 2004.