It seems The Tennessean is trying to promote the AMP by digging up dirt on Rick Williams, one of the leader of the anti-AMP movement. I like Rick Williams. (No, we are not cousins.) I liked Rick when he was a Democrat and was pleased when he left the dark side and became a Republican. I appreciate his leadership in the effort to save the fairgrounds, oppose Metro's livery price-fixing, and his effort to stop the AMP.
I don't know the facts behind the dispute involving an unpaid bill from a painter for a paint job on his parents house. I know lots of people have conflicts over construction projects. Last year I had a roof put on my house by an out-of-state door-to-door storm chaser roofer who tried to up the contract price by $6000, claiming almost all my decking was discovered to be bad and they had had to replace it. I refused to pay and finally the scam artist dropped the additional charges. Had he not dropped the charges, we would have gone to court.
Many years ago, I had a remolding job done on my house and the builder went bankrupt in the middle of the project, started doing shoddy work, abandoned the project, and then sued me when I would not pay him. We went to court and I won. Also, some sub contractors sued me. Luckily I had protected my interest and their suits never went to trial but if one would not have know the facts and only seen the allegations in the law suit, it would have looked like I was stiffing the contractor.
The other dirt in The Tennessean article was real lame-some licensing issues and traffic tickets. Also, the allegation that Rick is opposing the AMP because it would impact his limo business seems far fetched. Any impact on his limo business would have to be minimal. While it may not be in his best interest if the AMP is build, it does not follow that one should not get involved in issues which would negatively effect them. That is the same kind of argument they used against Lee Beaman and his involvement in the anti-AMP movement. They said his motivation in opposing the AMP was because he sold cars. I suspect Lee Beaman is financially well off and while anyone in business wants their business to continue to prosper, the number of cars not purchased from a Beaman dealership because the AMP gets build, I suspect would be insignificant. To my way of looking at it, we should oppose government actions that harm us. The AMP will harm me, because I am a tax payer and the AMP is an expensive project that will require billions to build and require operational subsidies. Should I not be allowed to exercise my right to speak out about the project?
I can't attest to Rick Williams' moral character. I know him casually like I know a lot of people and I have never done business with him, but he has never done anything to me and I appreciate his roll in fighting the AMP and his other civic involvements. The hit job on Rick Williams did not change my opinion of Rick Williams and certainly did not change my opinion of the AMP.
Below is the link to The Tennessean article. I hesitated posting this because I don't want to spread this type story. On the other hand, if you hear a smear campaign against Rick Williams as part of an attempt to discredit the anti-AMP forces, then you might want to know what is behind it.
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| Rick Williams |
Court records show multiple suits against Rick Williams and his companies in recent years.
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