Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Politics Haslam Fends Off Wamp Attack
Posted by Jeff Woods on Tue, May 25, 2010 at 3:32 PM
The theater was the essential anchor for downtown redevelopment, he said. But private investors were balking because Regal Cinemas was promising to run the theater for only five years. After that, there was no guaranteed revenue stream, making the 40-year bonds too risky at their 5 percent annual return.
“Literally, the whole thing was contingent on people buying the bonds and nobody else would and I said we will be the buyer of last resort.”
If nobody would invest, shouldn't the deal die? “Well, you know, economically, probably,” Haslam replies. “But I thought the downtown movie theater was critical to the success of downtown renovation, and most of the people who were involved in downtown redevelopment would tell you the same thing. So it was just something that I did, we did, for the good of the community.”
“We had people who were looking at doing everything from opening new retail stores to restaurants, all of whom were saying it’s contingent upon getting that movie theater built. There are a lot of things that are done in cities and counties and communities that don’t necessarily make economic sense that are good for the community.”
Will Haslam’s explanation wash with voters? It sounds good to us. He stands to double his $2 million investment in the theater, but it’ll take 40 years to do it. If Haslam hoped to personally profit from his public office, as Wamp suggests, it was a poor scheme.
Update: Spontaneously, without any urging from the Haslam campaign, Knox Chamber Partnership President Mike Edwards has just issued a statement defending his mayor. As a courtesy, the Haslam campaign provided Edwards' thoughts to the media.
"Downtown business owners and Knoxville citizens are incredibly appreciative of the Mayor's leadership and for all that he and his family have done for our community over the years. This appears to be an unfortunate political attack that attempts to stretch the truth."
Comments (11)
Showing 1-11 of 11
You want to see unethical? How about rigging the number of signatures required for ballot referendum so that 2.3 times the number of people who voted have to sign petitions? Ever see that? Haslam did just that last week.
Haslam is Boss Hog in a better suit. The law means nothing to him.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/may/22/p…
like
dislike
Is it just me, or does "Wamp Attack" sound like something that might've happened in a Star Wars movie?
Haslam is the best Republican running for Governor. This deal actually does good for the community, and Haslam put his money where his mouth was. How many politicians can say that? Scant few.
I personally think this deal makes Haslam look pretty good. I don't see what anybody else has to gain from pointing their fingers and saying, "see! look!"
Who would invest in something that takes 40 yrs to double your
money? Zack is upsetting a number of voters who might consider
him as Governor. Whoever advised this attack apparently didn't
check this out well enough or is incompetent!
Wamp's smear here represents the worst of today's political rhetoric. It is directed at a public assumed to be ignorant and ready to be twisted into anger by tortured logic. Anyone aware of the facts knows the Haslams' did Knoxville a favor with their bond purchases. Now was that favor intended to also purchase goodwill from voters? Yep! Just like free hotdogs and nail files at your friendly neighborhood meet and greet.
"Is it just me, or does "Wamp Attack" sound like something that might've happened in a Star Wars movie?"
I used to bull's-eye Zach Wamps in my T-16 back home.
@mattintn, Haslam is at best in 3rd place. After watching last night's forum in Memphis, even Ron Ramsey sounded more eloquent than Bill Haslam. I'm tired of hearing Haslam reel off hundreds of statistics and more numbered lists than I can count. At the end of every answer he gave, I left thinking, "What in the world did he just say?" Then, at the end of the entire forum, when analyzing the 3 candidates (because Kirkpatrick was such a joke he shouldn't even be considered), I thought Haslam gave the least substance regarding what he would do to revitalize TN. He may have stats and numbers up his sleeve, but that's all he's got going for him... oh, and tons of cash on hand.
I still don't think Ramsey is the guy, so I leave with Wamp. He definitely was the most concise, yet provided the most well-thought and well-researched vision for bolstering our state. It comes as no surprise that his experience in Washington and the networking internationally, nationally and at the state & local levels equip him to be the best candidate for the position.
Both Ramsey and Wamp mentioned a candidate having a "backbone", that being our state needs a strong minded Governor that is willing to stick up for beliefs, values and their agenda. I believe Wamp has that, especially when compared to Haslam.
I just can't go there for Wamp, unless or until he explains his remark that mountaintop-removal coal mining is good for wild birds.
When I said "best," that's what I meant. I didn't say Haslam is the most popular, but he is the one that I see actually having knowledge of how the state runs. He's also not stoking up stupid anger about meeting the feds at the border over gun rights. The feds have made no move against Tennesseans' gun rights.
I'm just waiting to cash in my bet that sometime before the primary, Ramsey is going to say that Haslam is too rich for the job, while himself wearing a pair of thousand-dollar boots.
A good measure of a man is to watch their reactions while under pressure. Lately, we hear Wamp talking about sleeping with a gun and Ramsey habitually spewing his sociopath rhetoric. Business men, and especially ones that have goals and achieve them, talk about metrics. Metrics may be boring subject matter but it indicates that Haslam is a capable man. So, our choices are: A loose cannon (Wamp), an illiterate with Napoleonic Complex (Ramsey), or a boring business man (Haslam). Give me the business guy any day.
How can Wamp Criticize Bill Haslam and family for making investments to better the city of Knoxville? A downtown movie theater isn't exactly a strategic investment to retire, just another example of giving back to the Knoxville community. I hope this isn't the kick off to a negative campaign strategy by Zach Wamp.
