Dick Williams Luncheon

Dick Williams Speaks at Chapter November Luncheon

Our guest speaker at the Chapter November luncheon was Mr. Dick Williams, local political commentator and editorialist. Dick is currently a columnist for the Dunwoody Crier, and previously worked for the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Thanks to Chapter Board member Paul Borer ’70 for arranging this visit. Dick is a friend of Paul’s and attends his same church.

Dick opened his talk with a comment of particular interest to us. He has recently served on Cynthia McKinney’s service academy selection board. This is his last year to serve since Ms. McKinney was not re-elected to office, (thank God). He said that he felt it was important for him to serve on that board since Ms. McKinney told him in no uncertain terms that no one in her camp was interested in it (the academy selection process)! So, he stayed on to look out for our interests.

His next topic was the progression of Georgia into the “reddest state east of Utah!” For over 135 years Georgia was ruled by Democrats, but now the state typically votes 75% to 80% Republican. He said that Georgians are now deeply conservative like no others. For one example, he mentioned that in the recent local elections the Democratic candidate for Governor, Mark Taylor, got just one third of the popular vote. The Democratic party is nearly dead in Georgia according to Dick.

Nationally, the story is quite different. The Republicans are “in the same boat” as the Democrats are in Georgia. The Republicans lost big in the recent elections and “they deserved it” per Dick.

He then noted what he saw as a very interesting and important change in the structure of government in Georgia as the state gets “redder”. The structure of government is migrating toward governments that are physically closer to the voter and taxpayer. For example, he sites the city of Sandy Springs which split off from Fulton county. He predicts that Dunwoody will be next, followed by John’s Creek. Then perhaps Milton county. Sandy Springs has fewer than 100 employees, most of whom are policemen. As such, there is no bureaucracy to get bogged down and mired in politics. Public services are provided by private contractors, such as CHM2 Hill, who are chosen through a bidding process. Though Sandy Springs is handling its own traffic/street maintenance issues, Dekalb and Fulton counties rely on the Atlanta Regional Commission to do so.

A Q&A session was held after Dick’s prepared remarks. Though many interesting points came up, one in particular caught my attention. The issue was that of raising the minimum wage. Dick’s take on the minimum wage is that it has little meaning, since even fast food restaurant chains pay their employees more than $2.00 over minimum wage. His point being that very, very few people are affected by it. It is primarily used by the labor unions as a bargaining chip, since union wages are tied to the minimum wage.

After a few more questions Dick closed with one of his favorite quotes from Roger Staubach, (whom he played basketball against) which was this: “Please remember, be kind to your children. They are the ones who pick your retirement home!”

Many thanks to Dick for taking time to visit with us, and share his special insight.

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Dick Williams starts his prepared remarks.

Chapter President Steve Frederick '72, presents Dick with his personalized Atlanta Chapter Apron.