Gary Williamson Denies Room at the Table a Business Permit

Drive north on Wood Avenue through the Seven Points intersection in Florence District I and immediately look to your right. What do you see? An empty building that is home to two store fronts. How long have these two locations been empty? We have no exact dates, but quite a while.

Enter a charity which wants to occupy one of these empty storefronts to provide a daily meal to anyone who asks. Wow! How lucky can Florence, North Florence, and District I get? Apparently not very lucky if Gary Williamson has his way.

Williamson is the head of the Florence Building Department and he has denied a license to Room at the Table, a local charity that we can't say enough good about. So much for Williamson (and the City of Florence by default) wanting to help uplift the city and its citizens. 

Comparing Two Charitable Organizations

SAC calls Virginia its U.S. home, but the ultimate headquarters is in London, England.

RATT is locally based in Florence, Alabama.

SAC does God only knows what with your donations.

RATT uses all donations to feed anyone who needs a meal.

SAC has received more negative local, national, and international publicity than almost any known "charity."

RATT is highly spoken of in Florence. 

SAC is currently run by two temporary residents, one not even a native U.S. citizen. 

RATT is run by locals who know and understand the Shoals dynamic.

SAC doesn't always feed women as much as men, whether by intent or poor planning.

RATT feeds a complete nourishing mean to all.

SAC has reported sexual abuse and criminal activity at its shelter.

RATT has no reports of abuse or crime at its meal program. 

SAC gets $38,000.00 from the City of Florence.

RATT gets the shaft from the City of Florence.

Does any of this sound right to you? 

We're asking that Mayor Steve Holt and District I councilwoman Kaytrina Simmons step into this situation, as is their prerogative, and at least give the public some believable answers!

Sweetwater, Miz Scarletts, & Sprinklers Are More Than Methodists

In less than a week it will officially be autumn, a season that brings football, harvest decor, and the growing business of haunted houses, cornfields, chicken coops, and even once-forsaken mansions. Sweetwater Mansion, once commonly known in the Shoals as the Weeden Home, will again be offering tours of the grounds. Adverts are stating the property belonging to Susan Leigh Smithson of Atlanta will this year also feature tours of the mansion's interior. According to Gary Williamson of the Florence Building Department, inside tours will not be allowed unless the building is brought up to code.

The Sweetwater blog on Blogspot is still advertising such tours in conjunction with G.H.O.S.T. The G.H.O.S.T. site lists the following disclaimers:

Restrictions apply, be aware that there is walking, stepping over and stairs climbing involved, along with outside natural and manmade grounds hazards, note your health conditions added with the heat tolerance to make sure you are fit for this investigation before signing on. G.H.O.S.T organization Members, owners of investigation properties and all those in charge of any and all sites shall be exempt from lawsuits involved due to injuries happening anywhere around inside or outside of properties on our investigation list. A waiver shall be signed by each person and all money shall be paid in full before being allowed to proceed with the investigation. There are no REFUNDS.

So, why will Williamson shut down any inside tours? Sources in his office state the main point of contention is the lack of a sprinkler system. The Sweetwater site doesn't state a specific opening date for the tours, so sprinklers could conceivably be installed before any public tours begin. If this and other code violations are remedied, those running the tours for Smithson will be taking in $25.00 per guest. That would make for a sizable gate each day the house and grounds are open to tours. On October 21st last year a ticket-taker was robbed of an undisclosed amount while manning the gate alone. The robber has never been caught.

That brings us to the next serious issue with Sweetwater Mansion tours. The home is still privately owned and was listed for sale as recently as mid-2009. Reportedly Smithson, a former resident of Tuscumbia, paid 400K for the property some years ago and was asking six million for the estate when it was first listed. After a major hotel chain located adjacent to the home, the asking price was raised to nine million.

We are very glad that the old home is finally being restored, but we still have no assurances the property will not be sold, the home razed, and a McDonald's or other ubiquitous restaurant erected in its place. Smithson has no desire to reside in the once stately mansion--she currently lives in Atlanta where she owns a boutique called Miz Scarletts of Piedmont.

That brings us to Smithson's previous lack of interest in restoring the ante bellum home. After graduation from a local high school, Smithson attended fashion school, did some modeling, and eventually wound up in Atlanta where she opened her own dress shop. One has only to Google the name of the shop in order to find multiple complaints lodged about Smithson's business, some of which have resulted in lawsuits over unpaid bills.

However, the most telling item concerning Susan Leigh Smithson's business practices is featured in a screen shot below.


Unless a legally organized entity takes over the renovation of Sweetwater, we choose not to support it. We'll send our dollars to Deep Fat--we get a better return.

Shoalanda

Connecting in ten, nine, eight...