MB council budget retreat is recession-inappropriate

In an editorial Sunday, The Sun News congratulated those local elected officials who realize that off-site budget retreats are recession-inappropriate, and asked why Myrtle Beach City Council is so tone deaf:

When times get tough and people are hurting, seemingly insignificant gestures by elected officials take on powerful meaning. So it's commendable that Georgetown City Council is on track to join other local governing bodies in passing up an annual perk - the off-site budget retreat.

The Horry and Georgetown County councils have already chosen to work through their budget problems closer to home, as have the members of the Brunswick County, N.C., board of county commissioners. Georgetown City Council members will decide this week whether to honor Councilman Jack Scoville's request that they do the same.

During off-site budget retreats, most often held at Santee Cooper's Pinopolis Conference Center on Pinopolis Lake near Wampee, members of local councils kick back in a relaxed setting to work through their budget challenges. The change of scene, they say, allows them to "think bigger" about the challenges they face.

Santee Cooper typically charges local governing bodies a pittance. The Georgetown City Council savings would be $500 to $700 - barely a blip on the city budget. And Horry County's savings from the retreat cancellation is $1,500 - again, not a significant amount of money.

But the Georgetown City Council is in a cost-trimming mode. As Scoville notes, "[T]he city needs to trim costs as much as possible in the light of the recession." Horry County, meanwhile, faces a $1.5 million budget shortfall in the current year budget and must make a fiscal 2010 budget grounded in dismal future-revenue projections.

Rightly, the leaders of local governing bodies - with one glaring exception - recognize that there's powerful symbol in such a demonstration of sacrifice. Even in the best of times, perks for elected officials, especially taxpayer-finances trips, inevitably strike some constituents as questionable. In hard times, the acceptance of such perks comes off as arrogance.

The glaring exception is the Myrtle Beach City Council, which plans to hold its annual Pinopolis retreat per usual - at a cost of about $3,500. "There is a benefit to getting away from daily activities and concentrating on the work at hand," explains the city's spokesman.

Maybe so, but the symbolism is dreadful - especially when there are many retreat-worthy venues in the city the council could use at little or no cost. The city's attitude seems especially tone deaf in a budget year when council members raised property taxes a million dollars to finance their strategy for ratcheting down the May motorcycle rallies.

Mayor John Rhodes and council members Wayne Gray, Randal Wallace and Chuck Martino, whose seats will be up for grabs in November's city election, might especially want to consider whether the relatively lost cost of retreating as usual is a wise move in this especially stressful time. The other councils, meanwhile, are fully in tune with the current public mood.

Comments?

The Horry and Georgetown County councils have already chosen to work through their budget problems closer to home, as have the members of the Brunswick County, N.C., board of county commissioners. Georgetown City Council members will decide this week whether to honor Councilman Jack Scoville's request that they do the same.

During off-site budget retreats, most often held at Santee Cooper's Pinopolis Conference Center on Pinopolis Lake near Wampee, members of local councils kick back in a relaxed setting to work through their budget challenges. The change of scene, they say, allows them to "think bigger" about the challenges they face.

Santee Cooper typically charges local governing bodies a pittance. The Georgetown City Council savings would be $500 to $700 - barely a blip on the city budget. And Horry County's savings from the retreat cancellation is $1,500 - again, not a significant amount of money.

But the Georgetown City Council is in a cost-trimming mode. As Scoville notes, "[T]he city needs to trim costs as much as possible in the light of the recession." Horry County, meanwhile, faces a $1.5 million budget shortfall in the current year budget and must make a fiscal 2010 budget grounded in dismal future-revenue projections.

Rightly, the leaders of local governing bodies - with one glaring exception - recognize that there's powerful symbol in such a demonstration of sacrifice. Even in the best of times, perks for elected officials, especially taxpayer-finances trips, inevitably strike some constituents as questionable. In hard times, the acceptance of such perks comes off as arrogance.

The glaring exception is the Myrtle Beach City Council, which plans to hold its annual Pinopolis retreat per usual - at a cost of about $3,500. "There is a benefit to getting away from daily activities and concentrating on the work at hand," explains the city's spokesman.

Maybe so, but the symbolism is dreadful - especially when there are many retreat-worthy venues in the city the council could use at little or no cost. The city's attitude seems especially tone deaf in a budget year when council members raised property taxes a million dollars to finance their strategy for ratcheting down the May motorcycle rallies.

Mayor John Rhodes and council members Wayne Gray, Randal Wallace and Chuck Martino, whose seats will be up for grabs in November's city election, might especially want to consider whether the relatively lost cost of retreating as usual is a wise move in this especially stressful time. The other councils, meanwhile, are fully in tune with the current public mood.

Comments?