Ever want to say something about Atlantic Beach’s latest predicament, but weren’t
sure what? Thursday’s editorial offers help:
If Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes
were arrested, or Conway Mayor Alys Lawson, or Surfside Beach Mayor Doug
Samples, our newsroom would quickly shift into overdrive. Reporters and
photographers would be sent to dig up background. Front pages would be
redesigned. Sources would be mined for information. Competition would be fierce
for every nugget of information. Articles and editorials already in the works
would be moved to the back burner to fit in news and commentary on the arrest.
When Atlantic Beach Mayor Retha
Pierce was arrested – again – this past week, the reaction around here was a
bit more muted. Rather than “Oh my God!” it was more of an “Oh, her again?”
Friday’s editorial gives some kudos
to Rep. Stephen Goldfinch, who’s been impressive in his strong work ethic thus
far in Columbia:
Take a look at what most of our
freshman legislators have done thus far in Columbia, and you might get the
understandable idea that they’re largely getting their feet under them and
finding out how it all works before attempting any substantive work.
Together, the four newcomers from
Horry County – Sen. Greg Hembree and Reps. Heather Ammons Crawford, Kevin
Hardee and Mike Ryhal – have proposed three insubstantial resolutions honoring
local folks, one road-naming resolution and two actual lawmaking bills, neither
of which got further than the committee level.
Sunday’s first editorial was cribbed
in part from one that ran 15 years ago:
Ready for a busy few weeks?
May is just around the corner, and it
brings with it a slew of events and visitors. How the events play out and our
reaction to them could determine not just their individual success, but our
reputation as a tourist destination and the repeat business of the hundreds of
thousands who will grace our shores this coming month.
One of the major complaints of those who can't understand why Atlantic Beach is still around is that it's almost impossible to unincorporate a municipality in South Carolina once it has been incorporated. A bill filed this week in the state House would make that a bit easier.
If a municipality is more than 13 months late on submitting its annual financial audits to the state treasurer (as Atlantic Beach is), the treasurer will withhold state payments (as has happened to Atlantic Beach.) This would go further, saying that if those audits are not completed within another 13 months, the town would surrender its charter and unincorporate.
Will this go anywhere? I kind of doubt it. May 1 is the crossover date, at which point it becomes harder for bills that haven't passed one body to make it to the other. But because this is the first year of the two-year session, if it doesn't pass now, it won't officially be dead until at least the summer of 2014. At least that would give Atlantic Beach time to catch up, as they sorely need to do.
Thursday’s editorial uses the plight
of Princeville, N.C.,
to illustrate the usefulness of the municipal oversight bill that South Carolina is
lacking:
Stop us if this sounds familiar:
A small but historic Carolina town with deep roots in black
history and a proud tradition of overcoming the odds finds itself mired in a
nasty cycle of incompetent or corrupt leadership. Its debts vastly outweigh its
income. Its finances are a shambles, with residents and outside officials alike
asking where the money went. Town leaders bicker, argue and take each other to
court rather than discuss problems like grown-ups.
The town’s current political leaders,
facing hard questions about dubious expenses, have responded with claims of “witchcraft”
and enemies “raised by the devil.” And residents watching events unfold are
left shaking their heads at the mismanagement and negligence that has brought
their hometown so low.
Alone among Horry County’s 120
precincts, the folks of the Spring Branch precinct in Nichols – in the far
northwest corner of Horry County – turned out more than a quarter of their
voters on Tuesday. The Hickory Hill precinct in Loris was the only other
polling place to record more than a fifth of their registered voters at the
polls.
Sunday’s main editorial offers a
glance at some more local issues that we’ll be paying attention to as the
legislature gets in gear this year:
The 120th General Assembly of South
Carolina began its work this past Tuesday with a long to-do list already
waiting. An unprecedented hacking of the state Department of Revenue requires
urgent attention to cybersecurity. Ethics issues that have entangled prominent
state leaders have renewed calls for a revamping of the S.C. Ethics Commission
and legislative ethics committees. Education leaders have proposed a dramatic
rewrite of the school funding formulas. The governor and Republicans continue
to push for deeper tax cuts, particularly for manufacturers.
And looming over it all are two
lawsuits in front of the S.C. Supreme Court that threaten to unmake the state
budget, one that seeks to do away with the state’s many tax exemptions and
another long-running suit that argues the state does not devote enough money to
school funding. Either could throw funding deliberations for a loop when or if
they’re settled.
But in this busy swirl of statewide
problems are also many local issues that have the attention of Grand Strand
folks or that at least deserve our attention.
Sunday’s editorial takes a stab at
rounding up all the recent developments in Atlantic Beach
and repeats some good proposals for putting the town back on better footing:
The question isn’t what to say about
the continued turmoil up in Atlantic
Beach. It’s an
unmitigated, chaotic mess. The question is where to start and what to do about
it.
The town has suffered from
disorganized elections, leadership and finances for years. But to sum up all of
the problems would take much more space than we have available. Instead, a
quick (as if that’s possible) rundown of just the more recent developments is
in order:
Kudos to Myrtle
Beach leaders for moving this week to bring the city’s ordinance
governing the sale of laser pointers in line with the rule that Horry County
is considering. Too many rules on the Grand Strand differ by municipality and
city boundaries, an issue that has gotten better in recent years but which
continues to vex residents, visitors and businesses.
For all the attention that Richland County’s election day debacle has
received – justifiably so – it’s hard to get too exercised about. As lawmakers
and Richland
leaders wail and shout about the miscarriage of justice and the incompetent
blundering that they’ve seen, we can’t help but shake our heads and smile.
Obviously, none of them have ever followed an Atlantic Beach
election.
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