The Opinion Blog

Time to Revisit the Idea of Myrtle Beach Voting Districts?

Sunday’s editorial:

Voters in Myrtle Beach will be electing their mayor and some council members this year – primaries are just around the corner – and the elections bring with them a perennial question: Should Myrtle Beach transition to a system built around district representation rather than the current at-large offices?

Opponents of the current system point out correctly that politicians from the north end of the city have dominated City Council for years. Of the current seven-member council, six live north of 16th Avenue North – five are north of 46th Avenue North. Only Mike Lowder, who lives around Fifth Avenue South, lives in southern Myrtle Beach.

Expand Voters' Choices

Thursday’s editorial calls for a bit more opposition in local elections, for the benefit of everybody:

Surprise! Republican Mark Lazarus is your new Horry County Council Chairman.

Well, not much of a surprise. In fact, this was about as far from a surprise as is possible. If surprise were a city, we’d still be right here and those actually in Surprise would be halfway across the world, somewhere in Eastern Europe. If surprise were measured on a scale of 1 to 100, we’re around a -6. That’s how far from surprised we were with the outcome of Tuesday’s election.

How unexciting and predictable was this race? Only a paltry 1.23 percent of Horry County voters bothered to turn out on Tuesday. The unfortunate poll workers at the Gurley precinct in Loris waited all day and nobody showed up to vote. Hopefully they had a good book.

Civil Talk About a New Library

Tuesday’s editorial is a slightly bizarre mashup of topics, on one hand talking about civility in leadership and the other the overdue possibility of a new library in Myrtle Beach:

How much have relations between Myrtle Beach and Horry County officials warmed in recent years?

County Councilman Marion Foxworth’s offhand remark at last week’s meeting about Chapin Memorial Library was a good indication:

“They’re still giving us plastic cups.”

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Thankfully, cooperation has improved over the past couple of decades between Myrtle Beach and Horry County, as Sunday’s editorial notes:

The Sun News editorial on March 28, 1993, three days before the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base’s closure:

There will be a finality to the Wednesday afternoon ceremony that no one wanted or expected, or was prepared to encounter. It happened, however, and we must deal with the future, even as we remember with fondness the past.

There is, of course, hope for the future amid the bickering of the civilians left to struggle with what happens next. The three competing plans for redevelopment have left the community without the voice of unity it desperately needs.

Step Forward on Sweepstakes

Tuesday’s second editorial:

With the governor’s signature Friday on a bill banning sweepstakes gambling in the state, we hope another chapter in the state’s on-again, off-again relationship with video poker has come to an end. Gambling proponents will no doubt soon search out another loophole in state law to burrow through, but legislators and the governor were wise to stamp out this incarnation before it grew any larger.

Salvation Army to Roast Myrtle Beach Mayor Rhodes

Wednesday’s second editorial encourages support of the upcoming roast of Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes to benefit the Salvation Army. Among the intriguing questions left: Who will he pick as the roasters?

The second “Roast on the Coast” fundraiser of the Salvation Army – Horry County is shaping up to be altogether different than the first event in 2012. On April 16, Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes will be “toasted and roasted” at the Dunes Golf & Beach Club. “We appreciate Mayor Rhodes coming alongside the Salvation Army and helping us with this event,” says Major Bret McElroy.

Kudos on the Spending Reports

Friday’s first editorial offers some belated kudos to the local chamber on their public spending reports:

The remarkable thing about the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s spending reports lately have been how unremarkable they’ve been.

Yes, reports like the most recent ones that cover promotional efforts for last summer provide sometimes interesting details of how the city’s tourism sales tax is being spent. We can learn about the more than $55,000 spent to build a 15-ton sand sculpture of President Obama during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte last year. Or the $85,000 that went to golfer Dustin Johnson for his services as a spokesman.

Good Step Forward on Lasers, Though Enforcement Questions Remain

Friday’s editorial praises the recent move by Horry County to limit laser pointer sales, but points out there are still some gaps when it comes to actually enforcing the new rules:

Horry County’s move Tuesday to limit laser sales in the county is a strong step toward ending the inane and dangerous fad we saw last year of shining the lights at incoming aircraft. Even better is the concurrent action by Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach to work toward adopting identical ordinances so that buyers need not simply drive into the city to make a purchase. But the proof will be in the pudding. Will the new rules actually make a dent in the profusion of laser strikes – more than 70 – that we saw last summer?

Welcome Harmony on Laser Rules

Friday’s first editorial:

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.

Get on the Ballot, Women

Sunday’s editorial encourages more women to consider runs for elected office:

A little over a year ago, as city, county and state leaders took their seats in a dimly lit ballroom at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center to discuss the issues affecting our area, one leader stood out. Among the 30 or so of the most powerful elected officials in the area, the only woman was Myrtle Beach City Councilwoman Susan Grissom Means.

Asked about her unique position, Means didn’t prevaricate. “This is ridiculous,” she said after last year’s meeting.