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?”
South Carolina budget hawks have long been fond of
touting the need for zero-based budgeting. The idea – in which state agencies
would have to justify all of their spending, not just the increases or
differences from year to year – has its merits. But we’d go further. South Carolina could use
some zero-based lawmaking.
A hundred new jobs and another
company headquarters in the county? Yes, please.
News this week that gunmaker PTR
Industries is considering Horry County as it gets ready to leave Connecticut is exciting news for our area,
which is recovering from the recession, but not as quickly as we would like.
Dozens of new well-paying jobs (averaging $20-21 an hour) would be a noticeable
and welcome boost to our area.
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.
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.
Kudos to S.C. lawmakers – and
particularly Murrells Inlet Republican Sen. Ray Cleary – for pushing through
legislation to give voters the chance to allow churches and other nonprofits to
hold fundraising raffles.
Is ethics reform hard? Yes. Is it
possible? Of course. Sunday’s editorial urges legislators to keep trying until
they get it right:
It’s time for South Carolina ethics reform to stand up and
walk.
Any parent knows the process children
go through as they learn to walk for the first time. It starts not with the
body, but with the head. Long before they’re actually able to actually
coordinate their limbs and balance their weight, babies begin to try. And they
fail. And they get frustrated and cry about it. And then they try again. And
fail again. It can be months between when a child knows what he wants to do and
when he’s actually able to do it. They’re not able to tell us, but it’s likely
that all those false starts make the success at the end even sweeter.
Sunday’s editorial attempts to
explain why normal folks might want to pay attention to the flow control debate
that’s been consuming local politicians:
Your trash disappears each week like
clockwork. Leave it by the curb or throw it in the Dumpster and it’s gone in
the morning. Most of us don’t care that much about how it happens as long as it
takes place.
So why should Horry County residents
care about the knock-down, drag-out fight taking place over the county’s trash
management rules? A couple of reasons. First because it’s your money being used
to wage this fight. Second, because our leaders’ time and energy are not
infinite, and the vast amounts of energy expended on dealing with local garbage
means less to spend on other issues.
Friday’s editorial takes a look at
proposals to allow third-party businesses to lease solar panels to S.C.
consumers:
Solar power certainly isn’t perfect.
Those pesky clouds, for instance, can be a major problem. But it is one more
bullet in the renewable energy gun and one more way to take advantage of a
constantly replenished source of energy that will move us closer to the goal of
energy independence.
The problem in South Carolina? Solar power has largely
remained the province of utilities, large businesses and a few wealthy
homeowners. The biggest solar project in the state, at Boeing’s plant in North Charleston, for
instance, makes up about 65 percent of the entire state’s solar capacity, which
tops out around 4 megawatts. Santee Cooper’s largest solar project, located in Myrtle Beach just south
of The Sun News, can generate about a third of a megawatt. Compare that to the
26,000 megawatts produced in the state from all energy sources and it becomes
clear that the sun isn’t exactly a major part of South Carolina’s energy solution.
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.
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