Tag: chairman

Vice Chairman Refuses to Endorse Current Chairperson of Horry County Republican Party

 Murrells Inlet, Wednesday April 10, 2019 – Steve Hoffman has announced his intention to endorse Ed Carey for the new Chairman of the Horry County Republican Party.  The Party will have its biennial convention this coming Saturday at the Ten Oaks Middle School in Carolina Forest where new party officers will be elected.

Steve has stressed the need for a positive campaign that will unite all factions of the Republican Party within Horry County and even has kind words for the previous Chair and Vice Chair; “Dreama and Gerri were indeed the “Dream Team”.  I want to personally thank Dreama for stepping up to the plate as Chairman after Robert Rabon could not seek reelection two years due to health reasons.  Dreama had experience in the party as the treasurer under the Rabon administration and she had years of experience with the National Federation of Republican Women.  And her running mate, Gerri McDaniel is probably one of the best political organizers and campaigners in Horry County, as verified by her outstanding performance leading the Trump for President Campaign in Horry County.”

However, Steve adds; “it soon became readily apparent that there was trouble in River City.  Attendance at both membership and executive committee meetings began to decrease.  The five standing committees directed by the HCGOP By-laws remained unfilled.  After I became Vice Chair of the Party my goal was to at least get the By-Laws Committee and the Planning & Operations Committee formed, which I established in short order.  Also, strategic planning, budgeting, and public relations activities were overlooked and basically non-existent during these past two years.”

Steve emphasizes that;  “During normal times, these issues would not be too alarming since as everyone seems to believe; “We are a Red State, a Red County…and we will always elect Republicans”.

Ladies and gentlemen…the times they are a changing…

All you have to do is look at our neighboring states of Georgia and North Carolina where the Democrat Party has made significant inroads.  Even the once solid Red state of Texas recently saw an upsurge in the number of Democrats elected to their statehouse.  And then may I remind you that we lost an almost certain Republican Congressional seat down in Charleston just last year.

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School Board Chairman Primary Nears

Ten days remain before voting takes place in the special primary election for the Republican nomination for Horry County School Board Chairman.

With statewide primary elections last month, the special election has stayed below the radar of many voters. However, the Horry County School Board annual budget is approximately $750 million. No locally elected government agency in Horry County is responsible for spending more taxpayer dollars each year.

Tuesday July 17, 2018 is the date voters will choose between three candidates for the Republican nomination.

The candidates bring an interesting mix of issues to the race.

Retired teacher Patricia Milley is concerned about the mental health of local students, an issue she said she first brought before the Horry County School Board in 1996. Milley claims one in four Horry County students suffer from mental health issues due to school days being too long, school curricula being too hard and nights too short to recover.

Milley proposes less instruction time per school day, more recess periods in the day and changes to easier curricula in the schools. She proposes 11 separate pieces of legislation that must be passed by the South Carolina General Assembly to institute her recommended changes.

Janice Morreale is the current school board member for Horry County District 5. She was first elected to that seat in 2012 with a campaign slogan of ‘Back to the Basics.’ Her signs for the special election chairman race are carrying the same slogan.

Morreale has been a solid school board member during the five and one-half years she has served District 5. However, 2018 has not been a great election year for incumbents facing opposition. While there is no incumbent in the special election for board chairman, Morreale is one of six incumbent board members who voted for a large salary increase for themselves last year. The salary increase issue already cost one board incumbent the nomination for District 6 in last month’s primaries.

Ken Richardson is the third candidate in the special Republican primary election. He is a Horry County native and longtime business man and former owner of Fowler Motors. Richardson has been a member of the Horry Georgetown Technical College Area Commission for 20 years, the past 15 as chairman of that body.

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