Author: Paul Gable

Horry County Council and Coast RTA

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus announced last week he would appoint an ad hoc committee to study the controversy that exists between Coast RTA and the S.C. Department of Transportation.

The ad hoc committee will study facts relevant to two stalled Coast RTA projects, a $1 million shelter and sign project for bus routes and a feasibility study for an intermodal transportation center for the agency.

SCDOT representative Doug Frate told council members in an executive session held after a council workshop last week that Coast RTA may have to pay back approximately $500,000 to SCDOT for the stalled projects.

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Our Dysfunctional U.S. Congress

This week’s vote on raising the federal debt ceiling again demonstrated the U.S. Congress is totally dysfunctional.

It is important to remember that raising the debt ceiling only allows the U.S. Treasury to pay bills Congress has already authorized.

The real work of cutting federal spending must be done in the budget process and Congress passed on that in December 2013.

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“Big Talk” Viewers on Tom Rice

Seventh District Representative Tom Rice has received mixed reviews from viewers of the television political talk show “Big Talk.”

One e-mail sent to the show criticized the handling of social media by Rice’s minions. According to the viewer, anyone attempting to put a critical comment on Rice’s Facebook.com page is quickly blocked from the site. Only praise of Tommy is allowed on the site. Sounds like a weird interpretation of Dr. Pangloss to me.

Another viewer e-mail, however, praised Rice’s resolution to have Congress sue President Obama for overstepping his presidential authority by liberal use of executive orders.

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Horry County Council Oversight

The Horry County Council workshop last week demonstrated the new approach council is bringing to addressing issues throughout the county.

Council is taking a stronger, more hands on approach, especially with large, potentially controversial issues, before they become a divisive subject of debate on the dais mired in the morass of politics.

Of particular interest was the RIDE III agenda item where a strong majority of council voiced the opinion ‘let’s take our time and get this right with sufficient public input along the way.’

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Paul Price Will Not Seek Re-election

Horry County District 5 council member Paul Price announced today that he will not seek re-election this year.

Price, who is retired from the military and the highway patrol said it was time to focus on his family.

“When I look at my life as a whole, I’ve served the country, the state and the county for a total of 45 years,” Price said. “It’s time to focus on family now.”

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Time to Replace Chief Justice Jean Toal – Updated

By Paul Gable
The S.C. General Assembly is set to vote today on whether Jean Toal will continue as Chief Justice of the S.C. Supreme Court.

Toal and Associate Justice Costa Pleicones have spent the last several months lobbying legislators with neither, apparently, garnering enough support to force the other out of the race.

It takes a majority of those voting to win a new 10 year term that will begin July 1, 2014 with the new fiscal year. The Senate will begin voting at noon with the House following shortly thereafter.

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Reconsidering the HCSWA

A Horry County Council workshop scheduled for February 6, 2014 at 5 p.m. will consider amending Ordinance 60-90 to add a formal process for dissolving the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA).

Free standing, quasi-governmental authorities are the worst form of public agency. They have a tendency to forget they are public agencies trusted with implementation of public policy through the use of public dollars. The HCSWA proves this statement every day.

Since its creation, in December 1990, the Horry County Solid Waste Authority board has acted as if it was the board of a private corporation rather than the implementation arm of Horry County Council’s solid waste policy. And the HCSWA board quickly developed its own peculiar form of corporate arrogance.

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HCSWA Flow Control Lobbying

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority is looking for a way to continue lobbying activities in Columbia despite last week’s vote by Horry County Council to amend the county’s flow control ordinance.

The HCSWA Finance Committee will consider a request by HCSWA executive director Danny Knight to approve approximately $30,000 initially for continued lobbying activities.

If the committee approves the request, the HCSWA board will consider giving approval at its regular meeting in February.

In the meantime, Knight has approval of the HCSWA board to negotiate a temporary, month-to-month agreement in the $5,000/mo range.

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Snowplows at Myrtle Beach International Airport

Approximately 10 years ago, the Myrtle Beach International Airport bought eight trucks with attachable snow plow blades with a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The airport really didn’t want snowplows. It wanted trucks to use in maintenance around the airport and it wanted a maintenance building, built with another FAA grant, in which the trucks and other things would be stored.

The snow plow grant was approximately $300,000 and the grant for the maintenance building was approximately $1 million.

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Carl Schwartzkopf Not Seeking Re-election

Horry County District 8 council member Carl Schwartzkopf announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in the upcoming 2014 general election.

Schwartzkopf said he was announcing his retirement from county council early so that candidates would know District 8 was an open seat in 2014.

Schwartzkopf said at age 73, he believes it is time for him to retire.

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