Author: Paul Gable

Coast RTA Asking County for Specifics

Coast RTA is asking Horry County Council to give specifics in writing defining “good faith effort” as it relates to the council’s prior request for increased representation on the Coast RTA board.

This request for increased representation held up initial approval, by council, of FY 2014 fourth quarter funds for Coast RTA of approximately $263,000.

The population of the Coast RTA board is determined by current state law. County council currently gets to approve one board member, council member Gary Loftus at this time.

County council would like to appoint three members to the Coast RTA board, which it believes to be in line with its grant contributions of approximately $1.06 million per year (six-tenths of a mill) to the Coast RTA budget.

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HCSWA Board Just Doesn’t Get It

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) board ignored business while spending one-third of its meeting time Tuesday night in what appeared to be a choreographed criticism over the verbiage in emails sent by board member Dan Gray.

The entire exercise was utterly ridiculous, but it did accomplish its probable goal of altering the discussion from what the HCSWA board and staff is not doing to chastising the one board member who has the courage to point out what the board and authority should be doing.

The email that offended the board members is quoted below in its entirety. It was sent in reference to the public meeting held by the authority recently to discuss plans for HCSWA property after closure of the landfill.

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Curtis Loftis Wins Battle for Public Fund Accountability

An agreement between S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis and the S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission (SCRSIC) is expected to be finalized tomorrow allowing four members of Loftis’ staff greater access to supporting investment documents of the state’s public pension fund.

Loftis has already signed the agreement and the SCRSIC board, on which Loftis serves, is expected to vote its approval tomorrow.

Since taking office nearly three years ago, Loftis sought to have members of his staff in the Treasurer’s Office get greater access to SCRSIC documents in order to help him (Loftis) conduct proper due diligence on investment decisions by the commission.

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Budgets - Cuts, Spending and You

ITAP Grant Symptom of Federal Money Woes

A recent grant announcement in the amount of $3.7 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to the International Technology and Aerospace Park (ITAP) at Myrtle Beach International Airport is a symptom of the greater problems affecting federal government spending.

While ballyhooed locally as a great aid to luring businesses to the now vacant facility, it’s really nothing more than pork barrel spending.

The 400 acre site, and plans to build this grand aerospace park, grew out of the failed West Side Terminal project at Myrtle Beach International.

The land was originally purchased, with a $12 million grant from the FAA, to be the site of the airport’s new west side terminal.

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Lt. Gen. James Vaught (USA-Ret.) 1926-2013

It is with extreme sadness that I report the death of Lt. Gen. James Vaught, a true patriot, a true American and a true hero.

According to an e-mail sent to county council members Friday night, Gen. Vaught drowned while trying to secure a pontoon boat in a lake in the area in which he grew up near Conway.

Although he traveled far and wide, commanding U.S. troops in two wars, as well as U.S. and joint forces around the world, Gen. Vaught’s heart was never far from his native Conway area.

In his retirement years, Gen. Vaught returned to South Carolina and to Horry County and Conway.

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Getting HCSWA Under Control

When Horry County Council tabled a resolution to sign a contract with the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) it took the first step to get an out of control agency under control.

This was a much needed and long overdue step, but only the first of what must be many steps.

In refusing to sign the contract, the county is now in the ridiculous position of paying higher tipping fees at its own landfill than Waste Industries, which has signed a contract.

A private hauler getting better rates at the county owned landfill than the county?

And for anyone who doesn’t believe the landfill is owned by the county, one only has to refer to the many statements by HCSWA director Danny Knight in which he said the landfill was owned by all the citizens of the county.

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Mike Irvin Announces for Chesterfield Sheriff

Mike Irvin became the first person to publicly announce his candidacy for Sheriff of Chesterfield County Tuesday.

Irvin is a decorated U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in the Bosnian conflict and also brings law enforcement experience to his candidacy from the McBee Police Department and as a deputy sheriff with Chesterfield County.

He lives in McBee with his wife, Lacey, and daughter, Taylan.

In January 2013, Irvin resigned from the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Department after becoming uncomfortable with some of the things he saw in the department.

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Council Tables HCSWA Contract

By a vote of 8-3 Tuesday night, Horry County Council tabled consideration of a contract with the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA).

In simple form, the contract would have reduced the landfill charges to the county based on the amount of recyclable materials sent to the landfill.

But, it’s a county owned landfill and all the waste sent to it from the county comes from the convenience centers spread throughout the unincorporated areas. The county charges residents in the unincorporated areas property taxes of slightly over $6 million per year, which it pays to the HCSWA to operate those centers.

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Southern Holdings and Rogue Attorneys

When I read a recent article about two rogue attorneys in the South Carolina who had stolen money from their clients, I immediately thought of the Southern Holdings case.

I have been reporting on the Southern Holdings case for a number of years including where an attorney has failed to account for over $100,000 entrusted to him by clients.

An accounting for expense funds in the Southern Holdings case provided Sep. 15, 2011, to James Spencer, former CEO of Southern Holdings, Inc., does not conform to S.C. reporting requirements for attorney trust funds.

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Myrtle Beach International Airport

Horry County Airport Problems

The recent firing of Horry County Airport Director Mike La Pier was not only precipitated by the guarantee to WestJet costing the county $500,000.

As one council member said, ‘that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back, but there were a lot of other straws.’

Several months ago, the airport advisory board heard from a consultant group hired by the airport department pushing, among other things, a new airport master plan that called for a second runway to be built.

Anyone living here before 2007 knows that is probably the stupidest recommendation made to the airport board in the last six years.

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