Author: Paul Gable

SWA Asks Chamber to Support Flow Control Monopoly

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority is trying to enlist the help of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce with lobbying efforts to maintain the solid waste flow control monopoly the SWA currently enjoys in the county.

Officials from the SWA will make a presentation this morning to the chamber’s Legislative Policy Council, chaired by George Mims, urging defeat of the Business Freedom to Choose Act, currently under consideration in the SC Senate.

The Business Freedom to Choose Act would ban flow control within the borders of South Carolina. Of course, since Horry County is the only county of the 46 in the state to have legislatively mandated a government monopoly over solid waste disposal, the SWA is hoping the Chamber will see the fight as local.

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Legal Difficulties Loom for Judge John Rakowsky

A month ago, we reported that Lexington attorney and chief magistrate judge John Rakowsky was a defendant in a lawsuit filed in Las Vegas, Nevada federal court, Case No. 2:12-cv-02161-GMN-CWH.

The lawsuit is for Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, Intentional Misrepresentation and Conversion of Property. The Plaintiff is Center for Legal Reform (CLR), a Nevada Non-profit Corporation as successor in trust to Resolution Settlement Corporation (RSC), a former Nevada corporation, which provided expense funds for the Southern Holdings case.

This case has the potential to fully expose the South Carolina legal system as a good ole boys club that protects its own at the expense of the law, fairness and justice.

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The State Farmers Market and Ethics Reform

The seriousness with which SC General Assembly members are taking ethics and government reform this legislative session can be measured, in large part, by what happens in the budget with respect to the purchase of additional land at the state farmers market in Lexington.

The site has considerable environmental issues. It was a toxic chemical waste dump for many years. To this day, there are a number of EPA warning signs on the property and restrictive covenants that seriously inhibit the available uses of the land.

Nevertheless, proposals are back in Columbia for the state to pay approximately $13 million to add three additional lots to its holdings at the current farmers market.

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Expanding Horry County Inc.

Horry County will insert itself more firmly in the private business sector when it passes three resolutions at tonight’s council meeting.

One resolution guarantees revenue to Canadian airline WestJet that will begin service to Myrtle Beach International. The second approves the Horry County Department of Airports purchasing the assets of Ramp 66 at the North Myrtle Beach airport and becoming the new fixed base operator there.

The third resolution directs the administrator to explore any and all legal recourse, which may be available to the county, if and when the S.C. General Assembly passes legislation making the Horry County Solid Waste Authority’s solid waste flow control monopoly illegal.

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The New Jim Crow

Please forgive me, but I had to check my calendar three times today to ensure that it read 2013 because it seems we are back in the Jim Crow era.

That is the case, at least, for a few residents and a teacher from Sullivan, Indiana, which is located 25 miles south of Terre Haute in the southwestern portion of the Hoosier State.

While many of us realize we are in the 21st Century and act accordingly, there is a small select few, who still long for the days of “Separate, but Equal” treatment when it comes to their neighbors.

In case you have missed the circus, it has arrived with all three rings and a big tent in Sullivan

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Consider the Source

I write to you today regarding a situation that I believe must be brought to your attention and for you to consider the source. Last week I received an interesting survey that was delivered to my State House office. This “survey” entitled “GREENVILLE TEA PARTY VETO SCORECARD 2012” was sent to every House and Senate member. While it looks real fancy with its red and green marks to indicate how our Representatives “voted,” there is at least one huge flaw…They included me in the survey – displaying 74 votes that I supposedly made. As many of you remember, I was elected to the SC House of Representatives on July 24th of last year, which was after the SC House took their votes on the Governor’s vetoes. I did not make one single vote during last year’s legislative session since I was elected after the session had adjourned.

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SC 1st Congressional District Poll Numbers

Grand Strand Daily received exclusive access to the latest SC 1st Congressional District polling data from a poll commissioned by a private business group.

This poll of 707 likely Conservative voters in the SC 1st Congressional District demonstrates all of the candidates have a lot of work to do before primary day March 19th.

Former Gov. Mark Sanford leads with 17%, surprisingly down from the 25% reported several weeks ago. SC Sen. Larry Grooms, with 5%, is in a tight race for the runner-up position with Charleston school board member Elizabeth Moffly, 4%, and teacher and prodigal son Teddy Turner with 4% of the vote.

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Repairing the Carolina Southern Railroad

Repairs on railroad crossings and bridges along the Carolina Southern Railroad route in North Carolina are moving along while funding for repairs in the South Carolina portion of the line is still being sought.

Meanwhile, a committee (?) formed to search for ways to help get the railroad back into full operation seems to be more interested in effecting a change of ownership of the Carolina Southern Railroad rather than searching for ways solutions.

Calling itself the ‘Interstate Railroad Committee of North and South Carolina’, this group of public officials representing several communities and three counties across two states, seems bent on forcing the Pippin family, owners of Carolina Southern Railroad, out of ownership of the railroad.

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IRS Complaint Lodged Against S.C. Rep. Mike Ryhal

Grand Strand Daily has learned that S.C. House District 56 representative Mike Ryhal and RAN Enterprises, LLC, a business owned by Ryhal, are being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service for alleged discrepancies in required tax filings.

The investigation reportedly stems from complaints to the IRS by several former employees of Rotelli’s restaurant, the business Ryhal operates under RAN Enterprises, LLC. The employees said their W-2’s for tax year 2012 show considerably less wages than they actually earned.

The employees said they were fired by Ryhal after each refused, in December 2012, to sign an individual, back-dated statement saying they were sub-contractors of Rotelli’s for tax year 2012.

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Flow Control ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ Lawsuit Update

The Horry County Administration Committee will hear an update at its Friday meeting on plans to hire a law firm to sue the State of South Carolina if the General Assembly passes legislation to outlaw solid waste flow control within the state.

The ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ lawsuit would be one of the highest forms of political folly ever seen in this county of almost continuous political follies.

Couched by county council members as their line in the sand for ‘home rule’, it is anything but.

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority and then county attorney John Weaver sold county council a bill of goods in 2008 about the authority’s need to have flow control in order to stay in business.

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