Author: Paul Gable

Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy Ignoring Attacks and Taking High Road to Election Day

Throughout her campaign for reelection, Conway Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy has been subjected to name calling, accusations and hate messaging as an ad this week by her campaign committee stated.
Through it all Blain-Bellamy has taken the “high road”, choosing to speak about the issues that affect Conway voters rather than engaging in mud-slinging in return.
Blain-Bellamy is out meeting voters personally this week rather than spending $40,300, as her opponent has done, to hire door knockers to attempt to gain votes.
Meanwhile, a blog supporting her opponent published a bogus article claiming an ethics complaint was officially filed against Blain-Bellamy on November 1st for mistakes she made on campaign disclosure filings. Mistakes do not rise to the level of an ethics violation but that didn’t stop the mud-slinging.
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Hate Messaging and the Richardson Campaign

Give the voters something to hate, then, tell them who is responsible. This appears to be the strategy of the Ken for Mayor campaign in Conway.
It has been a two-tier strategy. Since his campaign announcement, Richardson has stated “Conway is at a Crossroads” and “Take Conway Back” as keynotes of his message.
Richardson’s supporting minions have shared hate filled messages and name calling aimed at incumbent Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy.
At its core is the Pride Month proclamation signed by Mayor Blain-Bellamy in June and the giving of the Key to the City by Blain-Bellamy to Pete Buttigieg in 2020. Trying to stir up hatred against Blain-Bellamy for those two acts is apparently the campaign’s mission.
Richardson said in the recent mayoral debate he used to talk to his grandchildren about “transformers”, now the talk is about “transgender” and he doesn’t want to see “Conway become San Francisco”. The allusions are clear.
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The Veil is Lifted on Richardson Campaign Expenditures

The Ken Richardson campaign for mayor of Conway finally filed its pre-election campaign disclosure report with the S. C. Ethics Commission late at night on October 26, 2023, four days late.
Earlier in the day of October 26, 2023, Grand Strand Daily published a story which posed the question, “Is there some required information about donations and/or expenditures that the campaign did not want to make public before last night’s mayoral debate at Coastal Carolina University?”
After viewing the pre-election report filing, it seems that question was directly on-point.
When people donate money to a candidate, there is some expectation the candidate will be a good steward of the money donated and money will be spent in the local economy, if at all possible.
Richardson followed these principles in his previous campaigns for school board chairman and for Congress. He publicly pledged that campaign expenditures would be made within the county in the school board race and within the 7th Congressional District in his race for Congress. He challenged opponents to do the same.
Those principles and promises have been cast to the wayside in this election by the Richardson campaign.
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What is the Ken for Mayor Campaign Hiding?

Several days have passed since the Ken Richardson campaign missed the required deadline for filing a pre-election campaign disclosure report with the South Carolina Ethics Commission and, as of this writing, there is still no public record of the report on the commission website.
Is there some required information about donations and/or expenditures that the campaign did not want to make public before last night’s mayoral debate at Coastal Carolina University? Will the failure to file run past election day November 7th for that same reason?
Daily fines for missing the deadline are minimal. It only costs a relatively few bucks to keep the information hidden for several weeks.
Speaking of keeping information hidden, the livestream of the debate provided by the university aired without sound. Fortunately, WMBF News also carried a livestream, with sound, of the event. Hopefully, the WMBF livestream will be made available for public viewing until election day so the many voters who were not able to attend in person can view the debate.
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Conway Mayoral Debate Could Bring Enlightening Answers for Voters

The two candidates for Conway mayor, incumbent Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy and challenger Ken Richardson, will square off in a live debate from Coastal Carolina University’s Johnson Auditorium tonight beginning at 6 p.m.
With a limited capacity of 210 at the auditorium, the debate will be livestreamed so the many Conway voters who cannot get a ticket for the event will be able to see the two candidates answer questions from moderator Dr. Drew Kurlowski, an Associate Professor of Political Science at CCU. A link to the livestream broadcast is provided at the end of this story.
An advance outline of the debate said questions will focus on four areas: issues of concern to Conway residents, Issues of economic concern, a focus on tourism and visitors and personal leadership qualifications of the two candidates.
Since the campaign began, Grand Strand Daily has noted the lack of discussion, from the Richardson campaign, about specific issues of concern regarding Conway other than criticism about the Pride Month proclamation signed by Mayor Blain-Bellamy in June. Maybe tonight’s debate will provide answers as to why Richardson is running other than opposition to recognition of the LGBTQ community.
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Richardson Campaign Misses Campaign Disclosure Report Deadline

According to South Carolina state Ethics Law, a candidate for state or local office is required to file a campaign disclosure report within 10 days after $500 is raised or spent by the campaign. After the initial filing, the candidate must file quarterly reports to the S. C. Ethics Commission.
Campaign disclosure reports are public records of campaign finances, donations and expenses, which allow the public to view how much and from whom a candidate receives donations and how much and to whom campaign expenditures are made. The reports are designed to provide voters with a transparent view of a candidate’s campaign financing.
A pre-election disclosure report is required to be filed 15 days prior to election day. A quarterly report may be combined with the pre-election report if the quarter ends within 30 days of the date on which the pre-election report is required.
The date for filing a pre-election report for the upcoming November 7, 2023, election for Conway city offices was yesterday, October 23, 2023, according to the Ethics Commission.
One candidate, Ken Richardson who is challenging Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy, failed to file a pre-election campaign disclosure report by yesterday’s required deadline.
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Richardson Campaign, Word Salad with a Slight Twist

It took a while for the Richardson campaign to come out of the closet, but last week’s chapter of its full-page ads provided a glimpse of what it is really about.
“Is the current mayor of Conway really a liberal,” the ad asks. And, “Ken Richardson for Mayor, a strong conservative.” The old classic “traditional American values” was thrown in for good measure.
The Richardson for Mayor campaign really has no local issues to address other than Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy signing a proclamation declaring Pride Month in Conway and giving the key to the city to Pete Buttigieg three years ago.
This is the old trick which has been part of the national level political playbook since the 1970’s. If you have nothing to say for yourself, attack the opponent. Give voters something to be afraid of and tell them the current mayor is to blame for it.
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Conway Mayoral Debate for the Public

A debate has been scheduled between the two candidates in the race for Mayor of Conway.
Incumbent Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy and challenger Ken Richardson have agreed to debate the issues facing Conway on October 25, 2023, at the Johnson Auditorium, E. Craig Wall College of Business Administration, Coastal Carolina University, 119 Chanticleer Drive West, Conway, SC.
The City of Conway Chamber of Commerce and the Edgar Dyer Institute for Leadership and Public Policy at CCU have joined hands to host the debate.
The debate will begin at 6 p.m. The capacity of the Johnson Auditorium is approximately 210 persons.
The debate is free and open to the public with reserved seats. Each campaign has received 70 tickets. If you want to attend the debate, call either campaign to request your ticket. The event will be livestreamed for those who can’t obtain a ticket.
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Richardson Campaign Ad Criticizes Length of Mayoral Proclamation not its Content

There was finally a comment last Thursday about Conway Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy’s Proclamation for LGBTQ Month in a full-page ad by the Ken Richardson for Mayor Campaign.
Richardson claimed in a local podcast that he had over 300 phone calls urging him to run for mayor after Blain-Bellamy issued the proclamation. Richardson claimed 41 ministers called him to support his candidacy. Some of these ministers publicly called the LGBTQ lifestyle an abomination and requested the mayor to rescind the proclamation.
Rather than criticizing the content of the proclamation, the Richardson campaign chose to criticize that it proclaimed June as Pride Month while national holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter and Veterans Day are only celebrated for one day. It’s not the content of the proclamation, it’s the length it covers.
The criticism, however, is like comparing apples to oranges. National holidays are one-day paid holidays from work. I guess the Richardson campaign is not aware of other special months recognized by various proclamations at the national level and also recognized by state and local governments. There is National Mentoring Month, Stalking Awareness Month, Slavery and Human Trafficking Month, American Heart Month, Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, American Red Cross Month, National Autism Month and, yes, National Military Appreciation Month, to name a few.
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SC General Assembly Must Amend Impact Fee Law to Allow Local Government Freedom

Horry County Council is again wrestling with the question of how to raise impact fees to help offset the cost of providing needed infrastructure to serve the ever-increasing number of new homes being built in the county.
While county council investigates to increase impact fees, the state enabling legislation governing those fees provides the largest hurdle to overcome.
In 1999, the General Assembly passed legislation governing the imposition of impact fees by local governments with enough restrictions and obstacles to make them virtually unworkable for local government use. The development industry launched a huge lobbying effort against the law and was generally successful in making the law extremely difficult for local governments to use.
The legislation dictates how the local governments must use the money and in what time frame it must be used. It also requires commercial structures to be treated the same as homes with respect to taxing, something that makes impact fees on commercial structures an excessive burden.
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