Monday, November 18, 2024
A special called meeting of the Latta Town Council Friday night voted unanimously to reinstate Crystal Moore as Police Chief of the town.
Latta Mayor Earl Bullard was not in attendance at the meeting.
Bullard fired Moore on April 15th, ostensibly for not signing seven “reprimands”, but more probably because Bullard did not agree with Moore’s lesbian lifestyle.
In his first few months on the job, Latta Mayor Earl Bullard has managed to turn this small, rural town upside down and bring it into the national spotlight by ignoring the will of his citizens.
Bullard ran unopposed for mayor in December 2013 and officially assumed office January 1, 2014.
After being elected, Bullard was quoted in local media as saying he was looking forward “to working with the citizens because the citizens are what make this town what it is.”
When Rep. Tracy Edge looks back on his 2014 primary election defeat, he can thank the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA), at least in part, for the result.
According to its check register, HCSWA donated $5,000 of public money, in Fiscal Year 2013-14, to sponsor two tables at the Conservative Voters of South Carolina (CVSC) annual Green Tie Luncheon fundraiser.
CVSC targeted Edge for defeat, directly supporting his opponent Greg Duckworth.
Neither side seemed to come away with a clear advantage from yesterday’s S.C. Supreme Court arguments to determine whether the state grand jury investigating possible criminal ethics violations by S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell should continue.
Last month, S.C. Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning ruled that a state grand jury investigation into alleged ethics violations by Harrell should be terminated.
S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn Manning’s ruling and allow the investigation to continue, leading to yesterday’s hearing.
The S.C. Supreme Court will hear arguments beginning at 1:30 p.m. today on the continuing controversy over who has the right to investigate possibly illegal actions by S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell.
The case originally dates from an alleged ethics complaint brought to S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson by the libertarian South Carolina Policy Council. It included allegations that Harrell used his influence as Speaker to obtain a contract for his pharmaceutical supply business and improperly appointed his brother to a judicial candidate screening committee.
(In South Carolina, the legislature appoints a panel that screens judicial applicants and sends recommendations back to the legislature which votes on the recommendations for final approval of the judges. To further complicate the situation, many of the applicants are former legislators.)
The complaint also questioned the use of approximately $324,000 of Harrell’s campaign funds to reimburse himself for costs associated with trips in his personal airplane.
The Freedom of Information Act in South Carolina took a huge step backward last week with a ruling issued by the S.C. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court basically ruled out any requirement for public bodies to tell citizens what they are doing, or intend to do, during their meetings.
The rather surprising Supreme Court ruling was based on interpretation by the justices of S.C. Code of Laws 30-4-80, otherwise known as the Freedom of Information Act.
It’s been four weeks since the violence that made national news erupted during the Memorial Day Atlantic Beach Bikefest and Myrtle Beach City Council remains AWOL.
With the city council missing, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has stepped into the breach ‘considering’ a curfew and offering to pay for more police next year.
Last time I checked, those considerations come under core responsibilities of local government. They should not be suggestions made on the other side of Oak Street.
But, nature abhors a vacuum and the apparent missing status of Myrtle Beach City Council has created a political vacuum.
Myers Rollins, former General Manager/CEO of Coast RTA, filed suit Tuesday against the agency he headed before being fired April 30th.
In addition to Coast RTA, Rollins is suing SCDOT, Coast RTA board members Bernie Silverman and Kitty D’Angelo, Horry County Council members Mark Lazarus and Gary Loftus, SCDOT employees Doug Frate and Hart Baker and interim Coast RTA General Manager Julie Norton Dew.
Rollins is seeking five million dollars in compensatory damages as well as punitive damages to be determined and reinstatement as GM/CEO of Coast RTA.
Myrtle Beach residents began contacting members of Horry County Council this week requesting help with public safety problems in the city.
This is not as ridiculous as it sounds. After all, they are paying for it.
Countywide tax millage is paid by all property owners throughout Horry County. The Horry County Police Department is funded from the county’s general fund whose main revenue source is countywide tax millage.
City residents pay an additional level of taxes (citywide millage, fees and the like). The Myrtle Beach Police Department is funded from the city’s general fund whose main revenue source is the additional citywide tax millage.
Third reading of the Fiscal Year 2014-15 Horry County budget could provide some interesting viewing at tonight’s meeting of Horry County Council.
Central to the discussions will be a new funding agreement with Coast RTA, which will tighten council control over the money it provides Coast RTA, but not nearly to the extent that was called “overreaching” by several council members earlier this month.
Also of concern to some council members is the “hidden tax increase” included in the millage rollup associated with last year’s reassessment of property values throughout the county.
Property values showed a net decline due to the housing bubble bust several years ago and a slight increase in millage was needed to balance next year’s county budget.
Speak Up…