Tag: HCSWA board

HCSWA Board Hubris Round Three

Horry County Solid Waste Authority board chairman Lance Thompson sent a letter to Horry County administrator Chris Eldridge last month notifying Eldridge of the 5-2 vote by the HCSWA board recommending removal of Dan Gray from the HCSWA board.

The letter and its accompanying documents were obtained by GSD through a Freedom of Information Act request to Horry County government.

Included in the accompanying documents was a letter to Gray that states in part, “While the Board regrets having to make this decision, it has determined that you have engaged in an ongoing course of conduct, which appears to be designed to undermine the Board’s actions and to hamper the functioning of the Board in a deliberative manner.”

I submit the above statement is one of opinion, not fact. I further submit the HCSWA board rarely acts in a deliberative manner.

The HCSWA board certainly did not deliberate long on the decision to spend over $1 million of public money with a lobbyist to advocate against changing state law and local ordinances with respect to flow control of waste streams.

County council ultimately amended the county flow control ordinance over the objections of the HCSWA and its lobbyist.

I submit the entire issue of removing Gray from the HCSWA board is one of personal agendas of certain HCSWA board members, certain HCSWA staff and certain Horry County Council members. In other words, Horry County politics at its worst.

The HCSWA board has taken its vote and sent its letter. I expect that is as far as the issue will go.

Gray is a nominee of the League of Cities approved by vote of Horry County Council.

Council chairman Mark Lazarus has said he will not put the issue of removing Gray on council agenda if the League of Cities does not support the HCSWA vote.

Despite behind the scenes phone calls by some HCSWA board members to mayors in the county, sources tell me the League of Cities is firmly behind Gray remaining on the HCSWA board.

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HCSWA Board Hubris Round Two – Update

Update

The HCSWA board voted 5-2 to recommend to Horry County Council to vote to remove Dan Gray from the board.

As I’ve said before, this is one of the most arrogant decisions made by a public body in the 32 years I have been living in Horry County.

The five board members who voted yay – Lance Thompson, Pam Creech, Norfleet Jones, Mike Campbell and Sam Graves should be ashamed of themselves and they should immediately resign from the board,

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Another discussion to recommend removal of HCSWA board member Dan Gray is listed on the agenda for the Thursday December 10, 2015 solid waste authority board meeting.

An attempt to force such a vote was unsuccessful at the November 24, 2015 meeting of the HCSWA board. The board voted unanimously to defer the issue.

It does not appear that a vote Thursday night will garner the necessary super-majority margin of board members for the recommendation to pass.

However, even if it does, the vote by the HCSWA board only serves as a recommendation to Horry County Council to vote on the issue.

In the case of Mr. Gray, there is an added level of consideration as he is a nominee of the League of Cities to the HCSWA board.

The HCSWA board is comprised of seven members. Four of those members are nominated by Horry County Council. Three of the members are nominated by the League of Cities. All seven members of the HCSWA board are appointed by vote of Horry County Council.

According to several Horry County Council members I have spoken with, there will be no vote by council on the issue unless the League of Cities supports the HCSWA board vote.

According to Aynor mayor and League of Cities chairman, Keb Johnson, the League of Cities remains solidly behind Dan Gray remaining on the HCSWA board.

Therefore, it appears the HCSWA board discussion Thursday night is a waste of time. Even if a super-majority of board members vote to recommend removing Gray from the board, it appears this will nothing more than an attempt to publicly humiliate him because the League of Cities will not support the HCSWA board decision.

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HCSWA Board Hubris Update

By unanimous vote, after a long discussion, the HCSWA board voted to defer consideration of a recommendation to Horry County Council to remove Dan Gray from the HCSWA board until the Thursday December 10, 2015 regular board meeting.

It requires a super majority vote of the seven board members to pass such a recommendation. It was obvious the vote would split 4-3 at best for the board members seeking Gray’s removal. The votes were not there.

Possibly, the HCSWA board is beginning to come to its senses, although I would find that shocking.

We will have more to discuss on this matter prior to that meeting.

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FREE SPEECH OUTLAWED AT HORRY COUNTY SOLID WASTE AUTHORITY

Mention the HCSWA board and hubris is generally the first word that pops into my mind.

Hubris is a word that has evolved from ancient Greece. In ancient times it generally referred to violent or abusive behavior that shamed or humiliated the victim for the gratification or pleasure of the abuser.

In more modern times, hubris generally refers to extreme pride or self-confidence associated with a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one’s own competence, accomplishments or abilities.

In 21st century America, hubris routinely rears its ugly head in the political arena. One could say it’s the number one reason the federal government in Washington doesn’t work.

We are Horry County. We don’t care how they do it in Washington. So why do we insist on copying them?

Late yesterday afternoon, the HCSWA sent out an amended agenda for its 5:30 p.m. board meeting today.

One item was added under new business, “Discussion of Board Member Conduct (Regarding Mr. {Dan} Gray) and Consideration of Recommendation from the Board to Horry County Council of Removal of said Board Member.” (The caps are theirs not mine.)

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HCSWA Info to Council Faulty

Horry County Council received faulty information about the HCSWA dealings with Charleston County during its regular meeting last week.

I do not believe the intent was to provide false information. Rather, I believe it was the result of information being provided sparingly when it should have been discussed openly and shared from a much earlier date.

Several council members were very upset about being asked to quickly consider a budget amendment for the HCSWA budget after a contract was signed and Charleston County trash was already making its way to Horry County.

Council member Johnny Vaught asked when the first contact was made between Charleston County and the HCSWA board. Authority board chairman Lance Thompson said HCSWA staff was first contacted May 28, 2015.

Vaught asked when the HCSWA board became involved in the contract decision. Thompson said a couple weeks later the board was notified, then, at a board meeting the board voted to allow staff to negotiate.

Vaught said, “Essentially negotiations had not begun until you (HCSWA board) were contacted and you guys voted to go ahead.” Thompson agreed that was correct.

Council member Gary Loftus stated he understood Sonoco, the company that was running the Charleston County material recycling facility, had given notice in December 2014 that it was considering terminating its contract with Charleston County.

A representative from Sonoco said the company informed Charleston County that it was unable to operate the Charleston County MRF economically and notified the county it would cease operations July 31, 2015 under the termination clause. In addition, Sonoco took the decision because of the limited progress made toward Charleston County’s commitment to build a new, more efficient MRF.

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Saving HCSWA Recycling Deal?

As expected, a full court press was applied yesterday to try and save the HCSWA – Charleston County recycling deal.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a full court press applied at the wrong time, in the wrong place for the wrong reasons.

The press is being applied to the council members who voted “No” on second reading of a budget amendment needed to allow the recycling deal to continue. With enough pressure, it is hoped that at least two will change their minds and vote to pass second reading after a reconsideration motion.

In other words, the press is strictly in the political arena while the problems are in the institutional oversight of solid waste matters within Horry County.

These are exactly the same types of problems that led Horry County Council to pass a flow control ordinance governing all solid waste in the county only to realize five years later that the ordinance was flawed in concept and needed to be amended.

The debate was fully political, not about policy. A few members of HCSWA staff combined with a few members of county staff to make dire predictions about what would happen to solid waste handling within the county if flow control was not enacted.

None of the dire predictions were true, as experience has taught us since 2009.

The HCSWA fought against amending the flow control ordinance, including spending over $1 million with a lobbyist, again with dire predictions that were just as false.

In fact, the amendment, which allows construction and demolition debris to be taken to any approved landfill, works in favor of the citizens of Horry County be reducing the amount of space used in the landfill thereby extending its life.

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Council Nixes HCSWA – Charleston County Contract

Horry County Council failed to pass second reading of a budget amendment that is required for the HCSWA to take recyclables from Charleston County.

A budget amendment requires an absolute super majority vote of council, nine “Yes” votes, in order to pass.

The amendment received a vote of 7-4. A vote of 9-2 was required to pass second reading. Horry County Council District 3 is without a member pending a special election this fall to replace Marion Foxworth who resigned after the August 18th council meeting to accept the Registrar of Deeds job.

Without a budget amendment approved by county council, the Horry County Solid Waste Authority has no authority to contract with Charleston County to take recyclables from Charleston County.

But, the HCSWA already has signed that contract and has been processing recyclables from Charleston County since late July.

And, it’s not the contract itself that caused four council members to vote against the budget amendment Tuesday night.

Rather, it’s the process, or lack of it, that the HCSWA used to come to an agreement with Charleston County in the first place.

According to past statements by several HCSWA officials, Charleston County first approached the HCSWA in late May 2015 about taking recyclables for processing at the HCSWA material recovery facility on Hwy 90.

At that point, the HCSWA should have informed Horry County Council what was being discussed and the ramifications for the HCSWA budget, which is part of the overall county budget approved by council.

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HCSWA Board Lobbying Council Vote on By-Laws

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) board is lobbying county council members to approve changes to the agency’s by laws at tomorrow night’s council meeting.

The HCSWA board has been working on by-law changes for 18 months, but, now there is a fool’s rush to ramrod a council vote without much consideration or proper procedure being applied.

The county Infrastructure and Regulation Committee first saw the proposed changes last week. The committee has a considerable number of suggestions on further refining of the document.

But, kowtowing to the HCSWA desire to get this done, the committee voted to pass the by-laws to council with a recommendation for approval pending completion of the changes that were discussed.

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Further Council Scrutiny of HCSWA Needed

It is time for Horry County Council to bring the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) more into line with the actual status of that agency.

Over the past six months, council has taken some good first steps toward establishing more control over its maverick authority on Hwy 90.

But, the work is not done.

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