Saturday, November 16, 2024
I was more than saddened yesterday to hear of the death of my friend Don Wizeman.
Don Wizeman was a visionary, never much appreciated by the good ole boys of the Myrtle Beach area, even though many of his tourism marketing ideas were well ahead of their time.
He suffered fools badly, which often brought him into conflict with many of the area’s so-called movers and shakers.
Residents of Carolina Forest should be aware of how nearly they were cut out of the RIDE III decision making process before it even got started.
Horry County Council approved, at last week’s budget retreat, a process that would have cut out a citizens’ committee from the project identification phase of the RIDE process in favor of county and city staffs making up the initial list of projects.
Fortunately, after a short break, council reconsidered what it had approved and amended the process to put the citizens committee back in.
Horry County’s funding for Coast RTA could be more affected by a tight county budget than by the current controversy the agency is embroiled in with SCDOT over Coast RTA’s cancelled sign and shelter project among other differences.
County staff had to cut $750,000 for dirt road paving from the budget just to present a preliminary balanced budget to county council at the council’s budget retreat this week. Coast RTA funding remained at $1.055 million in the preliminary budget.
Cutting dirt road funding has serious impacts on the citizens of at least five council districts, all of which have little to no bus service. Additionally, it has lesser impacts on five more council districts that do have some level of bus service.
Coast RTA board member Katharine D’Angelo reported via email Thursday night to the other seven members of the board that she was asked to resign her position as a board member.
According to D’Angelo’s email, the request came out of a meeting between board members Ivory Wilson and Joseph Lazzara and unnamed members of the Coast RTA senior staff.
D’Angelo reported in her email that she had no intention of resigning from the board, a position she has held for 14 years through appointment by the North Myrtle Beach City Council.
The first meeting of the ad hoc special committee looking into Coast RTA management practices and funding was held Monday.
The committee was created by Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus to help council determine what level of funding the county should provide to Coast RTA in upcoming years.
Specifically, the committee is looking into the circumstances that caused the sign/shelter project to be cancelled in December 2013 and the suspension of the intermodal center project earlier this year.
I have heard much recently about how Horry County Council was exercising its fiduciary responsibility, overseeing the use of public money, by appointing an ad hoc committee to report on Coast RTA.
I always get a funny feeling when I hear ‘fiduciary responsibility’ from public officials because it’s usually a dodge for some other agenda.
The recent cancelling of a contract for signs and bus shelters by SCDOT and the possibility that Coast RTA may be required to pay back money already spent on the project is the alleged reason the ad hoc committee will be looking into how effectively Coast RTA spends its public dollar grants.
Continued funding of Coast RTA by Horry County Council, and at what level, will be the focus of the ad hoc committee established by Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus earlier this week.
This discussion should have been settled when Horry County voters approved an advisory referendum supporting .6 mill (six-tenths of a mill) funding for Coast RTA by a 62% to 38% margin in the November 2010 general election.
For two years, council honored the voters’ decision. However, during last year’s budget considerations, council attempted to make funding contingent on Coast RTA getting a change in state law designating membership on the Coast RTA board.
Horry County Council chairman Mark Lazarus officially announced the formation of an ad hoc committee to study a controversy between Coast RTA and S.C. Department of Transportation over a $1 million shelter and signage project that dates back to 2006, and an Intermodal Transportation Center project from 2010.
The ad hoc committee will be chaired by council member Marion Foxworth with council member Carl Schwartzkopf being a member. In addition, Coast RTA board chairman Bernie Silverman will be a committee member along with another Coast RTA board member to be determined by the Coast RTA board.
Rounding out the ad hoc committee will be a representative, from its members, chosen by the Myrtle Beach City Council and a representative, from its members, chosen by the Georgetown County Council as well as a community member chosen by Lazarus.
Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus announced last week he would appoint an ad hoc committee to study the controversy that exists between Coast RTA and the S.C. Department of Transportation.
The ad hoc committee will study facts relevant to two stalled Coast RTA projects, a $1 million shelter and sign project for bus routes and a feasibility study for an intermodal transportation center for the agency.
SCDOT representative Doug Frate told council members in an executive session held after a council workshop last week that Coast RTA may have to pay back approximately $500,000 to SCDOT for the stalled projects.
The Horry County Council workshop last week demonstrated the new approach council is bringing to addressing issues throughout the county.
Council is taking a stronger, more hands on approach, especially with large, potentially controversial issues, before they become a divisive subject of debate on the dais mired in the morass of politics.
Of particular interest was the RIDE III agenda item where a strong majority of council voiced the opinion ‘let’s take our time and get this right with sufficient public input along the way.’
Speak Up…