Tag: Horry County Council

Update: Gun Rights Debate, Big Gov at Worst

The Horry County Public Safety Committee debate tonight on restricting weapons discharges in the unincorporated areas of the county was an example of government at its worst. Two days after a proposed ordinance to restrict gun use was circulated throughout the county, the whole debate became a non-issue.

Sparked by complaints from homeowners of weapons being discharged in fairly populated sub-divisions in the unincorporated areas, such as Carolina Forest, several council members requested the issue to be debated by council. The concept was to look for ways to possibly address sub-division residents’ concerns without affecting the more rural western areas of the county.

Rather than a full council discussion, such as a Committee of the Whole meeting, the issue was put on the agenda of the Public Safety Committee. County attorney Arrigo Carotti reportedly took it upon himself to craft the ordinance for discussion purposes.

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Observations on the Bike Rally Vote

After the generally dysfunctional debate on bike rally vendor permits by Horry County Council Tuesday night, one veteran Horry County political observer commented to me that they believed the decision to again take on the bike rally issue, at the county level, was made in the “card room at the Dunes Club.”

I believe this comment is quite astute. It can be reasonably argued that the “Take Back May” movement, which resulted in the City of Myrtle Beach movement to end the May bike rallies was hatched at the Dunes Club. A small group of movers and shakers in the city saw the chance to take advantage of the public (above 38th Avenue North) unrest with the rallies, to advance personal agendas.

Tom Rice, then a private citizen, was the point spokesman for the “Take Back May” movement as the group lobbied both the Myrtle Beach and Horry County councils to essentially end the rallies. The effort was generally regarded successful at the city level, but a failure at the county level.

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Arrogance and Confusion, but a Victory for Bike Vendors

In what can only be called an arrogant abuse of parliamentary procedure, Horry County Council chairman Tom Rice called a five minute break, in the midst of debating an ordinance on the floor, because voting on amendments to the ordinance didn’t go his way.

This blatant lack of respect for the elected body he serves and abuse of power as chairman came during council’s regular meeting Tuesday night, but did not produce the result Rice hoped for.

The ordinance, of course, was about reducing the number of permit days for vendor and special event permits from the current seven days to five days. The ordinance, if passed as originally written, would have directly affected the Harley Davidson bike rally and the local small businesses that depend on it for revenue.

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Is Killing the Harley Rally the Goal

Horry County Council will vote tomorrow night on second reading of an ordinance to reduce bike week vendor permits from the current seven to five days.

Combining the reduced days with wording in the ordinance that allows the county to stipulate which five consecutive days the permits will be valid for brings the very real possibility that vendors will not be selling on weekends. Making the permits valid from Monday through Friday cuts out the traditionally highest sales days for vendors and could go a long way toward significantly reducing attendance at the Harley Davidson rally.

This appears to be the ultimate goal of those pushing the ordinance, led by council chairman Tom Rice. The real question is why.

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Foxworth, Thompson Announce Candidacies

The local political scene is heating up with filing for state and local candidates opening at noon Friday.

Two incumbent Horry County politicians held campaign kick-off events recently to start the Spring primary election season.

Incumbent District Three Horry County Council member Marion Foxworth welcomed approximately 150 friends and supporters to an event at Victoria’s Country Cooking Saturday evening. The event was hosted by Robert Shelley and Victoria’s owner John Johnson.

Foxworth, a Democrat, had an interesting cross-party mix at his event including fellow Republican council members Harold Worley, Jody Prince and Carl Schwartzkopf and former council member Mark Lazarus.

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Shedding Light on the Horry County Solid Waste Authority

A bill to ban flow control of solid waste throughout the state passed the S.C. House of Representatives Wednesday. A similar bill is already underway in the Senate.

If the Senate bill also passes, a conference committee will work out a compromise version of the two bills to go before both houses. If that is successful and the governor signs off on the legislation, an interesting showdown will undoubtedly occur.

Horry County is the only local government in the state that currently monopolizes control of solid waste disposal through flow control legislation. The ordinance governing this will be declared illegal under the wording of the state legislation.

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Bike Vendor Permit Cut Passes 1st Reading

Horry County Council voted 7-5 Tuesday night, on first reading of an ordinance, to reduce bike vendor and special event permits from the current seven days to five, including set up and take down operations. Council members Harold Worley, Al Allen, James Frazier, Jody Prince and Bob Grabowski voted nay.

This is the second reduction in three years for the number of days for which permits will be issued. Three years ago, council reduced the number of permit days from 10 to seven. The cost of the permits ($800) has remained the same while the number of days has been reduced, effectively raising the cost of doing business per day, for vendors, by 100 percent over the three year period.

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Sponseller Discovery – Questions, No Answers

The discovery of SC Hospitality Association CEO Tom Sponseller’s body yesterday left many who knew him in Horry County absolutely devastated by the news, but also asking questions about the circumstances surrounding his death.

Horry County Council member Gary Loftus, a longtime friend and associate of Sponseller in tourism industry circles, gave a moving tribute to his friend as the county council adjourned their meeting Tuesday night in Sponseller’s memory.

Other local area tourism leaders spoke all day of the kind, decent, loving family man and friend who they had rubbed elbows with many times through the years as Sponseller led the state’s tourism industry interests.

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Council to Consider Further Reduction in Biker Vendor Permits

Horry County Council will vote tonight on first reading of an ordinance to amend county code reducing the number of days vendor permits will be issued for May Bike Weeks from the current seven days to five days.

Word has it that county council chairman Tom Rice has been working this issue hard behind the scenes with a series of private meetings with other council members, some of these meetings falling just short of a quorum. Initially Rice wanted to limit the vendor permits to three days, but fell short of getting commitments from council members to support such a measure.

There is no guarantee that the five day proposal will pass tonight, or that Rice would be able to hold a coalition supporting it together, while the ordinance winds its way through the three reading process.

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May Bike Rallies Up for Discussion

Discussions on the May Bike Rallies by Horry County officials will begin Thursday February 23rd at a special meeting of the county’s Public Safety Committee. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the Horry County Government and Justice Center on 3rd Avenue in Conway.

Called by committee chairman Brent Schulz, the only item on the meeting agenda is Biker Rally 2012. When he announced the special meeting during the regular council meeting of February 7th, Schulz said the committee would be prepared to stay the whole night for discussion and requested all interested members of the public to attend the meeting.

In addition to public safety enforcement, the only issue the county has direct control over is the number and duration of vendor and special event permits the county issues for the Harley Davidson and Atlantic Beach rallies.

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