Tag: Horry County

Depressed Voter Turnout is Primary Story

Depressed Voter Turnout is Primary Story

South Carolina held elections Tuesday and almost nobody bothered to show up. Voter turnout, or lack of it, was the story of Tuesday’s primary elections. Less than 10 percent (9.88%) of registered voters statewide bothered to come to the polls.

Low turnout was expected as continuing stories of candidates being struck from the ballot over the last two months dominated the news, but, under 10 percent is horrible. The old Communist Bloc in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union had more voter excitement in the past than this election generated.

Even Horry County with the new 7th Congressional District, four contested House races and one contested Senate race to vote for barely broke through the 10 percent voter turnout threshold.

In the new 7th Congressional District, Gloria Bromell Tinubu may have avoided a runoff and won the Democratic nomination outright after nearly 8,000 votes for Ted Vick were tossed out of the ballot count. Vick dropped out of the race two weeks ago when he was arrested for DUI and weapons possession in Columbia.

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Light Goes Out at CASA

I was saddened last week to read that SLED is investigating Citizens Against Spouse Abuse for misappropriation of funds.

My first thought was ‘there goes another point of light, extinguished through the selfishness of public policy.’

On second thought, I realized this has nothing to do with public policy, because in today’s political environment, there is no public policy. There is government policy, business policy, even wine policy but the public doesn’t deserve a policy.

President George H.W. Bush warned this was coming in his inaugural address nearly 24 years ago:

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Tom Rice and Jobs, A Lotta Talk With Few Results

Tom Rice and the Failed Campaign Ploy

Obvious campaigning with the Horry County budget didn’t work for county council chairman and 7th Congressional District candidate Tom Rice Wednesday as his fellow council members saw through the attempt.

During a council Committee of the Whole meeting, Rice suggested a series of proposed budget changes that appeared to be designed more for their voter appeal than county fiscal stability.

The county budget for FY2013 has passed two readings and will be up for third reading at the regular council meeting scheduled for June 19, 2012.

During budget discussions, workshops and readings since January, Rice has opposed proposed pay raises for county workers while he advocated building a reserve fund for projected budget deficits beginning with FY2014.

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Wallace: The Economy Is My Top Priority

Across the nation, our friends and neighbors are struggling in this current economy. People have seen the value of their homes decrease and the prices of goods and services increase, which has unfortunately created a drastic decrease in their quality of life.

The No. 1 issue that directly impacts our livelihood is our economy. Our district has areas with unemployment rates at 20 percent or higher, and many who are working are under-employed or have had their pay scaled back. Over the past few months, I have traveled throughout this district to speak with residents about the economy, and I hear time and time again that people are hurting, and that things have to get better.

One of the biggest contributors to our falling economy is the obscene amount of national debt our country has accumulated.

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7th District Democrats Heating Up

The race for the Democratic nomination for the new 7th Congressional District heated up recently when Horry County’s Preston Brittain took a swipe at S.C. Rep. Ted Vick of Chesterfield County.

According to recent polling date, Brittain and Vick are the front runners in a field of five that also includes Gloria Bromell-Tinubu, Parnell Diggs and Harry Pavilack all from Horry County.

Brittain has been traveling in the western part of the district this week. He picked up an important endorsement from Florence Mayor Steven Wukela early in the week.

“Preston hasn’t been part of the problem in Washington — he has spent his career standing up to power for real people.” Wukela said.

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S.C. Election Filing Mess – Part II

Every time we look at the mess created during election filing time by candidates who did not comply with state law, something else jumps out to further complicate the upcoming S.C. Supreme Court decision on two lawsuits filed to challenge discrepancies in the filings.

Yesterday we reported on the absolute mess in Horry County that, under strict adherence to state law, would disqualify enough candidates and incumbents to leave two county council, one state house, one state senate, sheriff, coroner, clerk of court, auditor and treasurer with no qualified candidates from either party to appear on the ballot.

That could mean all those seats are determined by write-in campaigns in November.

But, the mess does not end there. It seems the state legislators who passed the law could not be bothered to follow its provisions either.

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Candidate Filing Closes, Let the Fun Begin

Candidate filing for state and local offices closed at noon Friday with many more challengers to incumbents than Horry County has been used to in recent years.

However, the Independent Republic, known for its nasty political fights as well as zany winners and losers, is getting one up on anything I have ever seen before.

Dick Withington announced months ago that he would be a Republican candidate for the new 7th Congressional District seat. He is continuing in that endeavor, but, in case he doesn’t win that primary, Withington has decided to try for a primary trifecta. He is also filing as a Republican candidate for SC House District 106 and SC Senate District 34.

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SC House Conundrum

With less than a day to go for candidate filing for this year’s election races, the Horry County legislative delegation, especially house members, are in for quite a change.

Thad Viers resigned his seat recently due to his ongoing legal problems and George Hearn has decided not to seek re-election. Incumbents Nelson Hardwick and Liston Barfield will face challenges to re-election. A new House seat will be filled to essentially represent Carolina Forest in the General Assembly.

We are also told that there could be one more surprise, a kind of musical chairs, before filing closes at noon Friday.

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The Garbage War in Horry

A Senate bill to eliminate flow control of the garbage stream throughout the state moved one step closer to approval last week when it passed out of the Senate Medical Committee by a vote of 10-3.

A similar bill having already passed the SC House, the only thing standing between a garbage war in the courts between Horry County and the State of South Carolina is passage of the bill by the full Senate and Governor Nikki Haley’s signature.

Horry County currently is the only county in the state to mandate flow control of its waste stream by county ordinance 02-09. The ordinance requires that all waste generated in the county must be disposed at the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Hwy 90, giving the SWA monopoly control over the county’s waste.

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Vaught Looking to Help Disabled Veterans

Local veteran James Vaught (Lt. Gen. USA – retired) has a vision for using some of the land on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base to help disabled veterans.

Certified 100 percent disabled himself, due to injuries and PTSD resulting from the Vietnam War, Vaught has a special place in his heart for those veterans suffering loss of limbs, traumatic brain injuries and PTSD from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“These veterans need our help,” Vaught said. “Many of them need a way to get back into the mainstream of our society. Even though many have some permanent type of disability, they want to be able to work and find a way to live a normal life.”

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