Author: Paul Gable

Surfside Beach Dog Park – No Barking Allowed!

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, some elected official does a little thinking and comes up with the brilliant idea of outlawing barking at the Surfside Beach Dog Park.

We know ‘elected official thinking’ is an oxymoron, but the proposal by Surfside Beach town council member Randle Stephens is, frankly, nuts.

He has submitted a resolution, which would outlaw the name “Barc Park”, at the town’s dog park, because it encourages barking by the dogs visiting it. Stephens also submitted an accompanying sign that reads “Please be courteous and respectful to your dog park neighbors. No dog barking and loud noise.”

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New Look for Myrtle Beach Pavilion Site?

Nearly seven years after the Myrtle Beach Pavilion Amusement Park was torn down, a proposal has surfaced to bring rides back to the nearly vacant site.

According to recent media reports, Strates Shows of Orlando, FL is working with site owner Burroughs & Chapin, Inc. to open a three month, summer season carnival on a portion of the former Pavilion property.

On the surface, bringing rides back to that traditional downtown area of the oceanfront seems like a good idea. It always seemed a bad idea that former B&C president Doug Wendel wanted to do away with the Pavilion in the first place.

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The Mark Sanford Comeback

Everybody has an opinion on whether the latest “trespassing” chapter in the ongoing Mark Sanford political resurrection saga will hurt his chances of winning the May 7th special election for the S.C. 1st Congressional District.

Quick answer – No, Mark Sanford will be going back to Washington.

This is not a criminal trespass charge, but, rather, a complaint reportedly filed by Jenny Sanford’s lawyer to be heard in family court two days after the special election.

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Curtis Loftis, SCRSIC Supreme Showdown Fizzles

The anticipated showdown Tuesday between S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis and the S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission over transparency of investment details by the commission fizzled out Tuesday.

Loftis, a voting member of the commission, was holding out on signing a check for a $50 million investment, approved by the commission, until he received certain assurances in writing from commission attorneys.

As a result of Loftis’ initial refusal to issue the check and an impending default deadline for the investment, the remaining SCRSIC commissioners sued Loftis to force him to act.

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Reflections on Boston

I was one of the fortunate ones to be born in the City on a Hill, and have never forgotten that Boston was my birth city.

There might be over 900 miles between me and Boston currently, but there is no getting away from the city of your birth, especially when you still have family who reside there.

Especially, on a day like Monday, which was Patriots’ Day in Boston. The holiday commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War.

And, unfortunately, it is a day that will forever be linked to tragedy and terrorism as someone thought it would be cute to set up bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

I tried the best I could Monday to ignore news coverage, but there was no getting past the words bomb and Boston, I had to look.

And, I began to cry.

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Accommodations Tax Fuels MB Chamber Greed

When Horry County Council begins in-depth considerations of next year’s budget later this week, the question of how much accommodations tax revenue goes to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will be a major point of discussion.

While the accommodations tax concept is to help meet the costs of expanded services required by the introduction of millions of visitors to an area, the state law allowing accommodations tax collections requires 30 percent of the revenue generated to be spent on tourism marketing. This provision was one of the trade-offs put in the law to get the buy-in of the tourism lobby.

For a number of years, that 30 percent, approximately $2.3 million from the unincorporated areas of the county, has gone to the Chamber in a block to spend on its marketing efforts.

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Supreme Showdown Over State Pension Fund (Updated)

S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis and the S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission will have a showdown in court Tuesday April 16th over transparency of retirement funds.

The commission, of which Loftis is a voting member, is suing Loftis in his position as custodian of the trust fund. The S.C. Supreme Court has accepted original jurisdiction on the case and has agreed to expedite a decision.

The court is holding in abeyance a decision whether documents and exhibits associated with the case will be allowed under seal or whether they will be part of the public record of the case.

At issue is Loftis’ refusal to sign a $50 million check for an “alternative investment” of state pension funds managed by investment firm Warburg Pincus. Loftis said he would not sign the check until the attorney for the SCRSIC has officially notified him in writing that all fees and other charges associated with the proposed investment are those approved by vote of the commissioners.

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Awendaw’s Missing Money Partie Deux

According to a source with significant knowledge of the town’s finances who spoke on conditions of anonymity, Nichols had done audits of four prior years, all at the same time, after the S.C. Municipal Association had gotten the town’s financial records in order. The town, reportedly, had not had audits performed on an annual basis since the 2002-03 time frame.

Mr. Nichols reported nine significant deficiencies with town records. The lack of documentation and the lack of internal controls led Nichols to issue an adverse opinion on the audit.

According to the source, 41 percent of the town’s transactions were not approved with 30 percent of the funds spent not approved, a sum of over $200,000, according to our source.

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Focusing on Government Spending

I read a statistic recently that startled me. The average pay for federal government employees is nearly $78,500 per year ($78,467).

The number of workers in the pool that determines average wage is 1,850,311 (one worker for every 167 Americans). Of this group, 4,744 more workers are making over $140,000 than at the same time last year.

And these government workers also have rather attractive benefits packages including such things as excellent health insurance coverage; a solid, defined benefit retirement plan, and liberal paid holiday and vacation packages.

None of these numbers includes the workers who are contracted by the government annually, but who are also paid from public tax dollars.

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Awendaw’s Missing Money

We are hearing the town of Awendaw may be missing money from its public coffers as important bills are not being paid on time.

According to several sources who have contacted us, the town missed its required payment of approximately $270,000, due March 1st to Charleston County for fire service, and nobody’s giving any answers.

Money for the fire service payment comes from a special fire tax district that was set up by town voters to levy taxes, specifically for fire service.

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