Author: Paul Gable

Carolina Southern Railroad and Horry County

Carolina Southern Railroad and Horry County officials appear to remain far apart on any plan to get the railroad back in operation.

Service on portions of the rail line was voluntarily suspended by Carolina Southern Railroad officials when new federal regulations, especially on bridges, went into effect in the summer of 2011. Those service interruptions directly affect Horry County.

Since then, the railroad has been searching for funding with which to make the repairs. It joined with Horry County in two unsuccessful applications for discretionary railroad infrastructure TIGER grants from the federal government.

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Curtis Loftis Criticizes Underperforming SC Pension Fund

South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis again criticized the underperformance of the pension funds controlled by the S.C. Retirement System Investment Commission recently.

Speaking of the year end results for 2012, Loftis said, “It is unfortunate that the SC Investment Commission chooses not to tell the whole story about the state’s $27 billion pension fund. Our fund performs in the bottom third compared with our peers. That low performance is costing us big money. By being below average, South Carolina is leaving $175 million on the investment table.”

Since assuming the office of treasurer, Loftis has been a critic of the SCRSIC for poor performance, wasteful spending, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest.

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Who is Teddy Turner?

Voting is three weeks away in the SC 1st Congressional District special election primary and I am still wondering who Teddy Turner is.

We have been told he’s a conservative Republican because he spent four years at The Citadel and two years in the Soviet Union.

We have heard over and over at candidate forums that he is not his father. Frankly, his standup comic routine about his father can be rather funny, but, unfortunately it is his stump speech.

We also know he is not Jane Fonda. Both are probably happy about that.

But, who exactly is he? I defy you to find one policy position Turner has enunciated.

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Horry County Council and Its WestJet Guarantee

The vote by Horry County Council earlier this week to set aside a contingency fund of $1 million to guarantee Canadian airline WestJet from suffering losses on new passenger service to Myrtle Beach International Airport continues to be a topic of discussion by the general public.

Several times this past week I was asked the question, “What is Horry County Council thinking by guaranteeing a private business against losses?”

My first inclination was to respond that ‘Horry County Council thinking’ is an oxymoron, but I settled for ‘I don’t have the slightest idea.’

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SWA Asks Chamber to Support Flow Control Monopoly

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority is trying to enlist the help of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce with lobbying efforts to maintain the solid waste flow control monopoly the SWA currently enjoys in the county.

Officials from the SWA will make a presentation this morning to the chamber’s Legislative Policy Council, chaired by George Mims, urging defeat of the Business Freedom to Choose Act, currently under consideration in the SC Senate.

The Business Freedom to Choose Act would ban flow control within the borders of South Carolina. Of course, since Horry County is the only county of the 46 in the state to have legislatively mandated a government monopoly over solid waste disposal, the SWA is hoping the Chamber will see the fight as local.

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Legal Difficulties Loom for Judge John Rakowsky

A month ago, we reported that Lexington attorney and chief magistrate judge John Rakowsky was a defendant in a lawsuit filed in Las Vegas, Nevada federal court, Case No. 2:12-cv-02161-GMN-CWH.

The lawsuit is for Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, Intentional Misrepresentation and Conversion of Property. The Plaintiff is Center for Legal Reform (CLR), a Nevada Non-profit Corporation as successor in trust to Resolution Settlement Corporation (RSC), a former Nevada corporation, which provided expense funds for the Southern Holdings case.

This case has the potential to fully expose the South Carolina legal system as a good ole boys club that protects its own at the expense of the law, fairness and justice.

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The State Farmers Market and Ethics Reform

The seriousness with which SC General Assembly members are taking ethics and government reform this legislative session can be measured, in large part, by what happens in the budget with respect to the purchase of additional land at the state farmers market in Lexington.

The site has considerable environmental issues. It was a toxic chemical waste dump for many years. To this day, there are a number of EPA warning signs on the property and restrictive covenants that seriously inhibit the available uses of the land.

Nevertheless, proposals are back in Columbia for the state to pay approximately $13 million to add three additional lots to its holdings at the current farmers market.

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Expanding Horry County Inc.

Horry County will insert itself more firmly in the private business sector when it passes three resolutions at tonight’s council meeting.

One resolution guarantees revenue to Canadian airline WestJet that will begin service to Myrtle Beach International. The second approves the Horry County Department of Airports purchasing the assets of Ramp 66 at the North Myrtle Beach airport and becoming the new fixed base operator there.

The third resolution directs the administrator to explore any and all legal recourse, which may be available to the county, if and when the S.C. General Assembly passes legislation making the Horry County Solid Waste Authority’s solid waste flow control monopoly illegal.

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The New Jim Crow

Please forgive me, but I had to check my calendar three times today to ensure that it read 2013 because it seems we are back in the Jim Crow era.

That is the case, at least, for a few residents and a teacher from Sullivan, Indiana, which is located 25 miles south of Terre Haute in the southwestern portion of the Hoosier State.

While many of us realize we are in the 21st Century and act accordingly, there is a small select few, who still long for the days of “Separate, but Equal” treatment when it comes to their neighbors.

In case you have missed the circus, it has arrived with all three rings and a big tent in Sullivan

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Consider the Source

I write to you today regarding a situation that I believe must be brought to your attention and for you to consider the source. Last week I received an interesting survey that was delivered to my State House office. This “survey” entitled “GREENVILLE TEA PARTY VETO SCORECARD 2012” was sent to every House and Senate member. While it looks real fancy with its red and green marks to indicate how our Representatives “voted,” there is at least one huge flaw…They included me in the survey – displaying 74 votes that I supposedly made. As many of you remember, I was elected to the SC House of Representatives on July 24th of last year, which was after the SC House took their votes on the Governor’s vetoes. I did not make one single vote during last year’s legislative session since I was elected after the session had adjourned.

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