Author: Paul Gable

Skydive Myrtle Beach FOIA Deadline Passes

The deadline for the Federal Aviation Administration to provide Skydive Myrtle Beach with copies of the alleged 112 investigated safety complaints against the company passed yesterday with silence.

The FAA issued a 73 page report, allegedly based on the safety violation documentation from Horry County Department of Airports. Horry County officials used the FAA report to shut down operations of Skydive Myrtle Beach at the Grand Strand Airport.

Skydive Myrtle Beach initially sought to get the documentation on the alleged safety violation reports through an FOIA request to Horry County. The response from Horry County attorney Arrigo Carotti was that the only information the county had was the 73 page FAA report.

According to Horry County officials, none of the underlying documentation, upon which the report was allegedly based, was available from the county, the governmental agency that supposedly documented the 112 safety violations in the first place.

Beginning last August, Skydive Myrtle Beach sent an FOIA request to the FAA for all documentation related to the 112 safety violations and any other documentation used to generate the 73 page FAA report.

The FAA denied the first FOIA request in October 2015 stating the request was too broad. A second FOIA request was sent by Skydive Myrtle Beach to the FAA, which was accepted.

The following FOIA status report was sent by email from Duke Taylor of the FAA to Skydive Myrtle Beach owner Aaron Holly on January 21, 2016:

“On Jan 21, 2016, at 3:49 PM, duke.taylor@faa.gov wrote:

“Mr. Holly by statute your response is due February 2, 2016.

“At this time our tracking system shows the status as Search and Review.

D”

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Mike Roberts Seeking Horry County Council District Seven Seat

Lifelong Conway resident Mike Roberts announced last week that he was a Republican candidate for the open Horry County Council District Seven seat.

Roberts was the Republican nominee for the District Seven seat in 2014. After winning the Republican primary, Roberts lost to longtime Democratic council member James Frazier in the 2014 general election. With Frazier’s retirement from the position on March 1, 2014, Roberts is again seeking to represent the citizens of District Seven.

Keeping taxes low will be the number one priority for Roberts if he is elected to county council.

“Government is too quick to raise taxes when it faces some kind of problem,” Roberts said. “We must first look to cut needless spending so we can keep taxes low.”

Horry County Council passed the largest property tax increase in history last summer by a 6-5 vote margin. Frazier voted with the slim majority to raise taxes.

It is safe to say, if Roberts had been the victor in 2014, the tax increase would not have passed.

“I would not have voted for it,” Roberts said. “County council passed first reading of the budget with no tax increase. By second reading, we supposedly needed the largest tax increase in history. Nothing changed except the politics.”

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First Education Reform Bills in SC House

Eight bills were introduced into the SC House this week in what was called part of the first phase of the House Education Reform Package.

On first glance, it seems House education reform means more bureaucracy.

One proposal calls for the establishment of an authority that could borrow money on the state’s behalf to spend on school facilities. This is seen as a means for school districts with low tax bases to obtain money to repair deteriorating school buildings.

Another bill calls for recreating the Education and Economic Development Coordinating Council in an effort to “ensure our students are college and career ready.”

This goes along with a bill that would redefine the expectations of a South Carolina high school graduate. Sounds like the “minimally adequate education” that is now called for in state law is no longer good enough.

The bill that bothers me the most is H. 4777 that would allow the state to take over a school district that is failing financially. This has been tried in other states with minimal success at best.

I could be wrong, but these proposals sound like centralization of decision making, centralization of goals and centralization of new financial resources.

Historically, the SC General Assembly has sought to keep as much power and control in its hands as possible while giving only lip service to smaller government and home rule.

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Gasoline Taxes and Roads on Tap in Columbia

An increase in the gasoline tax is part of the SC General Assembly debate on road funding and tax considerations this week.

This debate will potentially be the one that affects taxpayers the most in the coming years.

One thing I believe you can count on is that before this debate is finished and by the time next year’s budget kicks in, gasoline taxes in the state will have been increased.

South Carolina’s current 16.75 cents per gallon tax on gasoline is one of the lowest in the nation. Last year, the SC House passed a proposal to increase that tax by 10 cents per gallon.

The SC Senate Finance Committee is currently considering a proposal to increase the gasoline tax by 12 cents per gallon.

When both Houses of the legislature are considering a tax increase, it’s a pretty good bet one will be forthcoming.

Additionally, with gasoline prices as low as they’ve been in 10 years, this is the perfect time to raise gasoline taxes because consumers have been accustomed to paying much more than the $1.60 or so per gallon currently charged at the pumps.

Along with the gasoline tax debate are proposals to reduce the state’s income tax.

This ploy was introduced by Gov. Nikki Haley last year and the legislature has picked up on it.

If you can get the taxpayers concentrating on how much they could save in reduced income taxes, maybe they won’t notice, or at least oppose, a gas tax increase.

Haley’s proposal last year even went so far as to call the increased gas tax combined with the reduced income tax “revenue neutral.”

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James Frazier Resignation Stills Questions

The resignation letter submitted by Horry County Council member James Frazier last week stilled questions that have been making the rounds lately.

Frazier is the record holder for service on county council having been the representative for Horry County District Seven since the county established single member districts. He has represented the citizens of District Seven for 35 consecutive years.

Recently, however, Frazier became notable for his absences, having not attended a council meeting since September 2015.

State law provides that three straight unexcused absences, by elected or appointed officials, create an automatic vacancy in the seat they hold. The law further provides that the chairman of the council, board, commission or committee the absent member sits on is required to immediately notify the governor of the vacancy.

This was not done in Horry County. Frazier missed six straight council meetings beginning in October 2015, but no notification to the governor was given. While Frazier was absent due to medical conditions, numerous sources agreed they were conditions from which he would not recover.

This is not about individuals or their service. The law is in place to assure continued representation to the citizens affected by these absences.

Frazier’s letter makes his resignation from his seat on council effective March 1, 2016. It could be argued, according to a strict interpretation of state law, a vacancy has existed in the District Seven seat since November 2015.

James Frazier served the county long and honorably for 35 years, a record not in danger of being broken. Like many athletes and politicians, he probably stayed a bit too long, but knowing when to quit is often difficult for the person involved.

Below is a Public Servant profile featuring Frazier that I did for Carolina Weekly several years ago:

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I&R Committee Hears Charleston Recyclable Update

The Horry County Infrastructure and Regulation Committee heard an update on the Charleston recyclable deal yesterday.

As with any new operation, several months of experience is needed to determine if projections in the deal are becoming reality.

With five months of solid numbers now in place, it is possible to look at what Horry County residents can and cannot expect from the Charleston deal.

First and foremost, the HCSWA can forget any expectations of making a $1 million dollar per year profit on the contract that brings recyclables from Charleston County to Horry County for processing.

When Horry County Council reconsidered second reading of a budget amendment needed to approve the deal, council member Harold Worley asked if this deal would make money. HCSWA officials answered yes.

Not realizing too much of a loss will be considered a good result.

There are several reasons for this. The assumption of 14.5% reject rate of recyclables processed is much too low. The reject rate has been in the mid to high 20’s range and that is with the best interpretation of exactly what constitutes rejects.

For example, the months of Aug through Dec 2015 saw 21,382 tons of recyclables processed at the HCSWA. Of that amount, 13,192 tons of recyclables have been sold, leaving 8,190 tons not sold.

The HCSWA does not consider all of the 8,190 tons as rejects. Some is glass that is ground up and sold at $5 per ton by the HCSWA. In December, approximately 200 tons of glass was processed, according to the HCSWA. Another 600 tons remained processed on the floor waiting to be shipped out.

You get the idea, assuming only 14.5% rejects was a pipe dream.

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SC General Assembly Bolsheviks?

It didn’t take long for ‘stupid’ to raise its head in the current legislative session of the SC General Assembly.
Yesterday state Rep. Mike Pitts (R-Laurens) introduced a bill to clamp down on the media in the state.

Called the “South Carolina Responsible Journalism Registry Law”, Pitts proposes to set requirements for journalists working in the media, including registration requirements with the Office of the Secretary of State and fee payments.

Even Pitts acknowledges his bill stands no chance of passing (it is unconstitutional as well as being plain stupid). But, such is the way of the General Assembly in most years.

According to reports, Pitts told one media outlet his bill is meant to stimulate discussion of how the Second Amendment is treated in the press (according to Pitts’ interpretation of articles at least.)

If I get this right, we have a South Carolina lawmaker who wishes to violate the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom of speech or of the press,” in order to guarantee the Second Amendment is not criticized.

That’s virtually straight out of Lenin and his Bolshevik revolution – grab control of the press so you control the message and eliminate all opposition to your political views.

I seriously doubt there is a nascent Communist Party rearing its head in Columbia, but ‘one never knows do one?’

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Charleston Contract Costing HCSWA

The contract between Charleston County and the Horry County Solid Waste Authority for the HCSWA to process Charleston County recyclables is costing Horry County money.

With five months (Aug thru Dec) of solid numbers behind us, the HCSWA has lost approximately $130,000 processing Charleston County recyclables.

When the HCSWA entered into the contract with Charleston County, it was estimated the contract would bring a profit of approximately $1 million per year. That certainly does not seem to be the case with revenues from sale of recyclables over those five months totaling approximately $1.860 million and expenses totaling approximately $1.990 million.

The only thing saving the HCSWA from even greater losses was a three month amendment to the contract, which allows Horry County to not pay Charleston County for transportation costs related to bringing the Charleston County recyclables to Horry County.

The contract calls for Horry County to pay Charleston County $425 per truckload of recyclables shipped from Charleston County. These payments have been suspended for December through February. The suspension allowed the HCSWA to realize a modest $20,000 profit in December.

Several other line items are puzzling from the HCSWA’s latest report. Expenses associated with Charleston recyclables are less than expenses associated with Horry County recyclables. However, Charleston County recyclables are approximately double the amount of Horry County recyclables.

Additionally, a total of 21,382 tons of recyclables have been processed in the five months while only 13,192 tons have been sold. This leaves 8,190 tons of recyclables unsold.

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Roads, Schools and Pensions Top Legislative Agenda

SC House Ways and Means chairman Brian White listed roads, schools and pensions as three priorities in the current SC General Assembly legislative agenda.

Since the Ways and Means Committee writes the budget, White’s priorities are important.
White issued the following press release yesterday as the General Assembly opened its legislative year:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 12, 2016

Ways and Means Committee Begins Committee Work

House Budget writers start deliberations

(Columbia, SC) – House Ways and Means Chairman Brian White (District 6-Anderson) today released the following statement:

“The Ways and Means Committee and its subcommittees have been meeting since November on the impact of the historic flooding and to hear budget requests but now that the legislative session has arrived we begin fully our comprehensive and open deliberations to fund state government for fiscal year 2016-17.

Our state’s excellent recent economic growth and prudent budget decisions the General Assembly made last year have resulted in $1.2 billion in unobligated general funds that are available in this year’s appropriations process. We also begin this year with significant obligations such as flood costs, the Abbeville school lawsuit, transportation funding, and a growing pension problem, not to mention state agency requests of over $2.1 billion. Ways and Means will weigh the requests and our responsibilities and be sensible stewards of taxpayer dollars while also providing for an accountable and responsible state government,” stated Chairman White.

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HCSWA Board Hubris Round Three

Horry County Solid Waste Authority board chairman Lance Thompson sent a letter to Horry County administrator Chris Eldridge last month notifying Eldridge of the 5-2 vote by the HCSWA board recommending removal of Dan Gray from the HCSWA board.

The letter and its accompanying documents were obtained by GSD through a Freedom of Information Act request to Horry County government.

Included in the accompanying documents was a letter to Gray that states in part, “While the Board regrets having to make this decision, it has determined that you have engaged in an ongoing course of conduct, which appears to be designed to undermine the Board’s actions and to hamper the functioning of the Board in a deliberative manner.”

I submit the above statement is one of opinion, not fact. I further submit the HCSWA board rarely acts in a deliberative manner.

The HCSWA board certainly did not deliberate long on the decision to spend over $1 million of public money with a lobbyist to advocate against changing state law and local ordinances with respect to flow control of waste streams.

County council ultimately amended the county flow control ordinance over the objections of the HCSWA and its lobbyist.

I submit the entire issue of removing Gray from the HCSWA board is one of personal agendas of certain HCSWA board members, certain HCSWA staff and certain Horry County Council members. In other words, Horry County politics at its worst.

The HCSWA board has taken its vote and sent its letter. I expect that is as far as the issue will go.

Gray is a nominee of the League of Cities approved by vote of Horry County Council.

Council chairman Mark Lazarus has said he will not put the issue of removing Gray on council agenda if the League of Cities does not support the HCSWA vote.

Despite behind the scenes phone calls by some HCSWA board members to mayors in the county, sources tell me the League of Cities is firmly behind Gray remaining on the HCSWA board.

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