Politics

ICE “Cold” on Dan Liu Immigration Status and Felony Allegations

Above Photo – Chinese police raiding Yigian Funding office}

Dan Liu, owner of Founders Group International, which includes 21 golf courses and other properties in the Grand Strand area, was a participant in the recent One Flight Myrtle Beach Classic pro-am golf tournament. It was surprising to see Liu among the participants considering his questionable immigration status in the United States.
Some background:
Jane Zheng was a native Chinese working as a realtor with a local company in Horry County. Her niche market was other Chinese nationals with seemingly excess cash to invest in U.S. properties.
Zheng connected with Dan Liu, reportedly a managing partner in Yiqian Funding, a peer to peer lending company in China. Yiqian Funding (also known in China as “Easy Richness”} raised money from Chinese investors that was, theoretically, lent to businesses or other entrepreneurs or invested independently. Investors and the company supposedly made money on the interest paid on the loans and on the rise in investment assets.
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Bailey Bill Would Revert County Policing to Sheriff’s Department

A bill introduced into the S. C. House of Representatives this week by North Myrtle Beach Rep. William Bailey would abolish the Horry County Police Department and return all county law enforcement duties to the Sheriff’s Department, if passed.
This is not a new issue in Horry County, only the latest iteration evolving from the recent revelations in the case of the 2023 fatal shooting of Scott Spivey by North Myrtle Beach business owner Weldon Boyd and the initial handling of the case by Horry County police officers.
By the provisions of the 1895 Constitution of South Carolina, the elected County Sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in each of the state’s 46 counties. However, through the years, the members of the General Assembly found a way around this provision by passing individual bills establishing police commissions, appointed by the respective county’s legislative delegation, to oversee policing in the county. These commissions established county police departments to assume many of the duties of the county’s Sheriff. At one time, as many as 19 counties in the state had police departments separate from the Sheriff’s Department. Today, only the Horry County Police Department remains.
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Amending the State Impact Fee Law Would be Real Government Effectiveness

Earlier this month, Rep. William Bailey (R-104) posted the following on his Facebook page to his constituents in Horry County:
“As the federal and state governments start to review and reform their financial responsibilities to our taxpayers, I strongly encourage local governments to begin a process of enhancing infrastructure projects, limiting governmental expansion, and encouraging and assisting small businesses as they struggle with related inflation that negatively impacts us all. Every dollar should be a wise investment for our future but more importantly, they should be dollars that improve our economic stability.”
Bailey has generally done a good job representing his constituents in the North Myrtle Beach area. One thing he could do to further help all the citizens in Horry County would be to sponsor a bill to amend the state’s current impact fee law to help local governments correctly apportion the costs of infrastructure improvements and additions caused by new construction.
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Rodney Berry’s Vision for Senate District 30

Republican candidate Rodney Berry will square off against five-term incumbent Democrat Kent Willians in tomorrow’s election for SC Senate District 30.
Berry brings a unique set of qualifications and experience to the race which could help pull District 30 up from its current economic problems. He is a past mayor of Marion, a former Administrator of Dillon County government, has 10 years of experience working with Congress and is currently a contractor for economic development for Dillon County.
“For the past 20 years the two main counties in this Senate District have ranked in the top 5 poorest counties in South Carolina,” Berry said. “We can’t keep accepting losing and finishing at the bottom.”
Berry was a principal negotiator in the economic development initiative that resulted in the Dillon Inland Port which has provided over 2,000 new jobs to date. He plans to use his experience in economic development initiatives to benefit the entirety of District 30.
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The RIDE IV Ballot Question – Do You Want Road Improvements or Not?

The decision by voters on Tuesday on whether to approve the RIDE IV referendum for road improvements in Horry County may be the most important decision they make on the general election ballot.
Unlike the politicians for whom they decide to cast a ballot, politicians who will pass with time, the roads, which will be built if the referendum is approved, will serve not only the present generation of voters but also future generations. Or Not!
Horry County Council chose to ask voters to approve a 25-year, one-cent sales tax to raise approximately $6.6 billion for road improvements and additions. It is currently estimated that Horry County is deficient to the tune of approximately $4.5 billion in road improvements needed to service today’s needs and population. Approval of the 25-year referendum will allow the county to issue bonds, funded by future revenues, to speed up construction of needed improvements. Former RIDE projects were funded on a pay as you go basis.
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Considerations for SC Senate District 30 Voters

The most competitive race in this year’s general election for the South Carolina Senate is taking place in Senate District 30, which includes Marion and Dillon counties and parts of Florence, Darlington and Horry counties. Five term incumbent Democratic senator Kent Williams is being challenged by Republican Rodney Berry.
What makes the race so competitive is Berry is not the normal type of challenger attempting to gain name recognition in the district. Before filing for office, Berry already possessed name recognition in the district at least equal to the incumbent Williams.
A graduate of Dillon High School, Berry was Captain and MVP of the Wildcats football team. He went on to graduate from Presbyterian College where he also starred on the football field serving two years as captain of the team and being named an All Decade linebacker for the 1990’s.
Berry served four years in the United States Marine Corps including being named as Parris Island Top Recruit and Company Honor Man. After his service to the country, Rodney entered the newspaper business founding the Dillon County Shopper, Marion County Penny Saver and his most successful venture of all “She Magazine”.
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HIC Poplar Church Rezoning Request Raises Questions

Horry County Council will consider second reading of a rezoning request combining two parcels off Hwy 701 at its regular meeting tomorrow. The rezoning request brings several questions.
One of the parcels, owned by HIC Poplar Church LLC, contains 93.75 acres, which are filed with the Horry County Registry of Deeds as a “Special Warranty Deed” including 12 “Permitted Exceptions”.
According to S. C. Secretary of State records, Poplar Church LLC was created January 12, 2024. The purchase of the property from Timbervest Partners III South Carolina LLC was completed January 23, 2024, according to the Special Warranty Deed.
Timbervest Partners originally purchased the property as one of 59 distinct parcels from Burroughs and Chapin in January 2013, all included in a 193 page Special Warranty Deed document.
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Mica’s Law, Funding Issues and the Rankin Campaign for Reelection

A proposed Mica’s Law and the need for it were the topic of conversation by Attorney Regina Ward as a guest on the TALK 94.5 Liz Calloway Show today.
References were made to Ward’s press conference last week bringing light to much needed action by the General Assembly to pass coercive control legislation to close a gap in current domestic abuse law.
The latest form of the legislation was filed in the SC Senate in December 2021. It died in the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Horry County Sen. Luke Rankin.
Calloway said the show reached out to both Rankin and his opponent in tomorrow’s Republican Primary for Senate District 33, Autry Benton. According to Calloway, Rankin referred the show to a statement he made after the press conference in which he called that event a political stunt. Benton said he would take Mica’s Law legislation and run with it, if elected.

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The Mica’s Law Press Conference Was Not a Political Stunt

The recent Mica’s Law press conference held by Conway Attorney Regina Ward and the reaction to it by District 33 Sen. Luke Rankin provided a microcosm of why voters are increasingly fed up with government and why change is needed in Columbia.
Mica’s Law is named after Mica Miller, a client of Ward’s who, reportedly, suffered from coercive control domestic violence before she tragically took her own life in a state park in North Carolina on April 27th of this year.
Ward criticized both houses of the SC General Assembly for ignoring bills which were filed in two consecutive legislative sessions, The bills dealt with providing law enforcement authority to investigate a form of domestic violence known as coercive control.
During her remarks, Ward mentioned that Rankin is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary, where the proposed legislation was left to die without any work being done on it. Ward’s press conference was covered extensively locally.

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The Contradictions and Dead Ends in the Rankin Campaign

Senator Luke Rankin’s answers to a local media outlet about what he could accomplish in Columbia for the citizens of Horry County were contradictory at best while appearing to leave voters at the same dead ends they are experiencing now.
On the hottest topic in Horry County at present, roads and other infrastructure needs, Rankin reportedly pointed to his 32-year seniority in the Senate as a huge asset.
Rankin was quoted as saying, “Being in a leadership position you can bring more money home for roads, for schools and for projects we’ve had here, across the county itself and particularly in District 33,” and “I’m proud to have been able to show the folks of Horry County that seniority does pay off.”
Rankin proceeded to contradict himself later in the article when he reportedly said it was impractical to rely on additional funding from the state level to push forward new projects. He was quoted as saying, “The idea, as nice as it might sound, somebody else (the state budget) needs to pay for our way is like waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the Charlie Brown series. That Great Pumpkin ain’t coming to pay for roads we desperately need.”

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