Tag: Public Money

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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A Lesson from the AvCraft Experience

The final curtain is coming down on AvCraft Technical Services in a couple of weeks leaving behind an important political lesson that will soon be forgotten.

That lesson? Never, never, never believe a politician’s (or their associates’) claims about economic development and/or job creation.

AvCraft was first introduced to Horry County in 2003 by, then, Horry County Council candidate Joe DeFeo.

AvCraft had just forfeited economic development incentive payments for failing to reach job creation promises at its location in Tyler, Texas and was looking for fresh government dollars. DeFeo was looking for an issue that could help him win election to Horry County Council District Three.

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Curbing Economic Development Incentive Excesses

A bill prefiled with the S.C. Senate last week could go a long way toward limiting the excesses of economic development incentive agreements between government and private business.

S. 134, with senators Tom Davis and George Campsen as sponsors, would tighten down on not only what, but how governments can give away public money as an economic development incentive.

Most importantly, it would make the process transparent so the taxpayer could see in advance just how much public money is being thrown at a company to relocate, or expand its business.

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Public Discussion on Economic Development Incentives

Independent Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Ervin should be thanked for introducing economic development incentives into the political discussion recently.

While Gov. Nikki Haley campaigns around the state claiming to have created 57,000 new jobs in South Carolina during her first four years, Ervin recently released a report debunking much of Haley’s claim.

Maybe the voting public will now realize that neither state bureaucrats at the S.C. Department of Commerce, nor operatives at locally created economic development entities have any business throwing taxpayer funded “economic development incentives” at businesses they hope will create new jobs in the area.

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Select Committee on Coast RTA Considering Final Report

The Select Committee on Coast RTA members have until Friday to come up with preliminary statements for consideration in the committee’s final report.

Charged with assessing the failures of a shelter and sign project and an intermodal center project, the committee must conclude whether the failures of the projects point to systemic problems within the management of the agency. It must also make a recommendation on future funding of the transportation agency by Horry County Council.

During its third meeting April 21st, the committee concentrated on new information received over the last two weeks about an Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Myrtle Beach, a resolution by the Coast RTA board, the Coast RTA/SCDOT shelter project contract and a contract between Tolar Mfg. and Coast RTA for the shelters and associated equipment.

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Horry County Council and Fiduciary Responsibility

I have heard much recently about how Horry County Council was exercising its fiduciary responsibility, overseeing the use of public money, by appointing an ad hoc committee to report on Coast RTA.

I always get a funny feeling when I hear ‘fiduciary responsibility’ from public officials because it’s usually a dodge for some other agenda.

The recent cancelling of a contract for signs and bus shelters by SCDOT and the possibility that Coast RTA may be required to pay back money already spent on the project is the alleged reason the ad hoc committee will be looking into how effectively Coast RTA spends its public dollar grants.

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Controversial EDC Project Blue on Hold for Now

Public Money, Corporate Welfare

The revelations Monday of a tax fraud conviction and jail sentence for one of the company officials associated with the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation’s Project Blue leads to a conclusion of an apparent shocking lack of due diligence by a number of entities charged with fiscal responsibility for the expenditure of public money.

In many state and local jurisdictions throughout the U.S., conviction of a felony by a corporate officer, especially one associated with tax fraud, would automatically exempt a company from consideration for public money economic development incentives. Such does not appear to be the case in Horry County or South Carolina.

The EDC has put together a deal that would involve approximately $24 million in local and state incentives to Covation, a startup company with no demonstrated performance records.

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