Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009

Myrtle Beach council hopefuls speak out online

The three remaining candidates vying for two seats on the Myrtle Beach City Council in Tuesday's runoff - incumbents Chuck Martino and Randal Wallace, and challenger Mike Lowder - joined The Sun News on Friday for a live online chat with readers. The following are excerpts from the conversation; for the full chat transcript, visit TheSunNews.com.

Reader: Are Chuck and Randal comfortable accepting monies that, apparently, at least some of it has been funneled through defunct corporations that were dissolved for failure to pay taxes?

Chuck Martino: I have said I will return any money that is determined to have been donated improperly, even if I have to take a loan to do so, but I would rather give it to a local charity.

Martino: Secretary of State may close or call an LLC defunct for failure to file a tax return, which does not mean taxes were not paid. There is a difference.

Randal Wallace: I am comfortable that I did what I was required to do in reporting all the funds I received and on time. I know Brant Branham to be a fine upstanding person and feel that he has done nothing wrong in how he raised money. I might add that I went to him along with several other area businessmen and asked for help raising money.

Reader: Would Mr. Lowder say he "embraces" the support of HELP and BOOST or does the support come with too much baggage attached?

Mike Lowder: I need support from all citizens. As far as HELP standing for "Help Eliminate Lousy Politicians," I do not agree with that.

Reader: What do you plan on doing to get people like myself that live outside the city limits and don't want to help pay your property taxes back into the city to spend money?

Wallace: I hope that you love the city and the area and want to see it thrive. My hope is the advertising monies will draw tourists in big numbers as the economy nationally improves and that will create more jobs for the people who live here.

Reader: That's a great question about the 1 percent tax increase. I live outside the city limits and have made it a point to not spend money in the city. It's not fair for only a few people to gain from all of us paying.

Lowder: I have not supported the tax because we did not get a chance to vote for it and there are a lot of citizens that live in the city that receive no tax credit either, but I am only one vote if elected and I would like to see changes made there.

Martino: What sometimes is lost in discussion is that the beach belongs to the entire USA population, however the cleaning, grooming and policing of it is the responsibility of our city taxpayers, who bear an undue burden to protect a beach for everyone.

Lorena Anderson: I have a question for the candidates. Do you think there was ever a time when the rallies could have been kept "under control?" Could the city/county/Grand Strand have done things differently?

Martino: Lorena - we tried for 12 years with Bike Week Task Force and failed to get all the parties at the table to agree to compromise and work together. Even the Harley Dealers Association had an issue with the local (non-city) dealer who was promoting.

Wallace: There was a time years ago when the impact was not as overwhelming as it has been the past decade. I think the rise of the Internet and information access in the mid 90s led to people becoming far more aware of Myrtle Beach and a flood of people coming in and catching the city off guard in one year. 1997. The event was then promoted by the sponsors and then extended to 10 days and just overwhelmed the city's ability to control it. I do not know if in those early days we had any missteps that in hindsight would have made a difference other than perhaps a more cooperative spirit with the sponsors.

Lowder: The rallies were managed better at in the past but I feel there was a decline in enforcement of laws that started around 1994 and that may have had as much to do with recent problems as anything, plus the growing size of the rallies. However I think these rallies can be managed with the right promotion of them and communication.