Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Donation info out for Myrtle Beach contests

The 18 candidates for Myrtle Beach City Council this year have raised more than $200,000, with more than half the donations going to the four incumbents.

With five days to go until voters cast their ballots, the most recent filings are almost all available for public examination and show how different financial support has been for incumbents and challengers.

This has been a particularly contentious campaign, with much of the focus on the city's efforts to quell the May motorcycle rallies, flavored with questions about campaign contributions.

Mayor John Rhodes has raised about 10 times that of opponent Bill Howard, bringing in about $65,000 compared with the less than $7,000 Howard said his final reports will show.

Howard questioned why the incumbents needed so much money.

"I think in other elections - normal elections where the electorate is interested in facts and issues - no, it wouldn't be necessary to spend that much," said incumbent Councilman Randal Wallace, who has raised about $44,000 this year, more than in previous campaigns, and is spending it all. "But this year, with people spreading lies, distorting the things people have said, and all the other stuff that's going on, you're ... right I loaded up."

Wallace said he chose to spend most of his contributions on mailers to better control the message to voters. Others have spent their cash on signs, TV ads, radio and print ads, refreshments for events and even thank-you notes.

In recent weeks, Business Owners Organized to Support Tourism, a Grand Strand group, has raised questions about 24 $1,000 donations from individuals and limited liability corporations, which went to each of the four incumbents and to state and legislators.

BOOST alleges the donations were given in exchange for the council's support of a 1 percent city sales tax for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce's out-of-market promotions. The state ethics agency has said there is nothing illegal about the number or the size of the gifts.

The allegations have sparked escalating legal threats between BOOST and the chamber.

With five days to go until the election, candidates are supposed to have filed their final pre-election donation and expenditure reports with the South Carolina Ethics Commission. Most have, according to the agency's Web site.

Former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride's documents show he has received $700 in donations this election period, but the latest report indicates he has spent nothing. Mayoral hopeful Bea Catalano's documents show $750 in donations.

Council hopeful Keith Compton has received $5,000 so far this election, and council candidate Karon Mitchell has received $3,150 so far. Councilman Chuck Martino has raised about $42,600 so far, and council challenger Adam Parness has $24,800 in contributions reported so far.

Council hopefuls Terry Mitchem and C.D. Rosza did not make Monday's drop-dead deadline for submitting the financial reports, said Ethics Commission attorney Cathy Hazelwood. Other candidates have filed on time, but their reports do not appear yet because the agency's data-entry staffers are overwhelmed with races across the state.

Candidates who filed by mail are more likely not to have up-to-date information on the agency's Web site, but Karen Wiggins, an administrative specialist with the Ethics Commission, confirmed Councilman Wayne Gray met the filing deadline and his documents should be posted by this afternoon. He said his campaign has raised about $50,000.

Wiggins also said candidate Mike Lowder filed on time, though a staffer accidentally posted his documents under 2008. Others whose final pre-election filings haven't been posted online include McBride, council hopeful Don Emery and mayoral hopeful Bill Howard.

Some candidates have taken in no money and are spending nothing, like mayoral candidate Matthew McCarty and council hopeful Pedro "Pete" Lusardi.

Hazelwood said the state requires the disclosures even if candidates raise and spend nothing.

Those who do not meet deadlines will receive letters and fines, which can range from $10 a day to $100 a day per document depending on the length of the delay.