Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
the moment of truth
When asked "How important do you think the issue of motorcycle rallies will be in next month's elections?" in a Sun News online poll, 1,023 out of 1,180 people answered either "It's the only issue that matters" (256) or "Important" (767); an overwhelming 87 percent.
I have said before that I am looking forward to Myrtle Beach city elections on Nov. 3 in the same way I look forward to the Super Bowl. More than a year ago Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes and the city council unanimously voted to secede from the three annual motorcycle rallies in our area, adopting 15 new city ordinances designed to discourage rally-based tourism, effectively refusing hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of potential tourist dollars. No impact studies were done before the assault was launched and many businesses have suffered as a result. Some, such as B&M Custom Cycles, folded as a result.
Rhodes was elected on an "Any business [including biker business] is good business" platform in the wake of an organized effort to replace then-Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride following his anti-biker statements about wanting to "nudge" a motorcycle rider with his car because the biker's T-shirt offended him. Rhodes, however, turned on bikers and businesses by declaring Myrtle Beach would no longer cooperate with any of the three motorcycle rallies.
A protest ride was held in opposition to one of the new ordinances requiring helmets be worn by all riders inside city limits, which flies in the face of existing state law that gives riders older than 21 years of age the right to choose whether or not to wear a helmet. A number of unresolved court cases have been filed to challenge the helmet requirement and despite the fact that the ordinance is still on the books, several cases are still pending as the city seems to be stalling on the prosecution of more than one hundred violations. One South Carolina state Supreme Court justice issued a memo to city officials in reference to another anti-Bike Week ordinance calling the new "Administrative Hearing" system, designed to circumvent the traditional legal system, repugnant and unconstitutional. The memo led to the city's abandonment of the Administrative Hearings.
In the meantime, motorcycle rally-based tourism has been significantly reduced and the city of Myrtle Beach, that used to benefit from hundreds of thousands of motorcycle tourists during the rallies, has since been referred to as a ghost town during the rallies.
A number of groups have formed to challenge the incumbents who include Rhodes and city councilmen Wayne Gray, Chuck Martino and Randal Wallace, who, in my opinion, ultimately must be voted out if there is to be any hope of bringing back the tourists who enjoyed the motorcycle rallies.
I refer to them as "tourists" instead of "bikers" because many of them are not just people who ride motorcycles, but are also parents and golfers who return to the area with their families or golfing buddies, contributing to the economy throughout the year.
As a result of the new ordinances and anti-biker sentiment being perpetuated by the incumbents, a far-reaching grass roots boycott effort using the slogan "Not a Dime in '09" has effectively sent a message to businesses in Myrtle Beach that their support for the rallies is expected if they want to reap the millions of available tourism dollars bikers have to offer. Many, however, note that a lot of the business owners in Myrtle Beach do not reside within the city limits, and therefore do not have a vote in the upcoming elections.
Other related issues surrounding this year's elections are the 1 percent Ad Tax the incumbents approved (again without input from residents), which generated millions of dollars for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the million dollar tax increase supposed to be used to end the motorcycle rallies, and recent revelations concerning tens of thousands of dollars worth of suspect campaign contributions.
Despite millions of dollars worth of increases, the incumbents have launched a campaign claiming to be focused on reducing taxes (in the form of a single personal property tax reduction that hasn't even taken place.) The claims are about as comical as the marquees on Councilman Gray's restaurants that read "Welcome Bikers" during the rallies he voted to eliminate.
The fallout of the actions taken by the Myrtle Beach mayor and council members spread to a limited degree to the Horry and Georgetown county councils. Businesses, their employees, and those employees' families have suffered significant financial losses in an already depressed economy as a direct result of the actions taken by these politicians, most who do not rely on tourism to make a living. Now is the time to take a stand and to right the wrongs we have suffered over the course of the last year-and-a-half.
If you are a resident of Myrtle Beach, Nov. 3 is your chance to help reverse the anti-biker sentiment adopted by the city, so get out and vote.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions of bike-related topics send a "Big E-mail'' to surgebiker@yahoo.com.