a break in the storm?

In my last column I compared the state of our (supporters in general) Bike Week battle against local governments, especially the city of Myrtle Beach, to the Carolina Panthers’ losing effort against the Arizona Cardinals in their most recent, disastrous NFL playoff game.

I got plenty of feedback, some agreeing with me, telling me I’d hit the nail on the head, and some chastising me for being too negative and for throwing in the towel too soon.

When I wrote that column, the city of North Myrtle Beach appeared to be on track to pull its support for the Atlantic Beach Bikefest (aka Black Bike Week); the city of Myrtle Beach had successfully defended or stalled at least three court cases challenging its new ordinances; the town of Surfside Beach had banned Bike Week vendors for two years; Horry County Council had reduced the number of vendor permits available during the rallies, and bikers were at odds with each other publicly over things such as attendance at the Helmet Freedom [protest] Ride and whether or not to boycott businesses inside the city of Myrtle Beach.

Things in my opinion looked pretty grim, but score one for the optimists out there.

After months and months of watching and reporting and seemingly getting nowhere close to anything resembling common sense or even the hope of any type of victory for our side despite the insanity of it all, it looks like people are starting to recognize that the Emperor (mayor John Rhodes and his anti-Bike Week campaign) has no clothes.

The day after my last column was submitted, the Atlantic Beach Town Council started complaining that the Myrtle Beach and Horry County officials who’d offered pledges to help the small town out of its financial troubles in exchange for their support in doing away with the May rallies hadn’t put their money where their mouths were yet. Tired of waiting, not satisfied with empty promises, and with May’s Black Bike Week right around the corner, the town council voted not only to allow Black Bike Week, but to sponsor the event.

On March 24, The Sun News reported on local businesses that were objecting to some of the new ordinances being applied to their vacationing families. According to the article, “A handful of downtown Myrtle Beach business owners told city council this morning that overzealous police officers enforcing ordinances targeting the May motorcycle rallies could be hurting their businesses.” I found it interesting that when the city of Myrtle Beach police department set up nothing short of a full-scale dragnet to hand out close to 60 tickets in about an hour to participants in the Helmet Freedom Ride demonstration it was considered a victory, but when other Bike Week-related laws were applied to the general public it is characterized as “overzealous.” And according to that article, “City Manager Tom Leath and City Attorney Tom Ellenberg agreed that they will have an educational meeting with police officers and downtown business owners to make sure everyone understands the 15 ordinances…” I guess what’s good for the goose isn’t good for the gander.

One of the most frustrating and critical blows to our rights has been Myrtle Beach’s creation of an administrative hearing system, which effectively supersedes the existing municipal court and appeals systems that normally would have granted us a means to challenge the ordinances and tickets before an impartial judge and possibly granting the opportunity to request jury trials. Under the new administrative system, subjects are brought before one individual placed in power by the city of Myrtle Beach and anyone wanting to appeal a citation basically has no option other than to file an objection to the citation with the very person who found them guilty of the infraction.

To date, none of the court cases brought against the city of Myrtle Beach requesting injunctions to strike down the new ordinances and challenging the new kangaroo court process installed by the city have had any success. That could be changing too, however, as reports surfaced of a memo from South Carolina Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal to Horry County and Myrtle Beach officials calling the entire administrative hearing process “repugnant” and unconstitutional, citing Articles V and VIII of the South Carolina state constitution. Now, I don’t know what Articles V and VIII of the state constitution say, but I do know what “repugnant” and “unconstitutional” mean and it’s about time someone in a position to do something about it recognizes what has been going on for months. The justice even went as far as to say that the new ordinances will need to be heard in municipal court before the magistrate.

A lot remains to be seen, but it appears there are finally a few rays of hope shining through what has been a long, dark and frustrating storm.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions of bike-related topics send a "Big E-mail'' to surgebiker@yahoo.com.