Mande Wilkes: Myrtle Beach leaders favor China, snub locals

Well, Myrtle Beach’s City Council is back at it with its Asian fetish. Mayor John Rhodes is right now in China in hopes of luring loaded investors to the Grand Strand.

The thing is, there are plenty of people right here at home who would be happy to invest in our area. The problem? Local ordinances have scared off many would-be investors.

As a real estate broker, I find time and again that businesses are reluctant to open their doors within the city limits. They fear the bizarre zoning laws, the oppressive signing ordinances, the climbing licensing fees, and the restrictive parking policies.

All of these rules add up to a suffocating environment for businesses, and that’s why Highway 17 is littered with empty storefronts and dilapidated buildings. It’s sad but simple: Locals are scared to open up shop in Myrtle Beach, and so entrepreneurs are either looking elsewhere in the state or they’re not starting businesses at all.

I wrote a few months ago about the lunacy of spending taxpayer money to fund these misguided “promotional” efforts. Seriously, how much does a round-trip ticket to China cost? It’s not cheap, I’m betting! I wonder if it’s common for a relatively small-town mayor to be paid to jetset across the globe.

I have a brilliant idea: Let’s let local taxpayers and businesses keep more of their own money, and maybe we won’t be so desperate for foreign investors. Of course then the mayor would have to find another way to fund his world travels, but that’s not our problem.

The other piece of this puzzle, of course, is that it’s un-American — and downright anti-American — for elected leaders to work on behalf of foreign business interests. Has the city council knocked on locals’ doors with the business ideas it’s taking to China? Not that I’m aware.

This smacks of the worst kind of betrayal: politicians swiping your tax money, passing laws that thwart commerce, and then taking that tax money to promote commerce for rich people in other countries. I’ve had it with the “incentives” — the tax breaks, the zoning favors, the courting of foreign entities. Locals are eager to invest in and improve upon this area, but our own officials are crowding them out in favor of overseas interests.

Seriously, doesn’t China own and control enough of the American economy? The absolute last thing we need is for our local delegation to go making pretty promises to Chinese businessmen in exchange for their “capital.” (Here it bears mentioning that there’s so much “capital” in China precisely because of failed U.S. economic policies.)

This whole thing proves not for the first time that government should not be trying to “promote growth” or “create jobs.” Those efforts are costly and wholly ineffective. It’s the people who promote growth and create jobs, if only they’re not thwarted by their own government.

Once the mayor returns from his Asian tour, I invite him and his council to rethink the policies that have landed us in the position of begging for Chinese charity.

This story was originally published September 19, 2015 at 7:32 AM with the headline "Mande Wilkes: Myrtle Beach leaders favor China, snub locals."