Bethune vs. Rhodes: How the candidates feel about key campaign issues

The Nov. 21 runoff election is right around the corner and Brenda Bethune is working to unseat incumbent John Rhodes.

Bethune and Rhodes faced Ed Carey, former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride and C.D. Rozsa on Nov. 7, tackling key issues including public safety and what the best option is for the Superblock properties. Because Bethune or Rhodes did not win more than 50 percent of the vote a runoff election was required.

Now, with two candidates left, Bethune and Rhodes delve into deeper issues including off-shore drilling and new infrastructure projects.

Here are each candidate’s opinions on various issues:

Should all council seats stay at-large or should we implement districts?

Rhodes: “In order to have proper representation to our city as fast as it’s growing I feel that we need to look at districts because that’s the only way you’re going to get proper representation. I feel the north end, the middle, the south end and Market Common all need to have representation to make sure we’re to conduct business in a manner to make sure everybody’s going to be represented. So it looks to me like districts would be the best way to go, the only way to go.”

Bethune: “I am not against single member districts. We have to be very careful to make sure everyone gets fair and equal representation and if that means having single member districts I’m fine with that. I’m not against that. But it’s not solely my decision.”

Do you support off-shore drilling?

Rhodes: “No. Let’s look at what happened to the Gulf of Mexico when it had the oil spill and all. Look, this beach has one industry and that’s tourism. And if it wasn’t for tourism and this beautiful beach, we would not have what we have in Myrtle Beach today - a great tourist community, a great retirement community and the number one resort in America along the coast.”

Bethune: “I do not. One of the main reasons is because of what it can do in case of a catastrophe. We’re a tourist destination and we have to protect our beaches and our economy. So if there were to be a catastrophe it could devastate our tourism. It also does not bring local jobs to the area. The people who work there are considered jobbers and they come form other areas. So it does nothing to help employ people here locally. And what it does to the marine life. It is damaging to our marine life system and it’s just not a good thing to have here.”

The county has Rides 1-3. What major infrastructure projects should the city look to tackle?

Rhodes: “Right now we know that in 2020 the realignment of 501 coming into Myrtle Beach is going to be done. And that is going to have a tremendous impact on the way things will take place downtown and the whole downtown area including the Superblock. You’ve gotta look at what the traffic flow’s going to be like and how it’s going to affect the businesses down there, how it’s going to allow them to grow. So we look at being able to bring more people in directly and be able to see the effect in what we have downtown. And Ride 3 is being able to have more infrastructure to allow us to be able to get people of Myrtle Beach in case of an emergency evacuation.”

Bethune: “I know Ride 3 does provide funding for road improvements. But I think that is not something that I should make that call on. I would look to our city manager and our planning department to guide council in that area. And I think that it’s councils responsibility to look at those recommendations and prioritize that to be done to make sure that the most important areas are dealt with first.

Specifically, what are your plans for the Superblock?

Rhodes: “My plans for the Superblock is to try and look at the redevelopment. You gotta have something that’s going to spur redevelopment. And right now, with the purchase of the property gives us the opportunity to look at different areas. Number one, we know they talk about the children’s museum and the library. That’s not etched in stone as I said before. We’re looking to be able to get some private public partnerships that will help that area grow. But something has to be done to spur development, and we feel that purchasing the property, tearing down the old buildings, and being able to meet with people about ideas about what can go there is what’s going to spur development. So, therefore, it’s not the city getting into the business world, it’s the city enhancing the business world to come to Myrtle Beach, it’s the Superblock area to grow with viable businesses.”

Bethune: “My vision for the Superblock is to create an upscale urban center for our residents, for our tourists that is year round. I would like to see Main Street closed off and be only for pedestrian traffic. It could be endless events in that area. The Main Street corridor I would envision being different types of retail venues and cafes and bistros and sidewalk cafes as well as some type of urban living upstairs where we have loft style apartments or condominiums with rooftop patios. So I would like to see a combination of things down there.”

How do you propose we increase our police force?

Rhodes: “The mayor and City Council, they’re not authorities on how policing should be done. You listen to the person that you put in charge, and that’s Chief Amy Prock. She came up with a plan, that’s a realistic plan. We’ve had professionals in here telling us how to do things. We’ve had meetings with people from other areas from Galveston, TX, we’ve had people from Miami Beach, from Miami, from Atlanta, from Virginia Beach, looking at all the similarities we have in problems today to help give us some guidance into what we need to do. I mean, Miss Prock is doing one great job for this city. She is the one who sets the plan on how we go forward. And that’s who we are supposed to be listening to.”

Bethune: “First and foremost we have to look at our pay structure. Are we competitive with other areas and not just comparing ourselves to other areas that have our permanent population base? I think we also need to work with the state to possibly locate a police academy right here. And I think that having one here would help us attract more officers to come here, be trained, and stay here. [Hospitality officers] may help deter a problem before it becomes a problem if they see something and until we get a correct number of police that we need through the academy, we know right now that’s a nine month wait to even get in. We need to look at other avenues to help support our police force.”

What specific plans would you propose to fight the heroin epidemic in Myrtle Beach?

Rhodes: “We’re doing all we can do right now and that is having people to do the investigations and take the drug deals off the streets so you don’t have the supply out there for the people. And also we’re looking at treatment of those who have become addicted, we’re trying to get them help, we’re trying to get them to be rescued from this epidemic. And it is a nation wide issue, it’s not just Myrtle Beach or Horry County or the state of South Carolina. It’s a nation wide issue. And people have to understand that.”

Bethune: “That’s going to be a tough one because it’s not a Myrtle Beach epidemic, it is a nation wide epidemic. And one thing I think that we have to be very careful of is we cannot criminalize being an addict. Addicts do not belong in jail, that’s not going to help them. But we do need to have stricter laws and enforcement for the dealers. And because this is a nation wide epidemic I’m sure there are people all over the United States talking about this same issue right now and I think that it needs to be a nation wide solution. It can’t just be Myrtle Beach coming up with the ways to do this. And I would like to see a community coalition, a community round table group that would meet with about this so that it’s not just a City Council issue, it’s actually us reaching out into the community, to the experts, to the people that deal with it everyday and incorporate their ideas and let them help us know what to do and how to do it properly.”

How would you clean up some mom and pop hotels that have unfortunately turned into drug and prostitution havens in Myrtle Beach?

Rhodes: “We almost need our own DHEC department in the city so they can go in and look for a building that is not up to health standards. The other way is if they’ve become a public nuisance. Once you become a public nuisance, then you’re able to go in and close them down. It’s the only way you can do it because it is up to individual property owners. They have the responsibility to keep their property up to standards. Now, if the property is up to standards the way it should be, who they rent to, we can’t control that. One of the key factors we’re looking at is having our own economic development person that is going to get out and campaign hard on trying to bring investors into our area and be able to look at buying up some areas and building these things. So, when we have someone who will be the head of the city economic development department, I think you’re going to see a lot of headway made. It’s going to be very positive.”

Bethune: “We definitely need to force those properties to clean themselves up, to have better lighting, more camera surveillance is desperately needed in those areas and when we put cameras up we need to let people know they’re up. We need to have very clear signage that people are under surveillance. Because lighting and cameras help deter crime. And it’s the little things that we can do to help drive it out.

Do you think that the tourism development fee should be used for the police department or should it continue to be used for marketing?

Rhodes: “Let’s look what the law says. The TDF was written to give the City of Myrtle Beach, for the first time in history, its own money to advertise and promote this beach. We’ve gone from 12 million to 18 million tourists. The other 20 percent of that law says it goes to the City of Myrtle Beach for two things. Capital improvement that benefits tourism and for reducing the property taxing and that is how our residents in this city have low taxes, have the lowest property taxes in the state of South Carolina because of that TDF. I am the only candidate that is going to protect the TDF.”

Bethune: “Both. We have to be continuously marketing Myrtle Beach especially now because after this past summer we have a brand image problem. And because of social media, that has been magnified greatly. And we need to do everything we can to repair and rebuild our brand image. But the chamber has already said that they will use a portion of those funds to help help fund our police department. What I am not for is doing away completely with the TDF or taking it completely back to the general assembly because I do not want to risk losing that money. And we need that money to stay here. It can be used for so many other things that are tourist related such as infrastructure, development projects, redevelopment projects and we need those funds to stay here if we are going to create the cleanest best environment that we can for people to come here and visit.”

Is the Chamber of Commerce transparent enough?

Rhodes: “Transparency’s on the books. I mean, you have right right is a 501c3 organization that allows you the ability to look at anything you want to. There’s nobody that hides anything in the chamber. People use that word of transparency, that’s the new buzz word today. Transparency and change, that’s two buzz words. Let me tell you something right now. When I ran for office 12 years ago, I was the voice of change. And if you look at my record since 2006 when I took office you will see how much change was made in this city in development, in relationships with delegation, with house of representatives, with the general assembly in Columbia, with our U.S. senators, with our U.S. congressmen, and also how much change has been made in the safety. I made the changes, our city council, not I, our city council, our leadership is making changes in this city everyday. Everyday you wake up we’re making a change.”

Bethune: “I don’t think the city is transparent enough. So, to answer that, I would say that we can all do a better job when it comes to that. And I have not made a secret of this, I even expressed my feelings to Brad Dean, that when the public perception is that we are not being transparent, or when people say that it is an issue they’re perception is their reality and that’s what we have to deal with. And if the public perception is there’s not enough transparency, then we need to dispel that and be more transparent. We owe that to the community. And if we have nothing to hide, there’s no reason not to be transparent.”

What specific types of jobs would you try to recruit to Myrtle Beach that aren’t related to tourism?

Rhodes: “Well, let’s look and see what you have in Myrtle Beach that you can deal with. You don’t have a lot of property that you can do a lot of diversity. The only area that you have the opportunity for diversification is at the ITAP property, which happens to be property owned by the county. And we work with the county trying to bring in some light manufacturing or medical facilities there that would give our people some sort of diversity in their job. Now, other than that, what kind of diversity would you have? We’ve got doctors, we’ve got lawyers. You got all kinds of things. You got car dealerships, you got mechanics. That’s great diversity. But, you know what, if it wasn’t for tourism they wouldn’t be building there. Tourism is the anchor that drives this community in some fashion. Whether you realize it or not, everything in the City of Myrtle Beach is touched to tourism.”

Bethune: “I would think that we would be a very attractive area for more tech related jobs. I look at Market Common and what they’ve done with the new Tideland Health Center. And now we have the new VA center coming, the outpatient center. I think that we could be very attractive to the medical community. But we need to be creative, we need to look outside the box and I always go with if you don’t ask someone you’re never going to get a yes, so we always have a 50 percent chance of getting a yes. So we need to pursue anything and everything that we can. And I don’t know that we’ve done that. I’d have to really get in and work with the people who have been doing that for so long but my position is we need to do everything we can to get more industry here, businesses here and if we don’t at least make the ask we have a zero chance of getting a yes.”

As Myrtle Beach’s population ages, what can the city do to attract younger people to live in the city limits?

Rhodes: “What is the city supposed to do to attract younger people? That’s up to the business community to try to. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to get more people to invest in Myrtle Beach in different parts of the economic world that would bring people in. But, it’s not up to a city to create jobs for younger people or for older people. You create to jobs through investments within the community. What does an investor want to invest in in Myrtle Beach that will make them successful. And I can promise you this, whatever it is will be tied someway to tourism.”

Bethune: “We don’t have anything to offer young people right now and that’s why so many of them, when they get out of high school and go off to college don’t come back here. And, if you look at our downtown area, and I mean all of downtown, the boulevard area, the Superblock area, Kings Highway, we need to do a better job of having things here that attract millennials and want them to build their homes here, build their lives here. And we need to be affordable for them to do so. So I really think that, I know I talk a lot about the whole Superblock and the downtown, the main street area, but that used to be the heartbeat of Myrtle Beach. And if that area is thriving and growing and alive, we’re going to get more young people here. We just have to have things that attract them and we have to look at how other cities have done that too. I’m not one to say I have all the answers, but I am one that will always say that if we have an issue we need to go directly to the people that that issue is related to and ask them what they want. We need to ask young people, what would attract you to come here? What types of things would you like to see? What type of living would you be interested in?”

What would you like to see done with the old Pavilion site?

Rhodes: “You’d have to ask Burroughs & Chapin that question. It’s their property, not the city’s.”

Bethune: “I would like to get ideas of what people would like to see there. I don’t want it to be what I want to see there. I want it to be what does the community want to see there, what do businesses want to see there. How does Burroughs & Chapin envision the use of that site and the old mall site? I don’t want to be about what I want and what I think because in the end that really doesn’t matter. I care about what do other people feel and what are their ideas and maybe it’s a combination of all those ideas that makes something great happen there. Many many people are saying bring the pavilion back. Well that ship has sailed. The pavilion is gone and who’s to say what we eventually have there won’t be even better than what the pavilion was. The pavilion served a great purpose when it was there until it closed. But things progress and things change and I think that there could be something equally great there that is more relevant to the needs of today and I think that our job is to find out what exactly that plan is.”

Would you change anything about Bike Week or Bikefest?

Rhodes: “I feel we’re headed in the right direction because our priority there is creating safety during this event. We want to to make sure our business that comes to Myrtle Beach, whether they’re on bikes, in cars that they have a safe environment. So when we have the extra police officers that come in, you know, we have a total of roughly 800 police officers here during Bike Week to make sure that this city, our residents are safe, our business is safe, our businesses is safe. And the loop has proven to be very beneficial and I’m not in favor of changing that loop at all. It has shown that it works and we are going to continue that loop.”

Bethune: “The traffic loop I think is very constrictive to locals and to those who work on or near the boulevard that when they get off work late at night they have to get stuck in a traffic loop to get home and we have a lot of teenage workers that that affects. So I would like to see some type of locals pass or a pass for those who work in that area so they don’t have to get stuck in the loop going to or from work. And Memorial week especially, people, locals either leave town or they’re stuck in their homes all weekend because of the traffic. So I think that we need to do a better job of helping to spread the traffic out so that it’s not so highly concentrated in one area and one of my ideas would be to look at the possibly of closing part of Ocean Boulevard during that weekend and making it pedestrian only so that we can have a true memorial weekend festival that is attractive to everybody, not just one specific group. And we could have vendors down there, events, bands, a parade, but things that really bring back the true meaning of what Memorial Day is for and for it to be used as a weekend that attracts all visitors and families, not just one specific group.”

There are a lot of different entities that a business owner has to go through to bring in a new business including CAB and planning commission. Would you keep all of these entities? Do you think they make it difficult for new businesses to come to Myrtle Beach?

Rhodes: “No, it’s not difficult for a new business to come into Myrtle Beach they just gotta go by our guidelines and the commissions that we have. Let’s take comparison. Let’s look at Myrtle Beach and the development of Myrtle Beach and how beautiful it is because of the planning commission, because of the CAB approvement, the looks of the structures and where they’re going to be built to other areas that don’t have this. And that’s other areas not too far away. So, what we have here is a great plan on how to control what is going to happen in this city and how it’s going to look. That it’s not going to be something that’s hodge podge. It’s going to be done the right way. No, I would not be interested in changing anything.”

Bethune: “I think that those entities add value to our community. However, I think that all of our processes in business, it’s been my experience that just because a process has worked for a certain time period doesn’t mean that it’s working now. So every so often, like in my business, we will look at a process that’s been in place and say okay how does it need to be tweaked, how can we make it better, how can we make it easier so that we’re working smarter not harder. So I think that in some of those cases it may be a situation where we actually look at the processes that re in place and say, is there a way to make this easier for people? Is what we have and what we’re doing working the best that it possibly can or does it need to be tweaked a little?”

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Bethune vs. Rhodes: How the candidates feel about key campaign issues."