‘Steaks and fried shrimp’: Council members spar over taxpayer-funded trip to Lowcountry
Horry County Councilman Tyler Servant made a motion at Tuesday’s meeting he hoped would save taxpayer’s money. His attempt was unsuccessful due to a disagreement as to whether it was an appropriate time for the motion.
Every year, Horry County Council sits down with its staff to figure out the coming year’s budget. The process takes several days and sometimes is held outside of the county.
This year, the plan is for the council and executive staff members to travel to Pinopolis. The retreat is scheduled for April 3-5. The selected venue is the Wampee Convention Center. Servant said going to Wampee is a waste of taxpayer money, even if it’s a small one compared to the overall budget. He suggested holding the retreat in the courthouse for free.
“This is a perfect example of wasting taxpayer dollars, especially when we have so many pressing needs,” Servant said. “And we can do it for free right here in Horry County in Conway.”
While the venue would be free in Horry County, meals are typically provided each day. So it wouldn’t technically be free, but it would cost significantly less than the overnight trip to Pinopolis.
Councilman Harold Worley agreed with Servant. He cited a Post & Courier article about the Santee Cooper board taking lavish visits to the site for their retreats, often racking up a large bill. Depending on how many Horry County officials attend, the bill could exceed $5,000 for the three-day trip.
County Council members will be in attendance, as will senior staff members who will be providing updates on the budget process to the council. Horry County staff members have no say over where the retreat is held.
Last year, the retreat was held in the Horry County Council room in Conway. In 2017, the meeting was held at the Wampee Conference Center. It is up to the county chairman each year to decide where the retreat is held.
“I don’t want to go against your rule,” Worley said to County Chairman Johnny Gardner. “If you say we’re going, we’re going.”
In the new business portion of the meeting, Servant made the motion to move the retreat back to the Horry County Courthouse. Councilman Johnny Vaught made a point-of-order to block Servant’s motion. He said the new business section of the meeting was an inappropriate time to make such a motion.
“This is council member comments, there is nothing here on the agenda to make a motion about,” Vaught said.
Gardner agreed with Vaught, upholding the point of order. Everyone supports saving the taxpayers money, Gardner said, but this was not the time to vote on it.
Worley, however, said going to Wampee would be bad optics for the county. He then called for a vote to appeal the chairman’s decision that Servant’s motion was out of order, which potentially would allow it to be debated and then voted on.
“I just don’t want this council to be headline news going down to Wampee eating steaks and fried shrimp on the tax dollars,” Worley said. “That’s just the wrong headline for us.”
Servant said he thought voting against the appeal was voting against a discussion to save taxpayer money.
The vote received a majority of council support, 7-5, but it still was not enough to override Gardner’s decision. Horry County attorney Arrigo Carotti said in order to appeal a decision from the chairman, a super-majority of eight votes would be needed.
For now, the plan remains the same. Council will be leaving for Wampee for the budget retreat.
“If we go down there, I’m not for it,” Servant said.
This story was originally published February 20, 2019 at 2:58 PM.
